Finding a Natural Rebel in Richard Ashcroft posted: 24/05/2019
Undoubtedly one of the most influential British singers of the last two decades, Richard Ashcroft has pursued a hugely successful solo career following the initial split of acclaimed alt rockers The Verve in 1999. His lighting has been designed by Jonny Gaskell since 1996 and the heydays of The Verve - an impressively long and fertile client relationship also making Jonny the longest serving crew member - and he is still driving some of the onstage aesthetics 23 years later! Ashcroft's fourth solo album and top 10 hit Natural Rebel dropped at the end of last year and he was back on the road recently in the UK with lighting and video once again supplied by Colour Sound Experiment.
At the start of each touring project, Ashcroft will present Jonny with a series of ideas. He's a demanding client but in a good way commented Jonny, he knows what he wants and what he doesn't like, so that's always an essential starting point, beyond that, he trusts me to come up with an appropriate design .
For this leg of the tour they were playing several academies, theatre and town hall venues, culminating in London's Olympia, so it was decided to bring video in just for the London show. For the other gigs, the visual emphasis was all on lighting.
Ashcroft originally only wanted Johnny to use variations of white light, but he managed to persuade him of the creative benefits of sneak in the odd bit of blue or red primary here and there!
It's always been an edgy, contrasty, stark look onstage, with Ashcroft preferring the emphasis to be on the music rather than himself, and to be lit by shadows, silhouettes and the margins and subtleties of negative luminance.
Given those specifics, any lighting also must have the capacity to go huge for the big anthemic numbers.
I chose the fixtures for flexibility and to produce the multiple textures and layering needed to make the show look good on an academy stage right up to Olympia explained Johnny, adding, As always, H and the team at Colour Sound did a fantastic job in supplying everything I needed on budget .
The format was a straightforward front and back truss plus a floor package.
The front truss was rigged with blinders and Claypaky Stormy LED strobes for the effects, together with eight Robe BMFL Spots for the key lighting and six Robe Spiiders for the stage washes that could also swing out to the audience and do big sweeps and statements when needed.
Jonny likes to keep the key lighting localised and obvious, so Ashcroft had a choice of pools of light or dark spaces to move in and out of as the mood takes him a technique he's devised through working with him over time.
The back truss featured more Stormies, some 2-lite Moles, six Robe MegaPointes and six more Spiider LED wash beams.
On the floor, there were six Stormies upstage in a line at the back, six 2-lites on 1 metre high scaff barrels just below the bottom edge of the video screen and another six Spiiders, also upstage beneath the screen primarily used for silhouetting.
On the downstage edges of the stage were two additional Spiiders a side for extra coverage across the mic line.
While the artist doesn't like follow spots generally, they carried one on the tour which was rigged each night and on standby' as needed. At Olympia, it lifted the light levels on his face at strategic moments for the cameras.
The challenge was finding that fine balance between dark and light and pleasing all the fans who want to see him and his preference for keeping the lumens down! stated Jonny.
The Colour Sound BT6 video screen installed for the London show measured 40 ft wide by 25 high and was an impressive addition to the visuals, supplied complete with a robo cam package from Colour Sound (on the tour they utilised a backdrop with the album over artwork).
The video playback footage - due to the time restraints and the fact is was only used for the one show on this leg of the tour - was content that Jonny and their regular video director Julian Hogg had compiled using a proportion of re-edited existing and classic music videos plus some new footage, all presented onscreen in a series of virtual vintage TV set frames bringing a flourish of retro with a modern twist.
For the Olympia show, the video playback was co-ordinated by Toby Vogel using a Resolume server, and the robo cams were operated by Colour Sound's Ed Blackwell. The robo cams were positioned along the front of the stage on stands and the resulting IMAG footage was highly effective.
Jonny operated the lighting using his own ChamSys control set up.
For the Olympia show, the video playback was co-ordinated by Toby Vogel using a Resolume server, and the robo cams were operated by Colour Sound's Ed Blackwell. The robo cams were positioned along the front of the stage on stands and the resulting IMAG footage was highly effective.
Jonny operated the lighting using his own ChamSys control set up.
