The Rolling Stones- Stones Sixty 2022
To celebrate their monumental 60-year anniversary, The Rolling Stones announced their tour titled ‘Stones Sixty 2022’. Rock icons, Mick, Keith and Ronnie, played several concerts throughout June and July 2022 across Europe. Neg Earth have provided lighting, rigging and control for various Rolling Stones’ shows for numerous years, and we were proud to continue supporting the band for this incredible tour.
Woodroffe Basset Design collaborated with lead designers Patrick Woodroffe and Terry Cook, providing a new stage design to mark this anniversary tour. Forming a major part of the design was the striking and memorable fascia. Working closely with WBD and TAIT the talented team at Neg Earth strategically identified the most effective way fixture could be mounted on top of the fascia. The Chauvet Strike Array 2 was chosen due to its innovative, compact and high-performing properties. The fixture was a rich and bright tungsten colour, whilst also being lightweight in nature. It was important for the fixture to be IP65 rated, due to its exposure and position in the plot. This made the Chauvet Strike Array 2 a great addition to the lighting display.
Behind the newly designed fascia, sat the overhead lighting rig. This was made up of 9 fingers of its truss populated with Martin MAC Viper Air FX, and Ayrton Perseos. These fingers were used to light the performance area and create stunning mid-air effects. However, the shape of the fascia, that contrasted with the straight lighting trusses created a design problem that needed solving.
The team at Wonder Works, led by Jeremy Lloyd are a company dedicated to delivering high-end solutions to just these types of problems. They designed a custom outrigger system to allow the Ayrton Perseos to follow the shape of the fascia.
During conversations in pre-production, it was agreed Neg Earth would take on the task of fabricating the outriggers. Working from drawings produced by Wonder Works, our fabrication team were proud to provide a solution for an integral part of the design. The flexibility of the final product allowed them to be used in different orientations and positions across the rig, as well as being compact enough to travel within the lighting trusses. This was a key consideration as it increased the flow during load in and saved our team on the road time.
Jeremy Lloyd, co-director, Wonder Works says, “Since their formation in 1962, The Rolling Stones have become known for their super sharp, integrated staging and the challenge with this tour was to maintain this high level look without using a custom roof. It was an honour to work with such a brilliant and trusted team again to deliver another stand-out tour for the Stones.”
Tour Credits:
Patrick Woodroffe – Creative Director / Lighting Designer (WBD)
Ethan Weber – Lighting Director
Keith Johnson – Crew Chief (Neg Earth)
Grant Hickey – Follow-me / FOH tech
Terry Cook – Associate Lighting Designer
Roland Greil – Video Director
Production Designers- Stufish
