(14/12/2014) Lighting designer James ONeill enjoyed working with rental company Entec so much when they supplied an Imelda May one off St Patricks Day gig for him at Londons Roundhouse earlier in the year ... that they were his company of choice to supply a dynamic floor lighting / specials package for the latest tour which has been out for six weeks around Europe and the UK.
When it was clear that we would be taking production on this tour, I went straight back to Entec! explained James, who was delighted to be back working with Entec's Noreen O Riordan and Pepper (Paul Schofield). Once again they have been amazing! he declared.
James has worked with the popular Irish singer / songwriter since 2010, in which time her profile and fan base has grown steadily. The starting point for the lighting design on this tour was to make it look interesting and a bit quirky and it also had to be scalable, as they started off playing clubs and theatres in Europe and then moved up to larger venues in the UK and Ireland.
The most important thing was to maintain a continuity in look and style for the show day-to-day whilst also being flexible enough to think on your feet and act organically according to the venue and available stage space, which sometimes required compromise.
copyrighted by Henry Stevenson Fully embracing the less is more philosophy, James started off with five upstage floor booms - between 6 and 12 feet in height mounted in tank trap bases. Each of these was rigged with a Robe LEDBeam 100 and a Showtec Sunstrip clamped to the front at different heights, which were very effective for upstage effects and silhouetting the band.
Five 2-lite Moles were positioned at a height above the band for shooting though into the crowds, which proved great for getting the audience involved in the action.
The pokey little LEDBeam 100s were ideal, while the elegant shape and power of the Sunstrips really opened up the performance space.
Entec also sourced a fantastic shimmering silver / gold drape which was used in the larger venues in place of their own bespoke cloth which was too small for these spaces. It was up-lit with six Robe LEDWash 600s positioned across the stage at its base which accentuated the texturing of the drape beautifully bringing a 3D quality and depth.
To project onto the backdrop, they rigged a single Vari*Lite 3000 spot at FOH which was fitted with a selection of custom gobos including a selection of artwork from the newest Tribal album, graphics of May's trademark quiff and some song titles and lyrics, most of which were chosen together by James and Imelda herself.
For venues offering minimal house rigs, the Entec package also included seven Martin MAC 700 Profile moving lights which were rigged on the back truss, and to control all of this was an Avolites Tiger Touch II with a wing.
James techd the tour himself, with Entec's Pepper on hand to assist at the highly acclaimed London Shepherds Bush Empire show, which featured the full' touring lighting set up.
He comments that while it has been a real challenge maximizing a small rig, it's one that he has really enjoyed creatively.
James reiterates that the service, support and enthusiasm from Entec has been Fantastic in every way, adding that even though they were not directly involved in supplying the gig, Noreen and the team also went Above and beyond the call of duty in helping to arrange extra custom gobos for the Dublin O2 show where three VL3000s were added for the front projections.
Noreen comments, We first encountered Imelda May at the 2013 Larmer Tree Festival where Steve Rayment promised that he would be in contact regarding some dates later that year.
True to his word Steve introduced us to James O'Neill. We are very proud of James, he works incredibly hard at every show rigging and maintaining our lighting fixtures as well as utilizing as much of the house systems as possible, and the Avolites Tiger Touch Wing has proved very useful. Our equipment is treated with such respect it is hard to believe he is flying solo'.
The current tour is being production managed by Dave Salt who is a welcome blast from our past. Dave is very organized and a fantastic communicator as well as a master of budget juggling!
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Designed for synchronized multi-stream playback, low-latency delivery, and real-time analytics, MATCH introduces a unified viewing experience for sports broadca...
07/04/2026
Berklee Students to Honor George Martin with Performance of Original Scores The orchestra, led by associate professor Xander Rovang, will perform several work...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
(14/12/2014) Lighting designer James ONeill enjoyed working with rental company Entec so much when they supplied an Imelda May one off St Patricks Day gig for him at Londons Roundhouse earlier in the year ... that they were his company of choice to supply a dynamic floor lighting / specials package for the latest tour which has been out for six weeks around Europe and the UK.
