With the release of his latest album Blue Electric Light, Lenny Kravitz is back out on the road, heading across Europe with a new eclectic show including, for the first time, strong video content and an impressive lighting and rigging package supplied by PRG.

The seasoned team of Production Manager David Bruster, Lighting Crew Chief Florian von Dershau and Lighting Designer Mike Gionfriddo came to PRG for the extensive lighting package after working with them on the last few tours. They were under the watchful care of PRG’s Senior Project Manager Steve Major and PRG’s Event Services Manager Luke Jackson.
Major managed not only the admin side of the rental process, but also worked alongside Jackson and the Kravitz team to ensure the design was optimised with the best package to bring their vision to life. Major and Jackson ensured the Kravitz team had access to PRG’s extensive resources including CAD design, technical teams and warehouse team.

“I really love working with Steve, he’s very knowledgeable on the technical side and has worked on the tours in the past so he was a great partner to have on the rental side” von Dershau said. 

“It’s been great having the Lenny Kravitz team onboard again” says Yvonne Donnelly, Sales Director for Music at PRG UK. “With Steve on board and our close relationship with the team, we’ve been able to deliver them a stunning lighting and rigging package for this run”. 

The Kravitz team prepped in the PRG warehouse in Birmingham, navigating incoming last minute changes. An additional two extra trusses were brought in in the last stages of the process! 
The warehouse space allows crews to set up their trusses and prep cable looms to make loading in and out once out on the road as easy as possible, which was vital with the designs extensive fixture list. 
PRG also provided the full pre-vis system for pre-programming prior to the tour. 

The full rig consisted of over 300 fixtures, including 82 GLP X4 Bars flanking each of the 7 vertical video screens, 133 Robe Fortes and 115 Chauvet Color Strike M’s. Five Robe iForte LTX’s were flown centre stage with RoboSpot systems situated on designated dollies side of stage. Additional followspots were also sourced locally at each venue. 
For control, PRG provided 2 x full size GrandMA3’s running MA3 software plus 3 x GrandMA3 Lite consoles, one for tech and two for the video control. Video screen was provided by Nighthawk and set build by Tait. 

The challenge with this particular tour was the wide range of venue sizes for both headline shows and festivals. The total package filled fourteen trailers but, depending on venue size, only a third to a quarter of the lighting fixtures could fit. This meant the design had to be ultra flexible whilst still maintaining the grandeur and spectacle expected from a Kravitz show.

For the first time, the design focused on video with the lighting designed to amplify and highlight to slick, minimalist content. The seven vertical screens were surrounded by the X4 bars which created stunning pixel mapped effects. Two flown video towers included 3 x PRG Icon Stage fixtures plus 18 x TMB Solaris Flare hung on custom metalwork complete with touring dollies produced by PRG. These created the basis for the design which could be scaled by adding the multiple flown trusses.

In the roof, GLP X4 bars in the additional trusses added strong horizontal lines with ultra bright Chauvet Strike M’s bringing plenty of blinder action. Having multiple trusses that could be flown gave the team the flexibility to scale the show as desired for each venue, without compromising the design and overall effect. 

Although there was heavy emphasis on the new video, there was also no shortage of electric “rock n roll” lighting looks that Kravitz tours are known for. Mike Gionfriddo opted for bold symmetrical looks and plenty of blinders that illuminated the stunning Pula Arena in gorgeous purple and red hues. Kravitz’s music is renowned for his irresistible beats which Mike Gionfriddo highlighted with perfectly timed lighting accents with the X4 bars across the stage.  
The full design was a celebration of the old and the new, marrying the exciting video additions with sleek and polished lighting design. 

Despite the challenges, the team found their rhythm and were happy with the process and preparation the PRG team provided them with. 
“We have a very good relationship with PRG, we’ve worked with them for many years and this tour has worked out really well for us” said Bruster

The Blue Electric Light Tour finishes the European leg in August and continues in the US in the Autumn.