More details from Clay Paky (http://www.claypaky.it):
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands – Dutch band Within Temptation and its lighting designer Pim Elberse are currently proving that Clay Paky Sharpys are de-rigueur when it comes to lighting some of the world’s biggest rock bands.
Following its hugely successful Dutch theatre tour, Within Temptation – dubbed ‘a symphonic/gothic metal band’ and founded in 1996 – is setting off on a festival tour that will take in 35 music festivals across Spain, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria, France and more countries.
Rotterdam-based Elberse says, “The show is divided in two sets: An acoustic and an electric set. We wanted to create a design fitting for both moods, and because we are touring we needed fixtures that could handle both.”
Comprising a riser-setup and LED-walls, with additional decorative banners and backdrops, Elberse wanted the main stage to be clean, which meant using only small fixtures on and in front of the risers.
Pim chose to use Sharpys, supplied by Dutch rental company Purple Group. “We use a big LED wall at the back of the stage. I needed something really punchy to penetrate the LED. I also wanted a fixture that could create calm looks for the acoustic set but could be fast and dynamic for the electric one. I’d used Sharpys before on the festival and club tour in 2011 so I knew it was the right fixture for the tour. It’s light, fast, extremely dynamic, and very bright. I never had the feeling I was missing CMY color mixing – all the colors are punchy and the wheel is really fast. Gobos are great, as is the rotating eight-facet prism. When combined with the fast pan and tilt these features facilitate an endless variety of looks from slow rotating and darkly atmospheric to bright strobing sweeps.”
This year Within Temptation has already played to more than 500,000 fans. Founding member Sharon Janny den Adel describes the band’s live work as ‘epic and cinematic,’ and this year’s Sanctuary tour promises to be a visual feast that highlights song storylines from the band’s most recent album.
“We talk a lot about the show, the vibe, the atmosphere and the integration of video,” explains Elberse. “We try to avoid it becoming a ´video show.’ It has to be fully rounded and lights are an important part of that, although they also have to be discrete. The fact that the Sharpys weigh in at just 16kg and are extremely robust makes them an ideal fixture for my purposes.”
Within Temptation’s summer 2012 tour continues until the autumn.
