What did you like the most about lighting this show?
I love lighting Pendulum shows. There is a lot of scope to try out interesting ideas and its pretty full on from start to finish.
What were your inspirations when lighting the show?
I guess the goal was the same as most LDs designing for these types of tours – to be as big, versatile, and as impactful as possible within the confines of available truck space and crew numbers. I wanted to take the opportunity to try out some new fixtures; being the first tour to have a new fixture type is always nice. I also enjoy giving myself some technical challenges and working with pixel mapping combined with rotating staging elements scratched that itch.
What ROXX fixtures did you use, and how many were used?
The previous Pendulum design was largely based around the ROXX Cluster S2 strobes. They were a huge success and are a fantastic fixture, but it was time to update the design. Having seen the Neo FX during its development I have had my eye on these units for a while, and this was the perfect project to deploy them on.
Where did you rig the ROXX kit and how did you use it?
We rigged the Neo FX vertically, 2 high on 9 rolling pipe bases. These travelled from truck to stage fully constructed so were fast to deploy and meant we could be very flexible with their placement when in smaller venues. This meant we could use the fixtures both as a blinder / strobe unit for high energy moments, as well as focusing them through the band zoomed tight to create some lovely mid-air effects.
Why did you specify these particular fixtures?
I have seen these units in development for a while and have been eager to use them in anger. They are super bright so can act as a convincing strobe but also a great alternative to a beam batten style fixture as well as giving you enough high-power beamy pixels that pixel effects look fantastic. The additional filter was also a great accessory. We got some pretty unique effects out of the strobing functionality of the smart glass.
Did they perform to your expectations?
Absolutely. Very solid units. No issues or swap outs at all for the duration of the 6-week tour.
Was there anything about the fixtures you particularly liked?
I think my favourite aspect of this fixture is how good the beam looks in haze and the size of them. They are big powerhouse units and I can’t wait to do more projects with them.
What MA Console did you use and which software?
I had an MA3 Light and a PU–L with me on this run.
Did you use recipes? And how did they help you on this project?
Yes absolutely, everything is done using recipes. These days I couldn’t live without them. They are particularly useful when dealing with a unique house rig every day.
Any particular features you used for this show which helped? Or anything that stood out.
With this design, I did a lot of editing selection grids. We have a lot of pixels in the console and with each venue being different we sometimes had to rearrange or cut elements of the rig. Tweaks to selection grids in a few groups makes this a non-issue. It’s so easy to deal with fixtures that in no longer in their original stage position or perhaps still on the truck….
Who supplied it?
Siyan.
Credits
Photography: David Stewart
Lighting Design: Ben Inskip
Lighting Supplier: Siyan