Robe shines on Paramore This is Why tour
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The lighting rig includes 67 Robe Esprite moving lights, three Robe BMFL FollowSpots and six BMFL FollowSpot LTs working on a three-way RoboSpot system, plus six iFortes.
Approached in the fall of 2022 by tour manager Andrew Weiss, it is Sooner’s first work with the band. Trevor and Sooner were keen to collaborate on a project for some time, and for this one, all the stars aligned for it to happen. They also worked closely with creative director and video content designer Mike Kluge of Cour Content.
Mike’s history with Paramore dates to 2014 when he first met drummer Zac Farro when they worked on music videos and on live projections for one of his HalfNoise side project shows. Later he met bandmembers Hayley and Taylor, and in 2017 Andrew Weiss asked him to work with the band. He designed two tours of visual content for the After Laughter album cycle and was asked to do the same for This Is Why.
Associate LD and lighting director on the road is Chad Peters, enjoying his 16th year with Paramore and also working with Sooner and Trevor for the first time.
Lighting programmers Chris Smith, Kyle Lovan, Nikita Jakovlev and Bobby Grey worked closely with video programmer Ciara Hegli, and live video director, Adam Peck.
Sooner explained that she and Trevor started with an overall set/production concept for the show, and once that had evolved to a certain point, started layering lighting over the top.
Trevor explained how their architecturally driven design evolved into the environment they wanted to create after listening to the band’s brief and tour design expectations.
With a lighting chandelier centrepiece at the core of the design, a major goal was to hide as much fixture hardware as possible so only the sources themselves were visible.
The album artwork features classic movie set designs from the 1970s and early ‘80s which they took as a theme and evolved a modern yet vintage aesthetic for the set. “Trevor and I researched iconic set designers from this era and were heavily inspired by the slick lines and solid, prosaic, brutalist architecture coupled with rich reds, gold and burnt orange tones,” Sooner commented.
The Robe Esprites are positioned on three of the 5 LX trusses, and are used for effects lighting, cued to sync with the music and enhance the video content at specific moments.
“They have this beautiful, clean, bright beam, and their hallmark is a full even field,” commented programmer Bobby Grey, adding that they “stunned” both as a versatile profile light and an excellent effect fixture.
The three BMFL FollowSpots and six BMFL FollowSpot LTs run on three RoboSpot remote follow systems and these fixtures are rigged on the two key light trusses, one over FOH and one upstage. They are grouped to most efficiently cover the three roaming band members. The four BMFL WashBeams are used as key light for the four static band members.
The iFortes are being used for key lights. “They have amazing output with a proper clean, flat field even when fully saturated,” noted Trevor, adding that the precision of the shutters makes iForte a perfect choice of light for the application.
Lighting equipment for the North American leg of the tour was supplied by LMG Touring.
