When Prince comes 2 town, it's always a big production. Lighting designer Demfis Fyssicopulos was tasked with keeping it that way for Prince's current Welcome 2 America tour. The show is presented in the round on a stage in the shape of Prince's unpronounceable symbol – the same shape used for Prince's 2007 Super Bowl halftime show performance. High above the stage is a lighting rig in the shape of a hexagon with six spokes radiating from the center. At the end of each spoke is a pod that is hidden by six large video displays. Four of the six pods also house followspots. The entire edge of the stage is outlined in Nocturne V-9 video display tiles. Control Freak Systems provided custom software that divides the tiles into 290 segments, each of which is treated as a lighting fixture. That allowed Fyssicopulos and lighting director Garry "Sport" Waldie to program chases and waves just like they would a lighting fixture.
The design team took advantage of a feature of the Control Freak software that brings in a line feed from FOH into the media server and lets them to modulate the entire outline of the symbol. They were able to isolate certain frequencies that they wanted to modulate, like cowbell in "Cream" or the kick drum in "Musicology" so that it animated the graphics. Another part of the software allowed band members to trigger MIDI notes from their keyboard or use footswitches to trigger other chases.
The gear was supplied by PRG, Nocturne, and Control Freak Systems. Malcolm Weldom is the production manager and Dan McDonough Jr. is the crew chief.
