Millions of people recognize the distinctively sensitive tone of James Blunt’s singing voice, primarily with his mega-hit, “You’re Beautiful.” But most would be surprised to learn that the singer-songwriter, raised as a military brat, got his pilot’s license at age 16. Or that he is an accomplished ski racer. Or that, as captain of a British military unit in 1999, he led the squadron that secured an airport held by Serbian forces in Kosovo, making Blunt the first British officer to enter the Serb-held Kosovan capital of Priština.
The lighting and set designer for Blunt’s latest tour, Paul Normandale of Lite Alternative Design, has a knack for defying expectations as well, with wildly different visuals to accompany different songs. So does Glen Johnson, who is serving as lighting director for Blunt’s current tour, implementing Normandale’s design. Normandale is now working on Jack Johnson’s tour.
Paul Normandale has been taking the alternative approach with his lighting designs since Lite Alternative Design got its start in 1990, working with such independant or alternative artists as The Sugarcubes and PJ Harvey. Lite Alternative’s distaste for the status quo served them well with more “mainstream” artists as well, including Björk, White Stripes, Sigur Rós, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Arcade Fire, Jack Johnson and Paul McCartney.
One example of the unique twists Lite Alternative Design achieves for the James Blunt tour is the way that foreground elements and their shadows appear and disappear against background gradations, creating visual interest and a sense of push-and-pull. “We project through the LED web to give a 3D visual of the images as they stand out via the low res web,” Johnson says, noting that Normandale “likes the high res and low res versions,” and also “likes to change things around in the shape and style of the stage, giving visual surprises and altering the look and feel of the stage over the performance.”
Lite Alternative Design provided the lights for the James Blunt tour outside of the U.S. For the U.S. portion of the tour, Upstaging, Inc. supplied the lighting, as well as the trucking. The lighting crew chief was Johnny G, the lighting tech was Chris Barclay. Richard Jewel was the video tech. Mark Reuben was the production manager, and Richard Hayden was the tour manager. Upstaging was “the first vendor I ever used in the U.S., nearly 20 years ago,” Normandale says. “They have looked after me faultlessly. The equipment is always perfect, never a compromise,” he adds. “If they don’t have it, they buy it for us.”
Mini video cameras capture images of Blunt and his band as they perform. “They are placed about the stage in various places, one next to James’ mic, and they are fed to the front of house via eight BNC lines and mixed, then sent back to the front truss via two BNC SDI feeds,” Johnson says. “The video account is via XL Video UK. They are fantastic in their support and helpful direction,” he adds.
