Anthony Hazelden chooses Ayrton for Burna Boy’s Love, Damini Stadium Tour

Grammy Award-winning global super star, Burna Boy, brought his Love, Damini Stadium tour to the 80,000 capacity London Stadium last summer in front of his largest solo audience to date, simultaneously becoming the first ever African artist to headline a UK stadium.

The tour celebrated his sixth album “Love Damini”, with his electrifying performances, and dramatic production and lighting designs from Anthony Hazelden of Live Lighting.

Hazelden chose a quantity of Ayrton Huracán LT, Eurus Profile and Domino LT fixtures as the mainstay of his London Stadium rig, which were supplied by London-based Colour Sound Experiment. Ayrton is distributed exclusively in the UK by Ambersphere Solutions.

“We went with all-Ayrton gear because their products are all LED-sourced,” he explains. “Another major reason for our choice was our need for high power output, but also some IP-rating – and the Domino LT meets all of those needs. Most of the shows I design now are heading towards IP fixtures. Crucially this allows us to place units around the stage or the stadium which is something we just couldn’t do before.”

Hazelden rigged 40 Huracan LT as the main flown spot fixture on stage, with 30 Eurus Profiles at centre stage lining the risers, all within the protection of the stage roof. 32 of the IP-rated Domino LT fixtures were rigged on the FOH delay towers, cat walk and B stage, and in the stage right and left wings – all in areas that have no weather protection as the units’ IP-rating afforded all the protection that was needed.

“By having a range of Ayrton fixtures, we could be sure the colours matched nicely without having to make many changes,” he explains. “We could also have the same gobos across all the fixtures which made the lighting states look a lot more uniform.

“Because there were so many wash fixtures, I needed spots that would be very bright, and able to cut through with amazing aerial and beam effects. The light output from these units is incredible: some of the looks where the units face towards the roof of the stadium and light the whole structure looked stunning!”

Burna Boy’s Love, Damini tour continues across North America until March 2024.

Text: Julie Harper

Photos: BC Media Essex © Greg Biscoe