This is a total departure from the more classical theatrical lighting and look that characterised their previous major Sam's Town world tour, bringing a lively, contemporary multi-LED based ambience to the stage. Part of this look is created with the latest i-Pix BB fixtures - of which there are 15 BB7s and 27 BB4s on the tour.
The Killers were the second band to use i-Pix's BB7s after their launch last year - following Radiohead, for whom the fixture was developed. They formed an integral part of the floor specials package on the Killers' summer festival tour throughout 2008.
The 15 BB7's - added for the Euro leg Day & Age following the start of the tour in the US - are positioned in a long line, upstage of a massive ColorWeb grid used as a back wall. They shoot straight through the ColorWeb when it's not in use, throwing a series of deeply coloured, intense washes onto the stage. They also emphasise the careful combination of linearity and spherical shapes that define the stage architecture.
15 of the BB4s are positioned on the front of three 17ft diameter circular over-stage trusses, and used for audience blinding effects. The other 12 are positioned on the deck in 8-lite formats, attached to six vertical truss towers, also just upstage of the ColorWeb.
"The BBs are great because they don't look like LED fixtures and there are no issues with pixellated or fragmented, blocky light sources" says Douglas. "The colour mixing is great, you can strobe them and they are far more robust, tourable and versatile than an 8-lite with a scroller."
All the lighting equipment for the European tour is being supplied by Siyan, and Douglas is running the show on a grandMA full size console.
(Jim Evans)
