New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Touring in support of his critically acclaimed album, Nothing Was The Same, has taken his Would you like a Tour? to
Europe after the well-received North American leg. Since the beginning of the tour in the US last October, Lighting Designer Guy Pavelo and Production Manager Chris Reynolds have relied on Production Resource Group (PRG) for the lighting and rigging solutions on the beautifully designed tour.
"Working with PRG is a fantastic experience," stated Pavelo. "Professional crew, super clean and well maintained gear, accompanied with a fantastic and understanding support staff. I am already looking forward to our next big project together."
As the tour completed its North
America dates there was a seamless transition within PRG from one continent to the next between the account executives. Curry Grant, PRG Vice President, Concert Touring handled the North American leg and now the PRG UK Account
Director Yvonne Donnelly Smith is supporting the six-weeks of European dates.
PRG's Donnelly Smith noted, "This is our first time working for Drake. We have worked with PM Chris Reynolds previously on some well-recognised and historic
Prince tours. Chris and his team are always fantastic to work with as everything is advanced well and any questions are responded to promptly. In this business, you can't ask for better."
The show travels with a very substantial bespoke set and catwalk that is see-thru, which requires a lot of care and thought in regards to cable management to keep everything hidden from view. PRG understood this challenge and its solution ensures that the design is realized just as cleanly as Pavelo intended. In fact, during prep at the PRG facilities in Longbridge UK the opportunity was taken to review and make some adjustments to strengthen the solutions provided. This attention to detail by PRG was noticed and well received by the tour's production team, including Lighting Crew Chief Cliff Sharpling and Head Rigger Bob Powers.
For the European leg, Pavelo decided to go with SGM P5 wash lights for an extra run along the trusses facing the audience, which let him add another layer of rich, dark, saturated colour to the already visually engaging design. Already very pleased with the PRG Bad Boy® Spot luminaires and the PRG Best Boy® 4000 Spots from the North American leg, Pavelo has 45 PRG Bad Boys and 34 Best Boy 4000 Spots in this current rig.
Martin Bellamy, PRG's Project Manager, worked with Donnelly Smith to provide the kit which also includes 52 Clay Paky Sharpys; 53 GLP impressions; the 36 SGM P5 wash lights; 40
Martin Professional Atomic Strobes and Atomic
Color scrollers; 4 7kW Xenon Syncrolites; 72 Philips
Color Kinetics ColorBlaze TRX LED fixtures; 8 Philips Vari-Lite VL500 80V; and 10 VL3500FX. PRG also supplied all the hoists and rigging for the lighting, cable management, and PA.
Since kicking off in Germany, Drake's tour of
Europe has been surprising audiences, including
Rihanna joining him on stage for a duet in Paris and a guest appearance from
Kanye West in Berlin, but it is no surprise that audiences and critics have been delighted with the concert's engaging design. He concludes the tour returning to The O2
Arena in London on 24-26 March, where PRG is also supplying venue riggers for all incoming events.
