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Lighting Muse’s ‘Will of the People’ Tour

Designers Jesse Lee Stout and Sooner Routhier were looking for a way to visually express the band’s desire for a show design that would convey a narrative of “an extreme group of vigilantes resetting the world to ground zero” (Stout) with a “rig that feels like the skeletal nature of a post-apocalyptic, near-future world” (Routhier). Upstaging provided 122 CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M fixtures, most of which were in a horseshoe configuration around the stage, with others under the plexiglass stage. “They are one of the main workhorses of the show,” Routhier says, noting the importance of reining in their intensity through most of the show and limiting the full intensity blasts of light to “only a couple times in the show” so they will deliver maximum impact.

From “Designer Spotlight,” PLSN, May 2023, page 34

Claypaky Xtylos Deliver Post-Apocalyptic Look for Muse’s ‘Will of the People’

British rock band Muse has hit the road with its North American tour, Will of the People, on which more than 150 Claypaky Xtylos enhance the band’s post-apocalyptic staging non-stop. The tour is named for the band’s most recent ninth studio album, which gave Muse its seventh consecutive No. 1 on the UK albums chart and topped Billboard’s Alternative and Rock Albums tallies. The Will of the People tour began in Chicago’s United Center on February 25 and concluded the U.S. portion of the tour on April 20 in Salt Lake City, after which it will move on to Europe.Read More »Claypaky Xtylos Deliver Post-Apocalyptic Look for Muse’s ‘Will of the People’

Vari-Lite VL3600 Profile Enriches ‘Captivating’ Colors for Vance Joy

Celebrated Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy’s In Our Own Sweet Time tour is traversing Europe through April, with a captivating lighting design by Sooner Routhier and Morgan Embry. The show was created to not bombard the audience with video or overstimulating lighting effects, but envelop fans in rich atmospheres and song-style-driven moods, which were delivered using Vari-Lite VL3600 Profile IP luminaires from Signify.Read More »Vari-Lite VL3600 Profile Enriches ‘Captivating’ Colors for Vance Joy

Top Tours of 2022

“Billboard” magazine recently ranked tours around the world by total ticket sales from November 2021 through October 2022. The Showtime section within PLSN’s January 2023 issue focuses on the lighting, staging and video production teams and equipment supporting these tours.

Huge Vari-Lite VL2600 Rig Invokes Vintage Rock Glamour for Panic! at the Disco


U.S. rockers Panic! at the Disco kickstarted their highly anticipated Viva Las Vengeance arena tour at Austin, TX’s Moody Center in September, with a ’70s and ’80s rock-influenced high-octane show. Conjuring up rich colors and sharp beams were 128 VL2600 PROFILE luminaires from Vari-Lite, the originator of the modern moving head and a Signify entertainment lighting brand.Read More »Huge Vari-Lite VL2600 Rig Invokes Vintage Rock Glamour for Panic! at the Disco

The Lumineers ‘Brightside’ Tour

The Lumineers’ “Brightside” tour brings a production family back together with Tour Director Sara Full, Designers Sooner Routhier and Robert Long of SRae Productions and Lighting Director Ian Haslauer. The show is triumph of lighting, video, and automation.