Singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, hit-maker and one of the world’s best-selling
recording artists, Phil Collins, recently embarked upon a mini tour titled “Not Dead
Yet’, named as per his autobiography published in October 2016.

Collins’ long term lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe has created a stylish, animated
lightshow, which is directed and operated on the road by Roland Greil, who also acted
as the associate designer for the show – the two have collaborated on a number of
projects in recent years including Adele last year, and on this one they worked closely
with set and scenic designer, Misty Buckley.

On the rig are 48 x Robe BMFL Spot moving lights, a Robe RoboSpot remote control
system and two PATT 2013s, all being provided by leading UK lighting rental company,
Neg Earth.

Patrick has worked for the artist for nearly 20 years, and this tour celebrates his
return from “retirement’, it plays five nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall – which sold
out in 15 seconds – and multiple shows in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, the
AccorHotels Arena in Paris as well as shows in Dublin. It culminates in the former rock
supergroup Genesis drummer’s largest ever solo show in Hyde Park at the end of the
month.

The show is centred around an elegant and almost timeless – but understatedly
modern – stage concept with a flexible and vibrant lighting rig.

Two LED screens are an integrated part of the scenery together with some additional
“soft’ scenic elements like an Austrian gauze, a chic silver curtain and a star cloth
adding flourishes of classic stage magic.

A wide dynamic range of lighting looks have been crafted by Patrick and Roland, all
taking the music as their base inspiration. Some numbers are classically theatrical,
others are full-on poptastic, and as the set unfolds, it reveals a run of gripping,
memorable rock looks and progressive contemporary scenes. Two songs even feature
a “ballet’ of lights, utilising 11 fixtures rigged on individual hoists with RSC Lightlocks
that move freely above the stage.

Flipping between so many moods, smooth and seamless transitions were essential for
the lightshow flow.

Forty-seven of the BMFLs are rigged between the overhead positions and on two
vertical side ladders upstage and are used as key lights, backlighting spots and
traditional spots to create tight, precise looks.

BMFLs are a huge part of the show and were selected for their “Versatility and
elegance, plus the ability to create some very powerful looks,’ stated Roland.
The 48th BMFL Spot is being controlled via the RoboSpot system and is used as Phil’s
main backlight instead of a standard truss spot.

There are both physical and aesthetic reasons for this. Firstly, because it is handy to
control certain parameters from the grandMA2 lighting desk.

More importantly, still, it is a very tight rig, so there isn’t the space to rig a classic
back truss spot, which would also not be appropriate for the clean and definitive
aesthetic of the design.

RoboSpot has been developed for exactly this type of scenario – where a follow-spot
operator cannot be placed directly in the controlled fixture. The system can remotely
control any Robe BMFL fixture and utilises an external camera to follow the performer.
The PATT 2013s are used for three songs in the set as elegant looking lighting
fixtures, as well as a scenic element.

Video is integral to the show, with a balanced mix of special playback content created
by Sam Pattinson of Treatment and IMAG directed by Ruary Macphie, while Joshua
Keys handles the media servers. The show’s styling features IMAG feeds imaginatively
treated with colours or shown in sepia, monochrome, etc.

Patrick first specified Robe moving lights on one of his designs in 2007 – ColorSpot
2500E ATs for the Genesis “Turn It on Again’ world tour. More recently, BMFLs have
started making regular appearances in his work including for the AC/DC and Adele
world tours. He used Pointes on the Rolling Stones 2014 “On Fire’ European tour.