Rogues join AFI’s Mourning In Amerika tour
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Matching that fire with light is an intense, sometimes foreboding and fast-moving Kelsey Gonzalez and Cort Lawrence-designed lightshow that utilises a rig supplied by Premier Global Productions. Gonzalez, who is also lighting director on the tour, works through a set list that varies each night (she has over 90 songs programmed) to reflect the music with ever-changing patterns and colours. Helping in this endeavour are the eight Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures in her rig.
“We have our Rogue FX-Bs positioned on set carts,” she says. “There are four carts that we arrange to make one large triangle-shaped cart when they’re all on stage. Each cart has two FX-Bs, one positioned to face forward, the other facing up. This allows us to create some diverse looks and interesting geometric patterns by having the light going in different directions.”
Describing the lightshow as “relatively dark and moody,” Gonzalez creates silhouettes and eerie shadows to underscore some of the band’s more evocative songs. She relies on red, amber, and blue to serve as her base colours throughout the set, and creates impactful effects by contrasting them to other hues. “It’s hard to not have everything moving all the time with such a high-energy band,” she explains, “so I try to play with other aspects such as colour and position to create an effect on top of the movement.”
Being able to conjure up a seemingly inexhaustible array of fresh looks is essential to lighting AFI, according to Gonzalez, who notes that the band is fiercely committed to making each show different. After releasing 10 albums, the band has a wealth of material to trot out to surprise audiences.
(Jim Evans)
