USA – Hearing music with our ears is only the beginning. The real action comes when these sweet sounds enter our mind, and, as Plato put it, “give wings to imagination.” Luke Thiel says he begins every lighting design by tapping into this magical realm. That much was beautifully evident in his work for metal masters Lorna Shore on the band’s 31-city North American tour, which concluded October 30th at the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York.
Working with a Squeek Lights supplied rig that featured the CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M, Maverick Storm 4 Profile and Rogue R3X Wash, Thiel created a powerful design that bored into the core essence of each song by a band that one music critic described as “operating on a different level of symphonic orchestration.” With its ever-changing lighting angles and strobing patterns (along with custom video content), his looks moved seamlessly with Lorna Shore’s music, note for compelling note.
“An approach I like to take with any design and programming is to replicate how I hear and interpret the music,” explained Thiel. “One of the beautiful things about music is the mood it creates within us when we hear it. Syncopation of the lights to rhythms and melodies is something I feel are important in order to reinforce to help immerse the punter in the music further. The mood I feel often helps me dictate which colors to use throughout the show. For this show the choice of color was also made in collaboration with the band as they of course have a deeper connection to the music than anyone else.”
Thiel relied often on strobing to reflect the intensity of his client’s music. He also changed the vibe on stage through silhouetting. “I used silhouetting as a means of directing focus to a particular band member,” he elaborated on the latter point. “This is especially true during solos from the lead guitarist as well as quieter moments for the singer.”
One thing missing from Thiel’s lighting repertoire on this tour was key lighting. “I wanted the music to be the primary focus of the show as opposed to a traditional “rock band on a stage performance,” he explained. “I also felt that this approach helps the punter immerse further into the show. The band was lit from the sides to allow the punters to see the members enough to allow interaction, but rather than drawing focus to a particular member, I wanted the focus to be the entire stage.”
Much of Thiel’s side lighting came from the Rogue R3X Washes that he positioned on the floor. “I really liked the colors and intensity I can get from a fixture of this size,” he said. “As for the Color STRIKE M — it’s a fantastic versatile unit. I used it sometimes as a wash, of course as a strobe, but then sometimes just to create patterns to help reshape the stage and create a bit of eye candy.”
The Maverick Storm 4 Profiles were Thiel’s main moving profile for the show. Speaking of the fixture, he said: “They have a nice range of gobos to add texture to the stage. The storm 4 Profile also has great colors and intensity to really punch over the top of the video content.”
Thiel, owner of Australian based Luke Thiel Lighting Design, had 15 R3X Wash, 16 Color Strike Ms, and 12 Storm 4 Profiles in his main touring rig. For the tour final New York show, he added 14 extra R3X washes and 20 extra Storm 4 Profiles.
The main tour and NY shows were run by LD Collin Reagan who Thiel praised for doing an “amazing job of honoring the design but also bringing a sensible mind to adapting the show to various specs.”
Regardless of any adaptions made for any venue or changes in the size of the rig, the lighting design for this tour was driven one primary driver — Lorna Shore’s incredibly powerful music.
