Lighting designer Mark Wynn-Edwards was delighted when HSL won the contract to supply the kit, as he's worked with them on several events and projects in the past, "HSL has really excellent equipment, great crew and the right attitude. I am happy to work with them at every opportunity" he says.
The account was project managed by HSL's Mike Oates, who states "It was hugely exciting working with a band like Klaxons - they have lots of energy and a real future ahead. Mark is also full of original and different ideas and is great fun to work with."
Wynn-Edwards' basic brief was to get away from anything looking too ravey, after which he was left to his own imaginative devices. He took advantage of the band's predilection for unconventional lighting, opting for a heavily back-lit and floor- based rig.
The other reason for having a lightshow that's largely floor based was a practical one - they were playing a wide variety of venues, so the rig had to be adaptable, and look equally dynamic in a series of configurations.
He wanted to use Robe moving lights as "It's an excellent brand". HSL also has an extensive stock, so he had a good choice. The rig was based around a back truss and six vertical A-type trussing towers onstage - at varying heights of 8ft, 6ft and 4ft upstage to downstage. On top of each of these was a Robe ColorSpot 575E AT. There were another eight Robe CS 575E ATs on the back truss, stacked in two 'V' shapes.
The vertical towers are all up-lit with i-Pix Satellites which are tucked inside the trusses. He used a total of 29 of these fixtures. They were also mounted on the back truss pointing towards the audience, with eight more Satellites on four floor stands which were used to provide off-beat key lighting for the band. He was also the first to road test i-Pix's new LED Washlight fixtures.
No Klaxons show would have been complete without some strobes and HSL supplied two Atomics, located around the drum kit. The lighting picture was completed with two additional Robe ColorWash 575s on the floor at the back, pointing forwards for some low cross stage beams and ambience. For front lighting, Wynn-Edwards hooked into whatever the various house systems had to offer - to get a basic red and a blue wash. He used an Avolites Diamond 4 Elite console for control.
(Jim Evans)
