LONDON – UK folk rock phenomena, Mumford & Sons have just finished a string of Canadian and US shows. Robe LEDWash moving lights were again a prominent feature on the lighting rig designed by LD Ed Warren of Next Level Lights. His design mantra this time around was: “Tungsten!”
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The New York-based LD has been working with the band for the last four and a half years.
For at least the past 12 months, his lighting rig has contained continual evolutions based on different variants of tungsten lighting. He is a big fan of its softness, subtleties and specific qualities.
For this latest Canadian/US section, he incorporated 16 Robe Robin 600 LEDWashes and 14 Robe Robin 1200 LEDWashes into the design, supplied by Solotech.
Robe’s LEDWash fixtures have also had a constant presence on the Mumford & Sons’ lighting spec since the start of the ‘Babel’ album tour cycle a year ago. They are fixtures that Warren “loves like a long lost brother.”
Among many features, he appreciates the LEDWash series’ tungsten emulation, and he also finds the individual ring control useful for introducing an intricate and different style of movement to the performance.
Sixteen of the LEDWashes were up on the trusses over stage on LX bars 2, 3 and 4, with some on drop-bars behind Chromalech Elidy LED matrix panels hung on the same truss. The other 14 LEDWashes were arranged in two rows of seven behind their upstage Elidy wall, the lowest seven fixtures were a meter off the ground and the higher ones were at two and a half meters.
The Robe fixtures blasted through the semi-transparent Elidy, producing silhouettes and breakups as the light passed through the LED panels.
Warren used the ring effects of the LEDWashes in various configurations throughout the set to create different looks.
Placement of the LEDWash 1200s behind the LED wall to illuminate the far upstage wall added another dimension and more depth.
He also created his own lightbulb effect using the innermost LED chipset of the LEDWashes in 3200°K tungsten. “Most people actually believe they are some sort of genuine tungsten source, like a light bulb minus the filament,” he said.
Aside from the rings, he also made the most of the LEDWashes’ wide zoom. “We are having a great time on the tour using the Robes,” he added.
Warren operates the lightshow – which includes other moving lights, conventionals, festoons and strobes – using a Chamsys MagicQ 100 console with two wings. He is working closely with his right-hand man, Moonunit, as the tour continues through the summer playing UK and European festivals – with the same rig – followed by another US leg in late summer.
