British progressive rock pioneers Marillion are currently delighting fans with their hit world tour, which marks over three decades of the band’s music. A celebration of musical storytelling, the show is enhanced by a theatrical lightscape created by the band’s long-term lighting designer Yenz Nyholm, who selected the Claypaky Scenius Spot to deliver key animation lighting effects and rich, vibrant colour onstage.

Integral to Nyholm’s design is an intricate back wall of light that surrounds an 8 x 5 metre projection screen. Above the top edge of the screen, Nyholm places a row of Scenius Spots to create a varied web of jewel coloured beams and wide, saturated washes. Supplying the fixtures for the UK leg was British lighting hire specialist Siyan.

“The band as a whole is very theatrical,” says Nyholm. “You don’t just ‘light’ them, but play along with the music and in that, you become part of the band. The music of Marillion ranges from very soft acoustic sounds to full-on grunge and rock. The Scenius Spot is highly adaptable so it can always produce a look that fits with the mood of the music.”

The Scenius Spot is a moving head spotlight positioned at the very top of the Claypaky range of dynamic lighting fixtures. It is crafted to offer designers the very best in colour mixing and white light alongside advanced animation effects. Says Nyholm, “I really fell in love with the Scenius Spot’s animation wheel. It creates some fantastic effects that I use to shine through the band as backlight. The capability of applying half-colours along with the fixture’s gobos and prism features, also means that I can create some wonderful textures on stage.”

Nyholm, whose design features a significant amount of clever beam work, also cites the fixture’s zoom range as playing a key role in delivering movement within his onstage looks. He says, “The zoom is fantastic – you can go from the tightest beam to massive floods in an instant.”

A long-term fan of Claypaky products, Nyholm found the selection of the Scenuis Spot for this design a simple decision. He says, “I have used Claypaky products for the last six years, since the Claypaky Alpha series. I have always felt they were reliable and easy to work with. The optics and zoom range are exceptionally good and the added feature of the Scenius’ animation wheel means that I can get everything I need from the one fixture.”

Marillion is currently completing a tour of the Netherlands before heading to France, Switzerland and Japan. Throughout the tour the band is curating, recording and releasing ten limited edition live albums, with the next double instrumental named ‘Happiness is Cologne’ and ‘Popular Music’ to be released on 6 July 2018.

Photo credits to The Fifth Estate.

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