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
10/05/2026
RT ALL-IRELAND DRAMA FESTIVAL WINNERS ANNOUNCED DURING GALA AWARDS STREAMED LIVE ON RTE.IE/CULTURE
Kilmeen Drama Group hailing from Rossmore, Co. Cork Scoops ...
09/05/2026
New desktop instrument focused on tactile performance
Bastl Instruments have announced Kalimba, a new desktop instrument that combines physical modelling, F...
09/05/2026
Compact sampling workstation gains new features
1010music have announced blackbox 2, a new version of their compact standalone sampler designed for DAWless ...
08/05/2026
One-button synth generates random four-track ideas
Cyma Forma and French artist Bambounou have announced RND synth, a compact hardware synthesizer built aro...
08/05/2026
Portable four-layer granular and sampling instrument
Tasty Chips have announced the GR-2, a new granular synthesizer and sampling instrument that combines e...
08/05/2026
Video Show Report
Video of SUPERBOOTH 26: Polyend Drums
Polyends big announcement for Superbooth 2026 is the Drums, a new drum machine that features both ...
08/05/2026
Deal agreed as NI enters new chapter
Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams has announced that a definitive agreement has been signed for the company to be ac...
08/05/2026
Video Show Report
Video of SUPERBOOTH 26: Erica Bullfrog Drums
The Bullfrog Drums is the latest collaboration between Erica Synths and Richie Hawtin, and ...
08/05/2026
In our latest blog, Tim Pearson reflects on the recent launch of Play Snooker, the new digital home of snooker by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker A...
08/05/2026
Pete reunites with Dogs Trust for a fourth series and a two-part overseas special
London, Friday 8th May 2026: The award winning factual entertainment series P...
08/05/2026
Wuppertal May 8, 2026
Riedel to Support Glasgow 2026 as Official Connectivity Integration Provider Riedel Communications today announced its return as a spons...
08/05/2026
ICG is excited to share news of our official launch in Northern Ireland, marking a significant milestone in the agency's growth.
Led by Digital Marketing M...
08/05/2026
Over the past ten years, Thames Water, in partnership with Arqiva, has installed more than 1.2 million smart meters, creating one of the most extensive advanced...
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
January 8, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), a leader in high-performance, on-s...
07/05/2026
February 9, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning pioneer i...
07/05/2026
March 20, 2024
NAB 2024, Las Vegas - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-awa...
07/05/2026
April 1, 2025
CINEMACON, APRIL 1, 2025 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming syste...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), an Academy and Emmy Award-winning de...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront participated in the ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Held at The Phenomena Experience, the event feat...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Passion and dedication will take you places. Come with us on a short trip to the heart of India, where Annapurna Studios is living-up to the inspi...
07/05/2026
July 3, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
September 1, 2025
IBC 2025, Amsterdam - Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the Acade...
07/05/2026
April 17, 2026
LOS ANGELES - April 17, 2026 - Colorfront today announced Colorf...
07/05/2026
April 23, 2026
NAB 2026, Las Vegas - the Academy and Emmy Award-winning develop...
07/05/2026
Comscore to Announce First Quarter 2026 Financial ResultsRESTON, Va., May 7, 2026 - Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting a...
07/05/2026
Thursday 7 May 2026
Sky continues Sphere Abacus partnership with The Death of S...
07/05/2026
Thursday 7 May 2026
Sky Confirms Saturday Night Live UK will return this September for Series Two
Saturday Night Live UK will return for a second series, as S...
07/05/2026
Save 20% on the Sky Glass Gen 2 and Sky Glass Air TVsThursday 7 May 2026
How to watch the World Cup on Sky Glass
Tune into the World Cup on the BBC and ITV vi...
07/05/2026
Production sound mixer Dirk Sciarrotta has mixed Family Feud for 28 seasons. Thats up to 200 syndicated episodes per year, plus primetime celebrity specials - a...
07/05/2026
As audience expectations have evolved, Owen has stopped trying to hide microphones or excuse amplification. Instead, he treats sound as a fully immersive part o...
07/05/2026
Well known Irish faces pushed to the edge in new series of
Uncharted with Ray G...
Finding a Natural Rebel in Richard Ashcroft posted: 24/05/2019 
