 Boy George Shines Under LXCo LightsThe decision by Boy George to set out on the road for the first time in many years was greeted with delight by an army of loyal fans. Lighting specialists LXCo were asked to provide the visual look for the former Culture Club frontman, DJ and style icon, having worked previously with promoter Stars + Angels and provided lighting for the singer’s warm up shows at the Shaw Theatre in London. The tour of mid-sized venues such as The Sage, Gateshead, The Lowry Centre, Salford and The Colston Hall in Bristol saw the star ‘dipping his toes’ back into live performing, so the emphasis was very much on a lightshow which complimented the music rather than an “all guns blazing” spectacular. “The brief from Boy George was, ‘There is no brief’,” says LXCo’s Mark Wheatley. “We used in-house lights at most venues, supplemented by a small number of moving lights and special effects to lift the performance into something special. Apart from the hits like Karma Chameleon and Church of the Poisoned Mind, we didn’t know what to expect so it was important to be versatile.” Working with musical director John Themis, Mark armed himself with Mac 500s, Mac 600s, ACL Bars and 4-Light Blinders to create a variety of visual moods. These were able to create distinct looks for the show’s ballads as well as songs from Boy George’s musical ‘Taboo’. “The Macs allowed me to do creative things with the backdrops and isolate parts of the stage, while we knew Church of the Poisoned Mind was going to be much rockier than the single so the ACLs gave me somewhere to go with that.” He planned the layout to allow maximum speed of set up and reduce the need to rely on the venue for technical support, “It meant we were less reliant on in-house lighting teams, allowing a quicker, more efficient build for the production,” says Mark. Boy George was reportedly delighted with the end result, to the extent that further appearances by the flamboyant singer in 2008 are highly likely. |