The lighting design, co-conceived with Bryan Leitch, was inspired by the rustic gold colour artwork of last year's Science & Faith album - and heavy usage of GLP's impression 90 and impression Zoom has helped him to recreate that feel - with more than 100 of the GLP impression wash lights used on the overhead trusses and under the floor grilles as uplighters.
Thompson has been working with the band for almost three years. "I was asked to cover a few shows and ended up getting on really well with the band. They have a lot of ballads and big tracks and they trust me to make those songs look even bigger with the lighting."
He has worked closely with lighting production company Siyan - set up by Bryan Leitch (who has since retired) - since spending time there whilst studying Lighting Design at the Central School of Speech & Drama.
It was in Siyan's inventory that he first discovered the impression, subsequently using them with acts such as Biffy Clyro and Le Roux. He has also used the more powerful impression XL's with Animal Collective, observing the "incredible punch" they produce. "I have been using impressions generally for a long time now and really like them. They are just great fixtures ... very small and very bright.
"It's far superior in terms of dimmer curves and has none of the inadequacies of other LED moving heads I have used, which don't sync as well with fast colour plants as the impression does. With the impression RGB's you get nice saturated colours which balance well, and with clean open white beams where you don't see patches."
The Script tour began in Autumn last year and has travelled back and forth between the US and UK several times since then, playing theatres Stateside and arenas and festivals over in the UK.
(Jim Evans)
