AMSTERDAM — The Killers kicked off the first European leg of their 2009 “Day & Age” world tour with a lighting design by Steven Douglas using i-Pix BB fixtures, including 15 BB7s and 27 BB4s that departed from the more classic theatrical lighting looks of the previous “Sam’s Town” tour. The Killers were the second band to use i-Pix’s BB7s after their launch last year, following Radiohead, for whom the fixture was developed. They formed an integral part of the floor specials package on the Killers’ summer festival tour throughout 2008, and Douglas said back then that he intended to integrate them into the rig for their 2009 arena tour.
He had been impressed with the distinctive petal-like shape, brightness, color-mixing and homogenized lightsource, giving an incandescent appearance and quality of light.
The 15 BB7s are positioned in a long line, upstage of a ColorWeb grid used as a back wall. The fixtures shoot straight through the ColorWeb when it’s not in use, throwing a series of washes onto the stage. They also emphasize the linear and spherical stage elements on this year’s tour.
Fifteen of the BB4s are positioned on the front of three 17-foot-diameter circular over-stage trusses and used for audience blinding effects.
The other 12 are positioned on the deck in 8-lite formats, attached to six vertical truss towers, also just upstage of the ColorWeb. These are used for low level blinding and blasting fat slices of light through the band and backline from behind.
“The BBs are great because they don’t look like LED fixtures and there are no issues with pixellated or fragmented, blocky ligthsources” said Douglas. “The color mixing is great, you can strobe them and they are far more robust, tourable and versatile than an 8-lite with a scroller.”
Siyan is supplying the BBs and the other lighting equipment on the European tour, and Douglas is running the show on a grandMA full size console.
For more information, please visit www.i-pix.uk.com.
