DALLAS – Lighting designer Tom Kenny is using Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Spot luminaires to create the proper dark mood for The Who’s “Quadrophenia” tour this winter. PRG is supplying the lighting for the 37-date tour of North America, wherein the band perform songs from their classic album.
More details from Philips Vari-Lite (http://www.vari-lite.com):
DALLAS – Lighting designer Tom Kenny is harnessing the power of Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Spot luminaires to create a dramatic and evocative “Quadrophenic” experience for fans attending The Who’s US tour this winter.
Kenny brings a theatrical design to the 37-date tour, which visits almost every major city in North America.
“I used the VL3500 Spot luminaires on this tour primarily for their reliability and excellent output. Also, it’s a no smoke or haze tour, so I needed a source that can effectively cut through our clever and powerful video system. I’ve designed the show, like all my shows with high video content, to ensure lighting and video is conveyed as a cohesive visual event.”
This current realization of the album “Quadrophenia” is a 21st Century version of the classic rock album, but with familiar themes of darkness and loneliness. Kenny’s lighting is therefore a departure from the usual massive beams and powerful display of lighting that The Who fans are used to. This time it supports and bookends all aspects of the video content, which is displayed on three circular screens that backdrop the band and give context to the music.
He continued, “The Vari-Lite color palette has definitely allowed me to add the sprinklings of color that I wanted to in the arenas. I always love the color and beam size on the VL3500 Spot so they always make up the majority of my main workhorse luminaires.”
Having designed for David Byrne, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Page and Plant and David Bowie along with a host of others, Kenny became The Who’s official lighting designer in the late 1980s and has since worked on numerous tours DVDs and videos.
During the show, The Who perform their 1973 album “Quadrophenia” in full, including the boiling tea kettle and British newscast before ‘The Punk and the Godfather’ and the squawking seagulls that precede ‘Sea and Sand.’ With themes of darkness and loneliness Kenny’s extremely evocative and cleverly crafted lighting design works with the video, and lends itself perfectly to each and every song.
PRG is supplying the lighting system including the Vari-Lite luminaires. The tour kicked off in November in Florida and will finish in Providence, RI in February 2013.
