LOS ANGELES — Coheed and Cambria, the American progressive rock band with concept albums chronicling the sci-fi Amory Wars in an imagined universe dubbed Heaven’s Fence, performed 25 shows last fall lit by Clearwing’s Michael “Greek” Hionis, the show’s LD/lighting director/programmer. The rig, controlled with a grandMA2 light and grandMA OnPC system, included a complement of Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20s and Sharpy fixtures. Clearwing Productions provide gear for the shows, most of which sold out, in two dozen U.S. cities and Toronto.
More details from Clay Paky and MA Lighting distributor A.C.T. Lighting (www.actlighting.com):
Coheed and Cambria’s set list followed In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, their second album, which was first released in 2003 and has been recently remastered and re-released. Joining Coheed and Cambria was another progressive rock band, Thank You Scientist.
Before detailing the looks for the shows, Hionis provided some background on the ongoing sci-fi narrative that serves as the basis for the band’s music.
“The album tells the story of Claudio Kilgannon and his journey of self-discovery in a science fiction universe,” Hionis said. “Each song moves the characters along, and the lighting needed to be able to follow the quick changes to their emotional states.
“The focal point in the rig was the custom Keywork set piece, a visual representation of the energy that binds the planets together in the universe,” Hionis continued. “In addition to the Keywork, the lighting was designed to transport the audience to the various locations, including a landslide battle, a dark city full of secrets, a space ship and an ominous castle of evil.”
Hionis was tasked with blending the Keywork with the rest of the design on the stage. “We lit the Keywork with 60 meters of LED strips with the help of Kevin Opatz. It hung above the drummer, with a two-meter circle truss behind it. The front edge of the truss was wrapped in sharks-tooth to emphasize the glow coming off of the Keywork,” he added.
Four truss towers were mixed within a row of guitar cabinets flanking the drummer. “Each tower had two B-EYE K20s at varying symmetrical heights — six, eight and ten feet — with half the fixtures mounted above and half hanging below fixed pipes so I could make sure I hit every inch of the room,” he noted. “The B-EYEs’ circular design and macros could look like anything, including more planets within the Keywork.”
Six Sharpys were positioned on the stage floor in front of the towers and drum risers. “I wanted the beams to look as tall as possible,” Hionis said. “I needed a fixture that could punch through the B-EYEs when necessary, but because much of the show was dark and moody, it was less about full stage washes and more about dark and sinister beams spread sparsely across the stage.” The Sharpy’s tight beam, compact footprint and quick movement all proved to be assets on the tour, Hionis said.
Along with Hionis and Opatz, the design team and crew included show designer Blaze James, tour manager Pete Stahl, and production manager Mike Babcock, who also served as FOH engineer.
