Working with Adlib was a dream. From the initial email to the on-site experience proved to be a flawless and enjoyable experience. Al and the team brought professionalism and excellence throughout the tour.
Tom Hester, Tour Manager, Rend Collective
The Requirement
Rend Collective, a Northern Irish Christian folk rock worship band, required production lighting and video support for their first tour back in the UK since 2020.
Having had to reschedule their previous UK dates, the Northern Irish rockers were ready to kick off their Autumn UK dates in style, starting with big London and Manchester shows, before touring smaller venues throughout the country.
Working alongside the band’s Lighting Designer Danny Navarro, Adlib supplied lighting and video equipment as well as crew for the tour, with an ‘extras’ package and additional crew for the first two shows in London and Manchester.
The band’s audio needs were met by Belfast based audio specialists Forfey, with whom the eclectic collective has a long-standing working relationship.
The Solution
After the initial enquiry, Adlib’s Account Manager, Oli Adams, understood that scalability was key as the band were going to tour venues that had a wide variety of sizes as well as differing flying capacities, limiting the choice of equipment that could be used.
Following careful consideration of the touring venues as well as feedback from the band, Oli decided to deploy a flown 6m x 3.5m Roe Vanish8 Video Wall, which acted as a centerpiece of the show, displaying the band’s looped video content. For playback purposes, the band supplied a Resolume playback system, completing a tidy and neat video solution.
As the Adlib touring production team only consisted of Al Mouat and Charlie Rushton, who took on Production Manager and LX/Video Technician roles, it was essential to make the most of Adlib’s prep facilities in Knowsley, and pre-rig as many units as possible.
Therefore, the lighting floor package that was easily toured across the country comprised of GLP JDC1s, Martin Mac Aura XBs, CuePix LED 2-cell Blinders and Chauvet Maverick MK3s. To complete the compact pre-rig lighting package, was a grandMA 2 Lite which was used for control.
However, as the first two dates of the tour were in bigger capacity venues, those required additional lighting and video units as well as crew to assist with the setup.
For the Manchester show, Adlib deployed a lighting package consisting of Ayrton Khamsins, whilst PA Racks & Stacks comprised of L-Acoustics K2 & KS28s.
The additional crew was made up of James Coghlan, Sam Gallagher, Kev Byatt and Ben Braviner.
The Result
Since the initial tour had to be postponed, the awaited return to the UK was a resounding success. The band itself as well as small touring crew, created a tightly knit family unit, which resulted in great atmosphere that was certainly felt by the fans that packed out every venue visited by Rend Collective.
Tom Hester, Tour Manager, concluded “Working with Adlib was a dream. From the initial email to the on-site experience proved to be a flawless and enjoyable experience. Al and the team brought professionalism and excellence throughout the tour.”
Photography by Chris McDavid