Philips Vari-Lite Runs to the Hills with Iron Maiden

2018 by JOHN McMURTRIE 2018 Copyright TALLINN IRON MAIDEN

The Philips Vari-Lite VL6000 Beam luminaires have been selected to enhance Iron Maiden’s Legacy of The Beast European tour.

The Philips Vari-Lite VL6000 Beams, are helping to convey the production’s set-piece themes, and proving an ideal complement to the heavy rock icons’ richly-designed stage show.

Lighting Designer Robert Coleman chose fixtures to reproduce where possible, the classic look of an Iron Maiden rock show.

The production features 3 distinctly themed but equally spectacular sections. Beginning with War, the set then changes to a stunning cathedral interior, and finally to Hell, and the broad reflector face and punchy output of the Philips Vari-Lite VL6000 Beam fit the bill perfectly.

“They are incredibly powerful – they’ve been hitting the back wall of the stadiums,” he said. “And the beam doesn’t look like any of the others in the rig, so it’s nice to have something else to go to it adds another gear to the show.”

Coleman explained: “I needed a fat beam light to sit on the stage set, mainly to create a searchlight effect. As the fixture would be very visible, it was important that it looked good itself. There are other lights I could have used but didn’t like the look of physically.”

He added: “The searchlight effect worked perfectly for the War section of the show, but it has also been great for lighting the cathedral arches. They have a nice architectural quality to them.”

In performance, Coleman praised the Philips Vari-Lite VL6000 Beam’s colour reproduction and effects capability. “I had some reservations about using a non-CMY fixture,” he said. “But the combined colours from the colour wheels have been stunning.”

www.vari-lite.com