AABYHOEJ, Denmark – The introduction of SGM’s X-5 LED strobes inspired award winning production designer, LeRoy Bennett, to specify 470 pieces for Beyoncé’s The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. Bennett also had the X-5s in mind for the next tour by metal band Rammstein.
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AABYJOEJ, Denmark – The introduction of the X-5 LED strobes from Peter Johansen’s SGM provided all the inspiration necessary for multi-award winning production designer, LeRoy Bennett, to specify 470 pieces for Beyoncé’s The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.
The low-profile, lightweight X-5 is designed to deliver the same output as conventional strobes using one-fifth of the power. Housing 2,970 LEDs, the X-5s have a power consumption of 360W with lamp life of 50,000 hours, contained in a slim aluminum chassis.
“I was impressed by the combination of power consumption, brightness and rugged design,” Bennett explained. “But I was particularly impressed by the fact that each strobe breaks down to three individual cells, enabling me to project very low res graphics as well a bright blasts of light and strobing,” he said. “Most of them are in a 4 x 4 block formation.”
These cells can be operated independently when fitted to the special brackets that enable them to be used in blocks for a perfectly spaced pixel blinder.
Bennett’s supplier of choice, Upstaging, is providing the tour lighting. “They have the best back-up and are always more than 150 percent supportive of every project,” he says.
Upstaging’s John Huddleston said, “It’s one of the first true plug and play effects we have purchased in a long time. The fixture design is very ‘Apple’-like in its elegance and we are happy to be able to offer them in our inventory.”
Bennett also had the X-5s in mind for the next tour by metal band Rammstein (with local rental company Black Box Music supplying the lighting). This required a different approach. And the tour budget became one of the significant drivers as additional generators will no longer need to be budgeted, as would have been the case with conventional high power xenon strobes.
“I always use quite a few strobes on Rammstein which takes up a lot of power,” he explained. “We use a lot of pars as well, so it is always a requirement for the band to tour with generators; the X-5s have helped alleviate a lot of the issue with power.”
Bennett says, “I find the SGM fixtures work great for visual interpretation of both Beyoncé’s and Rammstein’s music when powerful or sequenced moments happen. For Rammstein this needed to be big, bold and powerful — full-on rock that at the same time is visually entertaining.” He will also be scheduling more X-5s on the next Nine Inch Nails tour, which he described as “visually more high-art minded,” as well as other upcoming tours.
Over the years the designer has routinely come to rely on lighting solutions in which Peter Johansen has been the guiding hand. Two decades and a generation on, Bennett acknowledges that “once again Peter has created a very successful product!”
