AUSTIN, TX —Barco announced that High End Systems’ Showbeam 2.5 is being used on three major tours — No Doubt, The Crystal Method and the upcoming Aerosmith tour. The 2500-watt Showbeam 2.5 features Twin Beam technology, which lets two hard-edge beams exit the fixture on command. Other features include variable control over the Twin Beam’s deviation and rotation speed, the ability to add incremental color to the Twin Beam using the CMY color mixing system, and LEDs encircling the lens.
Showbeam 2.5 also features a user-changeable fixed color wheel, a variable CTO and the ability to produce an 11-degree fixed hard-edge profile with color change and electronic strobe. The profile can be zoomed from 11 to 33 degrees.
Butch Allen, No Doubt’s LD, said, “These lights are amazing. Well done!” Tour lighting contractor Epic Production Technologies is supplying six Showbeam 2.5 fixtures, along with six HES DL.3 Digital Lights for No Doubt’s North American tour.
“I love the colors,” said Lawrence “Loz” Upton, The Crystal Method’s LD. “First of all, you can use Showbeam 2.5 as a very powerful wash light, and I especially love the colors with the ring of LEDs. It works really well in the show with our circular trussing.
“The next thing is, at a moment’s notice, you can turn on the Twin Beam effect, and it’s pretty hallucinogenic. You go from a beam focus, and then all of a sudden, you’ve got this crazy two-beam focus that comes in, which is just awesome, and it also has a cool oscillation effect.
“Ours is an effects-driven show, and Showbeam 2.5 adds to the layers of looks to match our layers of sound,” Upton continued. “Barco’s High End lighting products are very innovative, and personally, they work well for me.”
Delicate Productions is the lighting contractor for The Crystal Method’s tour, with a rig including the Showbeam 2.5, Showgun, StudioPix and Axon Media servers plus CLM projectors — all controlled from a Wholehog 3 console and DMX Processor 8000.
Aerosmith’s North American tour starts on June 10. “Showbeam 2.5 will work out great in my design,” said Bryan Hartley, Aerosmith’s LD. “I needed a strong wash light and the Twin Beam is really cool. Plus, it has the LED ring, which gives it a Showgun look. I’ll have 10 Showbeams in my rig for the tour, and I’m psyched.”
Hartley will control the lighting with a Wholehog 3 console and a DMX Processor 8000. Creative Stage Lighting (CSL) is supplying the Showbeam 2.5s to Epic Production Technologies, the lighting contractor.
“Barco’s High End Systems knows what designers want,” said CSL’s George Studnicky IV. “Another year goes by and they bring another innovation and benchmark to the table. It’s a very exciting time to be in our industry. With the further development of LEDs and the automated lighting market, there’s a custom design to every show you see. The Showbeam 2.5 with the Twin Beam and the internal wash lens truly add to this ability.”
“We are very pleased that our new wash light is being specified, and adding excitement to the stages of these top tours,” said Chris Colpaert, VP creative lighting for Barco North America. “As the touring season hits the heights this summer, look for Showbeam 2.5 and other Barco lighting and control products to make more headlines.”
For more information, please visit www.highend.com.
