LONDON – Sure, fortune is fickle, but sometimes lady luck has a way of quietly handing out subtle, unexpected treasures, especially to those with an eye for such elusive opportunities.

Widely acclaimed lighting designer, Ed Warren certainly falls into that category. He noticed the way light hit a mirror ball over his video wall and drape backdrop when rehearsing for Michael Kiwanuka’s recently completed Small Changes tour. A startling discovery? No, but it opened the door to a powerful creative opportunity.

“It was a happy accident,” said Warren “When we ran through things in rehearsals, I decided to hit the mirror ball with a single spot from below, wash out some blue light, add a bit of haze, and it worked perfectly — of course with the help of incredible visuals from my video designer Ed Hoare. We came up with a look that made it seem as if a single plume of smoke was rising up the backdrop. It really was a magical moment, everyone just stood there with their jaw on the floor.”

That particular look was just one of many nuances that Warren called upon to set a deeply evocative aura on stage for his Grammy and Brit Award nominated client’s very moving and emotionally reflective show. There was a captivating pensive and contemplative quality to Kiwanuka’s performance on this tour, and Warren’s delicate, uncluttered blend of video and light created an ideal setting for it to play out on.

“This tour is a kind of continuation — but also a revamp — of the last tour we had,” said Warren. “I completely reprogrammed most of the songs, and changed a lot about the way the show was structured light-wise. We stripped it right back, removed almost all the colour, only introduced haze halfway through the show, and kept everything super simple. I would describe the looks as a 1960s recording studio/concert experience. There was minimal production, but when it was done, it was super effective and efficient. We let the music do most of the talking!”

Laying a visual foundation for this design was a collection of 174 CHAUVET Professional STRIKE 1 Array fixtures supplied by GLS. Arranged along the back of the stage and on either side, the fixtures were used to provide a distinct linear look that anchored the rest of the stage’s lighting and the redolent images on its 40’ x 30’ video wall, (The wall itself was bordered on the top and sides by 8’ wide drapes to provide an extra element of warmth to the stage.)

“The STRIKE fixtures gave us a warm backlight, sitting nicely between the screen and the floor and acting as a beautiful warm strip that held the stage together nicely,” said Warren, who notes that the show was run on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Console.

Warren praised operator Franki McDade for running the show seamlessly throughout the tour. “She has done an excellent job on this and other tours we’ve done,” said Warren. “We are lucky to have her.”

Luck? Yes, but as Ed Warren demonstrated during rehearsals for this tour, luck always seems to shine more brightly when one is inspired.