English alt rock band-of-the-moment The 1975 are touring the UK and Europe with an inspired video screen and light staging concept created by show director Tobias Rylander and augmented by Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330, Mythos and Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures.

In a nod to the light artist James Turrell, the staging is intended to look like ‘art pieces’ in which the band perform. Four ‘monoliths’ of LED screens stand proudly on the stage, backed by an even larger video screen. Together, the screens display imagery that plays with the audience’s perceptions of depth, colour and light.

To cut through the colourful video, Rylander specified 36 x Sharpy Wash 330 fixtures, which are used as back light. They are rigged in three groups of five on the floor behind the band and the set, with a mirrored truss upstage. The full lighting and video package was supplied by VER.

“The Sharpy Wash 330s work more or less as the only ‘moving light’ effect in the show, where everything else is strictly linear and static,” says Rylander. “They serve us really well to provide both sharp, linear beams and a fantastically precise tilt and strobe effect.

“I also use six Sharpy Wash 330s as side light – three each side to light the band. This is more or less the only front light I use throughout the show. Their small physical size, bright output and wide wash serves perfectly on the stage floor without taking up too much space.”

In addition, Rylander uses 16 x Mythos as high trim side lights and effect lighting in a number of songs. “I needed a strong, bright and sharp lighting fixture to cut through the ambient light coming from the screens and the Mythos fixtures perfectly fit the bill. All of the screens and video surfaces run at 100% brightness in the processors and are used as light fixtures, so the Mythos’s powerful beam was the only choice!”

Rigged above the stage are 4 x Alpha Profile 1500s, which are used as cue and special overhead lighting for each band member.

“I needed the Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures, with their framing system along with custom ordered gobos, to line up perfectly with the set and the video,” Rylander explains. “It was paramount that they lined up with the set and video frame hanging over specific positions between the light and the band member and the Alpha Profile 1500’s beam shaper worked really well.”

The 1975 continue to tour in the UK throughout March, before heading into continental Europe for dates in countries including Germany, France, and Italy. In mid-April, the group kicks off their US tour.

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