Elbow

ELBOW - UK AND EUROPEAN TOUR | SEPTEMBER 2021

What Cate says:

Three times postponed, this Elbow campaign was the last of my projects to be cancelled before the pandemic, and the first to hit the road in September 2021.

My creative concept responded to a brief that demanded a flexible stage design, which would not only shine in European arenas but also scale up and down - in size, but not impact - for an extensive UK tour of theatres, clubs and arenas.

Sadly, due to the Covid pandemic the band had to cancel the European leg of the tour but did successfully complete a full production, 21-date tour in September 2021. This at a time where most of the industry was unsure if they would ever get back on the road.

Fast forward two and a quarter years on and the European leg of the tour finally kicked off in Brussels, where the band were met by rapturous applause from an incredible audience at the Vorst Nationaal Arena.

I’ve worked with elbow for 14 years and this campaign was the most challenging brief to date. Over the years the band and I have developed a mutual shorthand in the creative discussions and design process. This has resulted in a deep understanding of the stage looks that work well for the music, performance, and audience.

However, the ‘Giants of All Sizes’ campaign turned much of that on its head. Self-described by the band as "Prog - but without the solos", the songs from this album have considerably darker connotations than earlier albums and we all agreed that the stage and lighting design needed to reiterate that.
We knew we wanted a bolder, starker presentation that leaned more heavily on light and shadow, colour, angle and level than it did on the scenic elements. The process was as challenging as it was refreshing and it took some time for us all to agree on the way forward.

After several creative discussions with the artist and their management, while taking into consideration the darker narrative of the campaign, the budget, and the substantial differences in the size of the venues, I responded with a large curved, tiered riser stage design augmented by an emotive light show.

My aim was to emphasize and magnify the interaction between the individual musicians on stage and enable front man Guy Garvey to move freely amongst them, plus fully support the instinctive intimacy between the band and their cherished audience.

The riser system intentionally bought an old school, musical theatre feel to the presentation - something that aligned with the prog rock influences behind the latest record.

The support acts were treated as guest performers and the show was run in the style of a theatre performance. The band had also invited guest vocalists and a guest bass player, resulting in several instrumental parts and solos throughout the show. Guy was keen to move away from permanently standing downstage centre and to become an integrated part of the ensemble when he chose to. The tiered stage enabled him to blend in with the band members, visit different parts of the stage as the show progressed and stand out as the front man when the show demanded it.

Although the stage design was created to provide the aesthetic for elbow’s performance and enabled Guy’s continuous movement throughout the show, it also provided a platform for the support acts, Jesca Hoop and her ensemble and Pete Jobson (I Am Kloot), to move in and out of the ensemble throughout the evening. The idea was that all the musicians involved performed as one, and that guests were not treated as ‘other’ to elbow.

The show demanded a sense of intimacy, it had to pull the audience's eye right into the stage space and onto the whole ensemble, regardless the size of the venue. To that end I opted for a heavily raked ‘ceiling’ of lighting units, hung high at the front and almost reachable from the riser upstage at the back.

In addition - and perhaps not the obvious choice for an Elbow show - we added lasers into the lighting mix for the first time in the band’s history. They bought a magical dimension to the middle of the show by delivering a multi-coloured canopy of light and smoke, drawing the stage space and audience together. Pretty much every night, as the lasers kicked in for ‘What Am I Without You’, it provoked an audible gasp from the audience. It was a real goosebumps moment!

Press:
https://www.livedesignonline.com/news/31-days-plots-cate-carter-elbow

PR:
https://www.germanlightproducts.com/band-boosted-by-powerful-footlight-feel-around-the-risers/

Previous press on other projects Cate has delivered for this artist:
https://newsubstance.co.uk/case_study/elbow/

Awards:

Show Credits:

Show design: Cate Carter
Production Design: Mike Smith
Lighting Design / Direction: Cate Carter
Lighting Programmer & Operator: Franki McDade
Laser Programmer & Operator: Ivan Dokmanović
Tour Manager: Tom Piper
Stage Manager: Jonny Gallagher
Crew Chief & Production: Mike Sheppard
Lighting Supplier: Lite Alternative
Laser Supplier: ER
Staging Supplier: All Access
Audio Supplier: Skan PA
Artist Management: Phil Chadwick / TRC Management

Show Design Concept - Cate Carter
Production Design - Cate Carter & Mike Smith
Lighting Director & Programmer - Franki McDade
Laser Programmer & Operator - Ivan Dokmanović

Tour Manager - Tom Piper
Production Coordinator - Paula Emissah / Nick
Stage Managers - Jonny Gallagher & Rich House
Crew Chief & Production - Mike Sheppard

FOH Audio Engineer - Danny Evans
Monitor Engineer - Julian Helme

PA - SKAN
Lights & Rigging - Lite Alternative
Lasers - ER Productions
Staging - All Access

Artist Management - Phil Chadwick / TRC Management.