More details from SES (www.specialeventservices.com):
Starting his tour in clubs as small as a couple of hundred people, Ed’s fan base rapidly grew internationally, thanks in part to spending 6 months supporting the Taylor Swift RED Tour. Although no one could predict that Ed would be able to sell out Madison Square Garden not once… but three times.
SES first got the call to support Ed over the summer of 2012 as he was preparing to come over for his first headlining run in the states. “We were connected to the tour by Lars Brogaard of Major Tom, Ed’s audio supplier, who we had built a relationship with in the past. When we first got the call, we were a bit skeptical of how well an “acoustic singer-songwriter” would do in the states, but decided to make a large investment in Ed and provide the lighting and onstage LED Video for the tour. It quickly became apparent that the investment would pay off when we turned up for the first load in and the line was already wrapped around the block at 9am,” said Michael Brammer, SES director of touring operations.
That first show quickly led to a great working relationship with Ed and the entire crew — partly due to the staff of seasoned pros that Ed hired to tour with him, something not often seen with an artist touring to support their debut album. “The whole crew, Chris Marsh (PM/FOH – Diana Ross, Michael Jackson), Mark Friend (TM – Andrea Bocelli, The Wanted, Conor Mynard), Mark Cunniffe (Show Designer – Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones), just to name a few, were great to work and communicate with,” states Jeff Cranfill, SES Director of Lighting.
Gear:
1 grandMA2 Fullsize console (with grandMA2 Light for backup)
2 GreenHippo Media Servers
40 Aoto LS25W800 LED Panels
18 Vari*Lite VLX Wash
9 Clay Paky Sharpys
9 Vari*Lite VL880 Spots
9 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes with Scrollers
9 Linear 4-Lite Blinders
The set was made up of aluminum scaffolding arranged in blocks, with most holding the LED panels, and some carrying lighting fixtures. Half of the blocks were arranged in flying frames on automated chain hoists that would fly in and out during the show to create different visual effects, combined with custom designed video content, some of which was triggered by Ed’s guitar. This created a visually stunning show that looked much larger than it actually was, making the rig very versatile for different sized venues. There was also a mid-stage truss that held four VLX and the nine Sharpys arranged on three “Ladders”. “Having seen the rig in venues as small as House of Blues to going into Madison Square Garden with no additional gear was quite interesting, I am pretty sure that the Audio system had more rigging points per side than the lighting rig had in total, but after watching the show you wouldn’t get that impression,” states Michael Brammer.
“SES loves being able to start a relationship with Up-and-Coming artists such as Ed, and it is very rewarding when you are able to go from a club show to headlining multiple nights at Madison Square Garden in such a short time period. That is really what our company vision is all about,” states SES President Jim Brammer.
“I can’t wait to see what Ed has up his sleeve next with the new album and tour. I think the first two years were just the start of a great, long lasting relationship with the guys.” Michael Brammer concludes.
Ed Sheeran + Tour USA Crew:
Artist Manager: Stuart Camp
Production Manager/FOH: Chris Marsh
Tour Manager: Mark Friend
Guitar/Video Tech: Trevor Dawkins
Show Designer: Mark Cunniffe
Lighting/Video Director: James Scott (Fall 2012) Paul Smith (Winter 2013 and MSG Shows) Phil Mead (RED Tour)
Lighting/Kinesys Tech: Phil Mead (Winter 2013)
SES Lighting Techs: Troy Grubb, Alan Peterson, and Will Lowdermilk
SES Account Rep: Michael Brammer
Lead Truck Driver: Lorne Stanfa
Vendors:
Audio (Worldwide): Major Tom Ltd.
Lighting/LED Video (USA): SES (Special Event Services)
Lighting/LED Video (UK/Europe): Amber Lites
Lighting/LED Video (Australia): PRG
I-Mag Video (MSG Shows Only): CT Touring
Transportation (USA): SET (Special Event Transportation)
Tour Buses: Four Seasons Leasing
