Follow-Me DELT∆ Takes Center Stage For Lulu's Royal Albert Hall Spectacular

Follow-Me's DELT∆ performer tracking system lit up a career-spanning celebration of Lulu this summer, culminating in a headline show at London's Royal Albert Hall on June 1st. Luke Edwards took on the role of Lighting Designer for the run, which comprised three warm-up shows at various venues the week before the Royal Albert Hall date. Josh Gallagher operated the lighting rig, with Ben Hunt as Lighting Tech, Kieran Claye as Production and Video Designer, and equipment supplied by Newcastle-based lighting supplier Axiom.

Edwards sees real value in warm-up shows in front of a live crowd rather than in an empty room, which he feels gives the team a much truer read on how a show is landing. The Royal Albert Hall date also doubled as a chance to demo DELT∆ to the venue itself, with Edwards bringing in his own demo system for the occasion.

The brief was simple: make the show look as big as possible. The production design centred around a large video screen tracing Lulu’s life and career, with performances alongside archive footage of her ex-husband Maurice Gibb and of David Bowie, making the screen a central part of the design the lighting had to work around.

Approximately 200 fixtures were used across the show. The Royal Albert Hall’s own house follow spots, Martin MAC Ultras, were brought under Follow-Me control, alongside a back wall of Martin MAC Aura XIPs used for a number of striking creative effects. Edwards singles out DELT∆’s ability to import an MVR (My Virtual Rig) file as one of the system’s standout improvements, patching and positioning the entire rig automatically rather than requiring every fixture to be entered by hand; a change he describes as a huge time-saver over the old manual workflow.

Each follow spot operator worked from their own operator box, with a dedicated view of the performance area and the ability to zoom in on the action. An NDI camera feed into the MA lighting desk gave Edwards visibility of exactly where every operator was pointing, so he could correct their aim in real time. This level of oversight was found to be invaluable, particularly the zoom capability.

The back wall of Aura XIPs on Follow-Me opened up effects beyond conventional follow spotting. During Relight My Fire, groups of Auras snapped onto Lulu’s position in time with every beat of the song’s signature hits. “It’s just more than just follow spotting,” Edwards notes. It also suited his own aesthetic preferences as a designer: “For me personally, I don’t like the chunky beam of light through the entire venue, so it was really nice to have follow spots on a front-of-house truss without having to see that. And with back spots it’s key; it’s like it doesn’t matter that they’re above the stage or above performers anymore now, because you don’t need someone up there.”

The show was star-studded, with Boy George, Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams and Delta Goodrem all joining Lulu on stage as guest performers. Follow-Me's flexibility proved essential to accommodating them, letting the team bring extra fixtures into play for each guest, without any rewiring or re-cabling. For Edwards, that ability to adapt on the fly made it possible to do things that simply hadn't been planned for.

Automated zoning also played a key role in keeping Lulu evenly lit throughout the show, activating only the fixtures relevant to her position on stage rather than crossing light in from the far side; if she moved to stage right, only the stage-right fixtures would come up, rather than pulling light all the way across from the opposite wing. The result, Edwards notes, was a consistently even level of light on her regardless of where she was on stage.

“This was a brilliant showcase for DELT∆, and there’s no better stage to prove yourself on than the Royal Albert Hall,” concludes Edwards. “Working with Axiom, Josh and Ben made the whole run feel effortless, even with guests being added right up to the wire. It’s exactly the kind of high-pressure, high-profile show that DELT∆ was built for, and I’m proud of what the whole team pulled off.”

For more information, please visit our website at www.follow-me.com  

About Follow-Me
Follow-Me specializes in advanced performer tracking solutions for a wide range of productions, from international tours and TV broadcasts to theatrical performances and theme parks. Our products are designed to meet the challenging demands of concert touring, in- and outdoor live events, theatrical and AV industry, ensuring top-quality performance tracking for lighting, immersive audio, video mapping and stage automation applications in any environment.

Photo Credit: Payne Design