When lighting designer Chris Bushell had his first demo of the Avolites Tiger Touch console, he liked it so much that he bought one!
It was his first investment in a lighting console and he had an immediate use for it on the Florence + The Machine World tour on which he's been out since February 2010.
“It gives me all the power and functionality I need in a fabulously neat package that can come on the plane with me … so I can always have the desk of my choice,” he says.
The new Avolites Tiger Touch is the definitive 'Hybrid' console - a combination of the Diamond 4's powerful functionality coupled with the friendly user interface of the Avolites Pearl - an industry favourite. The wide touch screen allows fast access to the ‘hands on' control and ever evolving software skin, TITAN, enveloping the high performance and intuitive hardware platform.
Bushell has been an enthusiastic Avolites user for many years and has used the Diamond 4 extensively, so the fact that the Tiger Touch has all those features plus the familiar architecture in a much smaller package is ultimately suited to contemporary touring – which often involves utilising local lighting packages and interfacing with festival systems.
On the Florence tour, the standard lighting rig spec was 12 Vari*Lite 3000 Spots, 20 Martin Professional MAC 2K Washes, 8 MAC TW1 Tungsten Washes, 10 x DHA Digital Light Curtains, 6 Atomic Colours, lots of 4-cell Moles, assorted floor PARs, ETC Source Fours and 10 custom designed and fabricated ‘bird-cages' containing 500 Watt lamps, all supplied by PRG through Scott Sanderson.
He also controlled the iris/dimmer function of 2 Robert Juliat follow spots from the Tiger Touch.
The creative thrust of the design was ‘art house' lighting – very theatrical in keeping with the moody experimentalism of Florence Welch's music.
Among his favourite Tiger Touch features is Fixture Exchange, which has been a “phenomenal tool” for festivals and shows this year when using house lighting and festival systems.
The fixed faders on the right hand side are also really useful, and he uses these to override with the Source Fours and some other improvisational effects which are used for specific organic moments in what is generally a tightly cued show.
The final US leg of the tour finishes in November, after which Bushell will be working again with UK soul diva Amy Winehouse.
“I am hugely pleased with the Tiger Touch,” he reiterates “It's made my life so much easier”. Looking ahead, he says “I see it as a long term investment. In Avolites there is a great brand with strong back-up and support and a clear vision for the future.” adding that, as always the service from Steve Warren, Koy Neminathan, Phil Blue, Aziz Adilkhodjaev and Emma Thompson of the Avolites sales team has been "excellent and inspirational".
For more press info on Avolites, please contact louise Stickland on +44 7831 329888/+44 1865 202679 or EMail [email protected]. To contact Avolites direct, please call +44 20 8965 8522 or check www.avolites.com.