The group, which have had nine No.1 albums in Canada, recently embarked on the Fully Completely Tour, playing their album of the same name in its entirety to their legion of fans.
Brent Clark is production designer for the North American tour, which kicked off in Toronto in January and to date has visited other major cities including New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, and Montreal.
"The concept behind the staging and lighting was to make it look a bit 'throwback'," says Brent. "The grid with the Color Force 72s on is meant to look like an old fashioned digital clock. Spelling out the word 'HIP' was my idea, as the band are affectionately known as The Hip - and using the punch of the Color Force 72s we've achieved a striking look. I run them in their bigger channel mode, so I can run all kinds of chases and do some really interesting effects. They can also supply a huge wash of colour over the band, so they're great for that purpose in addition to bright white effects."
He continues, "The light output of the Color Force 72s is fantastic and I can really get some nice saturated looks out of them. The colours are a lot of primary looks as well as some very unique shades of green and yellow, to create a real sort of dark sick vibe."
Brent worked closely with Ian Gordon of North American rental company, Christie Lites, to supply the Color Force 72s. The show director for the tour is Tyler Pigeon.
(Jim Evans)
