Mavericks back Killswitch Engage US tour
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James’ plan was well-founded, given the retrospective nature of his Grammy nominated client’s most recent (and sixth) studio album Disarm The Descent.
James’ design included eight multi-functional Chauvet Professional Maverick MK Pyxis fixtures that were used to transform venues of widely different sizes and configurations.
“The idea was to create powerful looks that fit any location, whether it was a live music venue or a festival,” said James. “There were four different layouts for the floor backstage, and we would decide which design we would use for any particular show during our walk-through. Since this was a coheadline tour, all of our layouts were designed to be set up and taken down quickly while still fitting the venue.”
James was able to achieve this level of flexibility because of the versatility of his fixtures, and the dedication of his crew. “The people at JDI always make sure all of my tours are 100% dialled in,” he said. “The guys in the KSE crew allowed me to put as many lights as possible in their way every day. And the Clutch crew are some of the best humans to work next to. There are always challenges with a coheadline tour, but we met them very well by working together.”
Key to the design were the Maverick MK Pyxis fixtures in James’ rig. Positioned one apiece on six-foot set carts that covered 40ft of the stage, the fixtures filled a wide range of roles from contributing to the intense wall of light, to dazzling with eye candy, to sending engaging beams out into the audience.
“I think my favourite part of the show every night was when I zoomed the Pyxis all the way out and ran a macro through it,” said James. “You could feel the energy all the way through the audience. KSE projects this pure passion and intensity, so the way our design worked, it was just the power of their music and the light reaching out into the audience.”
(Jim Evans)
