Back to the future and flying high with Kinesys & N-Dubz

Multiple MOBO award winning British hip hop trio N-Dubz delighted their fans in 2022 after announcing news to reform following an 11-year hiatus.

For 6 years, from 2006 to 2011, N-Dubz dominated the UK charts, contributing to a changing urban culture in the UK. Their first two albums ‘Uncle B’ and ‘Against All Odds’ were certified platinum in the UK.

However, it was in May 2022 that group members Tulisa, Dappy and Fazer announced plans to reform with new music and a nationwide UK Arena Tour.

Their 23-date Back To The Future arena tour kicked off in Newcastle on November 7^th, before heading to some of the biggest cities in the UK including Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and London. On stage, above the performers in the mothergrid, were three enormous lighting pods, each individually controlled by 12 apexDRIVE’s and each connected to a 1,250kg apexHOIST.

These 1.7ton lighting pods – which doubled up with stage decks to become risers as required during the show – were flown above the stage, creating dynamic and mesmerizing visual effects during the performance. The tour was one of the first tours that uses Kinesys apexDRIVE’s and the TAIT Navigator Automation Platform™ together, allowing for a smooth and efficient operation resulting in a truly unforgettable show for the fans.

“The Kinesys apexHOIST is a great product and perfect for these applications where smooth, precise motion is essential. You can achieve really floaty effects and a weightlessness when changing direction which is far more akin to a winch than a hoist. The integrated load cell is particularly useful, as no head room is lost to added load cells“
Joe Shepard – Kinesys Operator

Credits:

Production Company – 24-7 Productions
Production Director – John Pryer
Production Manager – George Doherty
Staging Company – TAIT
Automation – Joe Sheppard
Show Designer – Tim Dunn (Nvisible)
Lighting Operator – Robert Grobler