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DESIGNING LITTLE SIMZ: NO THANK YOU TOUR Core members of Little Simz’s white shirt and black tie-clad road crew discuss the ‘extravagance in simplicity’ approach to the artist’s latest landmark live campaign…
Words: Jacob Waite Photos: Phoebe Fox 9@shotbyphox
Hot on the heels of a successful tour of the US and Europe, Little Simz and her production team headed to London’s Alexandra Palace for back-to-back, sold-out hometown shows – commemorating a successful 2023 on the touring circuit and signifying the artist’s steady rise to stardom, following the release of her fourth studio album, No Thank You. With the flight cases loaded-out and tour truck’s doors slammed firmly shut, TPi checked in with core members of the aptly white shirt and black tie-clad crew – a nod to the album’s iconography and now the de facto stage and audience attire. “It’s been some journey,” recalled Production Manager, Eric ‘EZ’ Wade, who has been an integral cog in the Little Simz live touring machine since the early days, witnessing the artist’s live output evolve in scale, from headlining the small room at EartH Hackney through to headlining two back-to-back, sold-out dates at the Ally Pally in the space of four years. “The growth speaks for itself. Once you gain greater recognition, your capability to represent and creatively portray an artist is enhanced. We always step it up for hometown London shows.” Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and rigging infrastructure and crew, while 4Wall Entertainment provided video equipment and on-site support to fulfil the creative brief. “Colour Sound Experiment and I have a longstanding history, all our artists go through them, depending on availability,” EZ explained. “I’ve
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been looking to work with 4Wall for a long time, but I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity, and they came through en force and went above and beyond to support the vision of the show. “We wanted to do something bold and big, and both of our visual suppliers understood the brief and they came through swinging,” EZ added, citing the support of Account Handlers, Alex Ryan and Jordan Dormer at Colour Sound Experiment and 4Wall Account Handlers, Rhodri Shaw and Simon Barrington. “Simz directs a lot of the show herself. She has a very loud and powerful voice when it comes to what kind of show she is looking for and is very hands-on with the execution, as well as the early stages of the project,” EZ said, retracing the creative process. “TANCK worked closely with Jeremy Cole to curate the visuals.” The result was a theatrical and narrativedriven show that put Little Simz at the forefront of the design, displaying her artistry without any gags or unnecessary bells and whistles. “We tried a different type of show to what people are used to this year. Simz has always toured with a live five-piece band with lighting more of a focus than visuals. This time around, we tried a different approach, stemming from Simz and how she wanted her show to look. We wanted to be more theatrical, without showing all our cards at once,” EZ explained. “The main difference with this tour is scale,” added Tour Manager, Casey Elisha. “Ending with two sold-out shows at a venue like Alexandra
Palace is such a huge achievement and a statement. It shows Simz’s capabilities as an artist. Closing the tour in this way has been the icing on the cake for what’s been a great year.” The “all-encompassing” LED screens provided a “strong” visual backdrop and “storytelling device” which complemented the intensity and ferocity of Simz’s bars, with monochromatic video content, which later burst into vivid colour, helping introduce elements of the show as it progresses – like the arrival of support acts or further band members for some tracks to keep the “energy” and “dynamism” of the show, according to EZ, who spends a large percentage of the show as animated as ever. “I’m hands-on with any project I’m involved in. You will often find me at FOH during show time, so I can find ways to improve each show, whether that is from a creative or technical standpoint. I believe it’s important to fulfil that role, because ultimately, everybody in the team is doing their utmost to ensure things are perfect but sometimes it takes a fresh set of eyes to consider what may be needed elsewhere. The spreadsheets are still waiting for me once the show is done, but at the same time, you’ll never catch me sitting in the production office out of choice during the show.” His unorthodox approach also came in useful when there was a medical emergency in the crowd. EZ was straight at the FOH barrier, shining a light into the crowd, successfully directing and guiding venue security to where they were