Trevor Ahlstrand Lit the Band with a Gemini LSV Rig for its Tour with Marilyn Manson
American heavy metal rockers Slipknot hit the road this summer with Marilyn Manson on a tour lasting from June through September. Trevor Ahlstrand of Ahlstrand Productions provided the production and lighting design with lighting, audio and video elements for the tour supplied by Gemini Light Sound Video out of Dallas. Both have worked with Slipknot on several tours.
Known for their aggressive style of music and energetic live shows, Slipknot has been touring with a Gemini lighting and video package that featured Elation lighting fixtures and video tiles since it kicked off its “Prepare for Hell” world tour in late 2014. Continuing on in that tradition, Ahlstrand once again turned to Gemini to provide him with some newer products that the company had acquired since the last tour.
The Lighting Rig
The designer was looking for a combination beam and profile fixture that could keep up with the band’s hard driving show, and Elation’s Platinum SBX Pro seemed well suited to the task.
“The SBX moving heads were chosen for their output to punch through the battling light of the video wall and to be able to backlight the band below,” Ahlstrand explains. “One of the main reasons I chose the SBX was its great beam while in profile mode. It has a great even field with a lot of output.”
Ahlstrand has a row of the 3-in-1 SBX luminaires placed on top of the set to give separation between the set and video wall. “The gobos look great, and with the combination of the two prisms and its beam mode, you can get so many different looks out of the light you never really have to repeat anything.” Because the SBX also includes a frost system, the fixture can also be used for wash effects.
The designer also utilized Martin’s MAC Viper Air-FX fixtures for additional beams as they have been a staple on many of Ahlstrand’s shows. He chose Clay Paky Stormy CC for the strobes. Also back this year were the TMB Firefly fixtures — strings of LED festoon lights — that Trevor can chase in colors and intensity. For audience lighting, the designer stayed with LED products, utilizing Elation Cuepix Blinder WW2 fixtures, which use two 100 Watt COB light sources.
The Video Wall
For the current tour, Ahlstrand turned to Elation’s EPT6IP video panels with a tight 6mm pixel pitch. The video wall is a large 16:9 upstage screen flanked by fixtures on either side. “It was added to help give us a different look from previous years going into some of the same markets,” Ahlstrand explains. “These panels look amazing with [an] incredible balance of blacks and color. The weight was minimal for the size and resolution of the wall.”
Designed for rapid setup and teardown, the EPT6IP LED panel delivers 5,000 nits of brightness — plenty of power to shine through, and it’s well suited for shows with high ambient lighting.
“Reliable Design built us some great frames to travel our video product in,” states Gemini account rep Jason Cain. “Between these frames and the Tyler HUD truss we used on tour, our speed and efficiency was well documented. We were loading out an 11-truck tour in an hour and 15 minutes when we played sheds.” Cain also noted that Gemini spec’d Chainmaster 1- and 2-ton hoists to secure the rigging load.
The current tour plays a mix of imagery across the video wall, with the band themselves involved in content production. “We run some B roll content from the band’s videos mixed in with a lot of their logos and original art and content shot by Clown, one of the band members,” Ahlstrand says. “Clown is very involved in the video process and brings a lot of his original art that fans know and connect with into the show.” A PRG Mbox media server was used to play back content and was run from the grandMA2 Light console along with the lighting.
“The Gemini crew has been great, and so has the gear,” Ahlstrand continues. “They handled both video and lighting on tour and got it up and down quickly without any real hold ups. The gear was in great condition and needed little to no maintenance throughout the tour.” Along with the gear, Gemini also provided four lighting techs and two video techs for the tour.
Out on tour as lighting director for the past couple of years is Greg “Little G” Kocerck, who “has done an amazing job keeping the show looking great every day, no matter what venue type or country,” Ahlstrand says. “He has impeccable timing and a great eye! The production manager, Jordan Coopersmith and the entire Slipknot crew do an amazing job working together to keep the set and show consistent and looking great.”
