LONDON — The U.K. electro-pop band Hot Chip has been using Robe moving lights on the latest U.K. leg of their 2008 Made In The Dark world tour. LD Neil Carson specified the gear, which was supplied by GLS. Carson has used Robe and other moving lights on many previous projects, but the Hot Chip tour is his first opportunity to work as a touring LD after working under his mentor, LD Tom Lesh, on other projects as a tech.
"I knew from my own experience that the Robe units are very reliable," Carson said. "And that's exactly what you need on a tour like this with a very full itinerary and just two of us working on the rig," Carson added, referring to himself and tech Andy Mellany.
Carson had a virtually open brief to imagineer the show after the band gave a few fundamental pointers, the main one being that they didn't want a classic dance band look or any video or big LED screens onstage.
The design has been modified throughout the year as the venues and levels of production support have changed, and this autumn leg of the tour was the first one to feature a full production.
The main rig comprised front and back truss, with four raked truss “spines” added for the Brixton shows, with two 13-foot-high vertical towers upstage.
On the floor were six Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs, four mounted on flightcases in an arc around the back of the stage, used for aerial effects, and two in the downstage boom positions for bright cross lighting at the front.
Each band member was close-lit by two CK ColorBlast 12s, and eight 2-cell blinders were deployed, three on each tower, plus two on stands onstage.
On the rear truss were 6 Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs, along with three strobes and four 4-cell Moles, with another 6 ColorSpot 700E ATs clamped to a series of different length drop pipes.
A single ColorWash was rigged on the front truss, used specifically to light the backdrop, joined by eight Source Fours for keylighting and another two strobes.
Carson said he likes the quick color mixing and "great gobo selection" of the 700 Series, plus the smooth pan and tilt.
The band was adamant about not wanting any “busy” or messy color combinations during the show, so he keeps to single color or duo tone looks for a whole section of the show.
Carson also does a lot of slow movements with the Robes in white, along with subtle color fades and some tightly irised-down band pick ups, making use of the flexibility the fixtures offer.
Carson runs the show from a Chamsys MQ200 Pro desk. Brixton Academy extras included an additional 12 Robe ColorSpot 700s.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz.
