New Politics toured 14 October to 29 November on a Wilderness Politics tour, which they co-headlined with indie pop act Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. Alex incorporated the ACL 360 Bars and Lumina Strips as part of a shared lighting package that both acts used.
Alex first met New Politics when the band opened for Panic! at the Disco, an American rock band that he also designs lighting for. "We shared a good rapport," he says of the relationship. "They were fans of my previous work and I had an interest in designing for them."
Part of Elation's ACL Series of high-output narrow-beam LED effect lights, Alex explains why he chose the colour-changing ACL 360 Bars for the tour. "I wanted to set New Politics' show apart and highlight the electro-pop element," he said. "I used 4' x 6' truss towers lined along the upstage side of the deck and placed three ACL Bars and one Lumina Strip on each. They were spaced to where the ACL Bars would form a solid, evenly-spaced LED line when placed in a vertical position. This combination gave me multiple geometric positions to form various background looks."
He continues, "Pixel mapping, LED effects and position transformation were the three focal points I was looking to get out of the ACL 360 Bars," Alex states. "The infinite pan and tilt was a great feature. Although I didn't use it as much, it became a special highlight in the show when I did."
The ACL 360 Bar's were supplied for the New Politics tour by Burst Sound & Lighting Systems of Detroit, a growing rental company who had supplied 200 of the units for the main stage at the Electric Zoo Festival last fall.
(Jim Evans)
