Rapper and Singer/Songwriter ‘Example’ has kicked off his first ever arena tour with a stunning lighting system designed by imaginative LD Graham ‘Grum’ Leesmith. Over 100 fixtures have been supplied by Ambersphere Solutions to leading rental house Neg Earth for what has become a showcase tour for the latest generation of Clay Paky equipment. Featuring heavily are more than 50 of the brand new QWO800 fixtures, a luminaire which can stand up to the most demanding of lighting applications. ‘I’ve been blown away by the QWO800. Initially I had specified the Alpha Spot 700 but Neg Earth invited me to go and check out the new QWO800, which had literally just arrived in their warehouse. The optics are amazing, the light output is fantastic and the speed with which this fixture moves is phenomenal,’ observes Leesmith.

Complementing the QWO800 is the increasingly popular Sharpy extreme beam fixture. With over 30 of these included on the ‘Example’ rig, their impact on the show’s imaginative lighting design is significant. ‘ The amount of light you get out of a Sharpy is just ridiculous from such a low power fixture’ continues Leesmith, ‘They weigh next to nothing, are bright enough to create a beam on an outdoor stage in the middle of summer, they move faster than anything else on the market, and the looks you can create with them are truly unique.’

Perfect then, for ‘Example’s demanding first arena tour, and with the Clay Paky line-up being completed with the use of over 20 Alpha Wash 1500s, Leesmith is in no doubt about why he specified these products. ‘The reason I chose Clay Paky is simply because their latest generation of fixtures are some of the best on the market in terms of build quality, optical output and features,’ he concludes.