In the last couple of months, I saw three different tours that had me thinking; “Is this a new lighting fad I should look into? Did three different shows each come up with a different touring design concept that was based around their love for this one lighting fixture?” Either way, the fact that three separate acts chose to carry GLP X4 Bars as their predominant light source in their touring package is enough to sit up and take notice.
The Naked and the Famous
Liam Griffiths is a U.K.-based designer who looks after The Naked and the Famous, among other acts. They recently completed a club tour of dates in the States, and Griffiths came over to look after their lighting needs.
“They are not backing a new product at the time, so the budget was low,” Griffiths says. “I wanted just one type of fixture. I’ve always had a great relationship with Mark Ravenhill, and GLP is always my first choice when it comes to LED fixtures.”
In Europe, Liam found himself with plenty of gear for a full production, but in America, the venues were smaller. He chose to use just eleven X4 Bar 20’s, an automated strip light, which he states are perfect for a one-trailer tour.
“I’ve seen these bars used on other shows, and I distinctively knew that I could design a show based solely on this fixture.” He says. “At the same time, I wanted to do something else with the bars that I hadn’t seen done yet — base the show on running content instead of built-in effects on the console.” He has been using the bitmap function on the grandMA2 console to run custom content through the fixtures to light the band.
He lined the width of the stage in a half circle with the fixtures hung vertically on pipe and base. He is running the show time coded from the desk and makes full use of the tilt and zoom functions. Individual control of each cell in the strip lights allows for great effects when pixel mapped, that cannot be achieved easily any other way.
“The Naked and the Famous tour is a perfect example of ‘less is more,’” Liam continues. “It’s really in your face at some parts, and almost hidden, while subtly side lighting the band from the side at others.”
He goes on to say “GLP’s color tones have always been great and that’s the main reason I’ve stuck with them since 2010. The large zoom is impressive, but you get some great looks when the light is a narrow shaft.”
Upstaging provided the fixtures for the tour. Liam’s currently incorporating more of these fixtures into another touring show he is lighting, the band Clean Bandit.
The 1975
Tobias Rylander, a key member of Los Angeles-based lighting design collective, Seven Design Works, has been making extensive use of GLP’s award-winning X4 Bar 20 LED battens to illuminate various touring lighting sets including Manchester, U.K.-based band, The 1975.
Recently, the production has had to scale up from the originally booked theatre-sized venues to full-size arenas. “Fortunately, I started by designing an arena sized show that could be scaled back,” smiles the Swedish-born designer, “because we had a feeling it would go that way.”
When Tobias first saw these fixtures, he quickly recognized that these multi-functional lights would generate a wall of color, but at the same time, their compact form factor would leave the source hidden. Generating giant color fields and sweeps from the innovative fixtures, he has found a variety of different looks to augment his show. “The way I use the X4 Bars is to create these big fields in straight lines; they butt up to each other seamlessly and when we need to scale back we simply cut a fixture from each side.”
Intense discussions took place prior to the tour. They discussed everything from artwork color themes to the impact of social media. “We bounced material back and forth, and when they talked about visual artists such as James Turrell as influences, it suggested big fields of color interspersed with monochrome and pulsating, random strobing. It made perfect sense to use the X4 Bars.”
To achieve this, VER supplied 28 X4 Bar 20’s on the first leg, increasing inventory threefold to a mighty 84 of the battens for the larger arena shows, which continue into the New Year.
For the big U.K. dates, he and his programmer Darren Purves have added 56 of the X4 Bar 20s under a graduated floor, as a pool of lighting which comes to life when lead singer Matty Healy steps into the circle. The Bars also feature as additional lip fills in the downstage area.
In a largely monochromatic setting, the lighting juxtaposes with a number of 9mm LED video pillars, which are used as light sources, he says. “I have lines of X4 Bar 20s both on the downstage edge in front of the band to create a wall of color and one on the upstage edge in front of the main video screen to create and match the color of the video content. I have different color fields for the video screen — with solid block color from the Bars operating seamlessly off the back wall. It’s a way to not only give more depth to the video but to be able to tilt them down and zoom them out to create a field of silhouette.” And silhouetting is an integral part of the presentation.
Explosions in the Sky
Tobias has also taken on the production design role with the Texas band, Explosions in the Sky. The design and scenography evolved only after a number of conversations with the band, who specialize in elaborate guitar-oriented instrumentals, which they refer to as “cathartic mini-symphonies.”
Tobias explains, “I visited them rehearsing in Austin many times and presented a couple of different versions of set designs that we all really liked. But we ended up agreeing that just the fields of colors and light created by the X4 Bar 20s and Solaris LED flares would carry the show and enhance the music perfectly. It was all that was needed to push the band’s instrumental music.”
He says that creating big fields of color is what these award-winning battens do best. “For Explosions, we use just three layers — one in front, one mid-stage at backline and one upstage — so it’s simple and efficient. The floor kit is their main touring package, and for bigger shows the FX on the floor will be mirrored on the trusses — with double the fixtures doing exactly the same thing.”
With their extreme versatility, Tobias says the X4 Bars, quickly became his ‘go-to’ solution when seeking a tiltable fixture with big mid-air sweeps and random strobing while still having the ability to function as a conventional cyc light. “These lights have become a workhorse for me,” he states, “and unlike a lot of fixtures they deliver a nice true white and have a good dimmer curve. They color mix very well and very smoothly with good throw distance and can fill a whole proscenium.”
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