Sam Parry throws some shapes with Ayrton for Busted vs McFly Tour of UK & Ireland
- Feb 4
- 3 min read
Pop rock adversaries Busted and McFly showcased their playful brand of rivalry on tour this autumn with a 35-date Busted vs McFly Tour of UK and Ireland. The show took place under an awesome kinetic display conceived and designed by production and lighting designer, Sam Parry, of The Owl Creative Design. Key to his design was an Ayrton-heavy rig comprising Ayrton Veloce Profiles, Perseo Profiles and Zonda 9 FX fixtures, supplied by the tour’s lighting supplier, PRG UK.
A major focal point of the set, which needed to work equally for both bands, was a large overhead grid of 4 square lighting pods, each of which housed 25 Ayrton Zonda 9 FX fixtures in a 5x5 matrix. Each pod was independently rigged on 4-point hoists and capable of positioning at any angle, to allow Parry to change the performance space in many dimensions: at various points extending the area with a wide expansive roof, or hanging at haphazard angles or even at times closely enveloping the bands, whilst Parry magically employed the pan/tilt features and colour capabilities of Zonda 9 FX for myriad effects.
“Zonda was absolutely the right thing to fill the pods with!” states Parry “I wanted a ceiling of washes and they just had everything I needed: output, surface/face size, physical fit within the big monolithic structure of the ceiling. “Weight (29.2kg) was a huge factor for us because of the quantity of fixtures in the ceiling but, there is not much else that can deliver the punch of a big wash like Zonda 9 and weigh so little! And, especially considering the size of Zonda 9, it is ridiculously light!
“Having Zonda 9 FX’s LiquidEffects™ was a little extra added value which I could use to enhance the depth of field created as the automated ceiling descended, and also create a glow during the quiet moments of the show.
“For example, we could use the liquid effect without the full output to give a nice dimensionality - like an arch cloistered around the band – which was still visible, but with elements of darkness that could hide the band or backlight them until they were ready to launch forward into their next song.” Without the LiquidEffects™, this depth of field would be lost. Being able to build outwards from this made a huge difference to some of those big moments: theatricality taken to a level that you couldn’t get without that liquid effect. “I’d really wanted to have a chunk of Zonda 9 FX on a show for ages and I’ve really enjoyed working with them.”
Parry also employed 52 Ayrton Veloce Profiles as his workhorses, rigging 12 on an upstage walkway, 16 on a front-of-house V-truss and 6 each on four PRG ladder systems that flanked the large central LED wall.
“Veloce Profile also has an unbelievable width of zoom, which I really love. To be able to achieve such a sharp beam, and then to flood it out to point when you can create an almost-LED wall level of backlight from the upstage ground row was fantastic. I think they are wicked! It will ruin any other large format spot for me!”
Completing the Ayrton line up were 14 Ayrton Perseo Profiles located on the pyro shelf outlining the downstage edge. “The Perseos hold up well against the Veloce despite the difference in size,” says Parry. “You can really push a lot of out of them!”
The lighting was controlled using two MA3 Full Size consoles, running the latest software, ensuring a premium console experience throughout the tour. An MA3 Light console provided backup at stage end. Firmly rooted in the MA framework, Parry continues to praise the system for its ultra fast response and ease of operability, particularly in regards to late requests and programming changes.
“All the programming is built from recipes,” notes Parry; “The recipe system goes beyond the ease of adjusting the available rig when touring, in a production like this where the rig stays the same, the recipe system offers the ultimate flexibility to adapt parts of the production to the artists direct requirements - rearranging presets, effect speeds and distribution all becomes a seamless experience.”
Parry emphatically acknowledges the support and resources that Ayrton and MA distributor, Ambersphere Solutions, has provided over the years: “Working with Ambersphere always feels like a tailored, personal experience for me. Ambersphere were instrumental in sourcing a rig that featured this much Ayrton in collaboration with PRG UK - their efforts really helped me to create the show the artists deserved without compromise or substitution. The spectacle of the Ayrton rig is nothing short of phenomenal.”
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