The Divide Tour is Ed Sheeran’s third world concert tour, supporting the 27-year old’s third studio album. The spectacular lighting setup has been designed by production designer Mark Cunniffe with multiple SGM G-4 Wash-Beams and P-10s.
SGM Light on tour with Ed Sheeran
"I have a real problem with plastic domes protecting the lights in outdoor environments. SGM’s IP-rating and reliability in poor weather, makes them the ideal and first choice for me. For instance, with Robbie William’s tour last year, it was only the SGM products that were bulletproof in the outdoor environments. That’s why I choose SGM’s P-10 and G-4 Wash-Beam for the Ed Sheeran tour; in the outdoor environments, they are absolutely bulletproof," explained Mark Cunniffe.
“It was only the SGM products that were bulletproof in the outdoor environments." - Mark Cunniffe
Beautiful design matters
The lighting setup for the popular Divide Tour's stadium shows included 56 G-4 Wash-Beams as well as 28 P-10 floodlights.
“I love the size and shape of the G-4 Wash-Beam and I love the beam that comes out of it. Often, with moving heads, they are bulky and can become a feature in themselves. I love the light but I hate the lights themselves. I want people to look at the actual lights, not the body of the unit. The G-4 is not an obtrusive unit; it’s small, beautifully designed, IP-rated, and very powerful for its size. I am really pleased with this product-” - Mark Cunniffe
Superb for audience illumination
Mark Cunniffe has been working closely with Ed Sheeran since he first broke into the music scene in 2011. For a big show in Cardiff, Mark Cunniffe chose to add additional P-10’s to capture great audience footage for a film shooting.
“I am using the P-10 extensively in a show in Cardiff for audience illumination. Although the IP-rating of this product isn’t as important as the G-4, as it is in a protected area, I love this fixture because its immense output and various beam angles provide superb audience shootage without using a ton of power. So the fact that they are LED units, very powerful, and IP-rated, makes them the first choice for me for this kind of application.” - Mark Cunniffe
Record-breaking tour
With more than 300,000 tickets sold in a single day for shows in Ireland, it completely smashed previous records. The Divide tour also broke multiple records in Australia and New Zealand; the most shows by a single artist on one tour, and the highest selling single concert tour in Australian history, with over 1 million people in the audiences.
It also works for Robbie
At the moment, I am very fond of SGM’s G-4 Wash-Beam, and it certainly works extremely well for Robbie [Williams], because he always has a catwalk and works the audience. I can use the G-4 to light the catwalk, use it as a fresnel kicker, and as audience highlight. It is just an excellent fixture for this type of application. The P-10 I am very fond of because it is just such a powerful unit, and I like to use it when I need supplement lighting for audience highlight for film shootings,” said Mark Cunniffe.
Find full schedule for the Divide Tour here: http://www.edsheeran.com/tour