Lighting designer Emmanuelle "Gigi" Pedron chose Elation Professional's KL Panel XL IP™ LED luminaires for television applications and transformed them into a striking rock'n'roll light aesthetic for Queens of the Stone Age's "The End Is Nero" tour.
One has to admit that the use of equipment that in theory is directed strictly to the studio is a bold move. On the other hand, after the photos, there is no denying that it was a hit. What is there to say, skillfully used out-of-the-box approach can "do the job".
What if?
Pedron says the idea to use KL Panel XL during the tour was born during the pandemic, when the designer was working in television and film production. In her own words:
You see special types of equipment for TV and special types for tours, and usually these universes don't mix. I noticed on a TV shoot that the light panels were actually underutilized; White correction and intensity were used, but not much else. I thought, what if I could use them at a rock concert, really use their full functions and color capability. And instead of using 10, what if I used 70 of them to light a rock stage, what would it look like?
Pedron's curiosity led her to Elation's headquarters in Los Angeles, where she saw a demo of the KL Panel XL earlier this year. As she recalls, she was very impressed, not only with the power or color mixing, but also with the features that are included. With specific mention of the segmented control capability, which, with a large number of pieces, makes it possible to create matrix effects.
Stage design
The main form of the configuration is a pyramid, a kind of stage on a stage that attracts the attention of the audience, while serving as a central point under which all the action takes place.
The whole project is just based on the KL Panel XL, composed into aesthetically pleasing shapes they give the stage a truly unique character. The devices themselves give the stage the atmosphere of a TV studio, but keeping that hint of dirt that we expect at strong concerts. QOTSA's performances certainly count among such.
The panels hang practically all over the stage, creating character and giving shape to the scene. Also used throughout are 49 Elation Smarty MAX™ units, which the designer chose for their speed and sharpness. The final element is the recently popular pixel stripes.
Each layer of the designer's 45-degree forced-perspective approach uses a combination of these three types of lighting fixtures to create the pyramid effect.
Mixing colors
According to Pedron, who likes to use saturated colors, this was one of the main aspects of choosing Elation's fixtures. Elation's RGBWLC LED matrix covers the full spectrum, which we wrote about here. As the designer puts it:
I believe that color alone can convey a deep emotional experience. Because my idea was to create a field of colors inside the scene. For a color geek like me, the KL panels are just perfect. They blend really well and I really like the Lime emitter. It gives me the right white, but also a nice acid green, which doesn't exist in the natural world, but is used several times in the show.
Summary
It must be said that this is a project that is nice to hang your eye on. An unconventional approach to lighting technology can produce truly stunning effects. Worth mentioning is that the whole show is done without pyro, fireworks, confetti and other such wonders of garland. The whole thing is based on well-written and designed lighting.
Without blushing, I would love to see this show live, and it's not out of the question to get up there and do some cool material - although as far as I know, the band plans to return to Europe only next year.
Photos: Will Stockwell
Producer: Elation ProfessionalDistributor: P.S. Theater.
