Rock music’s legendary sister duo, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, performed a series of US shows from 20 April to May 23 as part of their Royal Flush Tour, with lighting design by Carl Burnett.
The LD turned to Elation’s PROTEUS BRUTUS LED Wash FX and PROTEUS MAXIMUS LED Profile moving heads as the foundation of the lighting rig, valuing their immense power while appreciating their refined design qualities.
Royal Flush marked the first live show the sisters have shared since 2019. Burnett, who designed lighting for Heart’s 2019 tour and is known for his work with Robert Plant, amongst others, is the lighting and show designer for the tour. He enlisted his good friend Max Conwell to assist with the design process for the first time in his career. Lighting for the US leg of the tour was supplied by 4Wall.
Before kicking off the tour in Greenville, South Carolina, in April, Burnett designed some “testing the waters” shows on New Year’s Eve in Seattle and realised that he needed more power and brightness in an arena light for the upcoming tour. “I wanted a light that could go wide and look big, something that was obviously very bright and LED,” he said. “I was already familiar with the MAXIMUS, but after talking to my lighting friends, including Graham Hill at Elation, I discovered the BRUTUS, which was just incredible.”
Burnett, who described his lighting style as more nuanced and organic than brazen, aimed to support the allure unfolding on stage rather than detract from it. “I’m not a lights-in-your-face type of designer but I prefer a subtle approach with occasional big looks. It’s a style that Ann and Nancy support as well,” he said.
The refined approach also extended to video, with the designer preferring to project onto backdrops rather than overwhelm the senses with LED screens. Fronting a black chrome Austrian backdrop, which also covers all the trusses and legs, is a light vision gauze that hides the backdrop when projected upon. Working with the lighting rig, it allows for a variety of different looks.
Burnett needed lights to work with the projection video for the tour while adequately lighting the stage and onstage talent. He used 56 PROTEUS BRUTUS and 49 PROTEUS MAXIMUS to achieve vibrant and appealing visuals without overwhelming the show. The PROTEUS BRUTUS serves as the leading workhorse light in the rig, while the PROTEUS MAXIMUS provides eye-candy looks from its two gobo wheels. The BRUTUS and MAXIMUS work from four 60-ft overhead trusses and two 20ft side trusses, with additional BRUTUS units on a stage set behind the band and more MAXIMUS in the gaps on the floor.
Burnett said that because of the BRUTUS’s good optics, he could also use them spotted down for more precise, focused effects. For the song, Mistral Wind, he used a single front-truss BRUTUS focused down onto Nancy as she enteeds into the bright beam of light. “It does look like God’s light, to be honest, and she definitely glows — it is so ridiculously bright,” he said.
With all focus on the singer, the scene hid a set change in the background. In another unique look, this one on the band’s number one hit, These Dreams, Burnett used the MAXIMUS to ghost Ann in a gobo with iris as the singer started the song in darkness and was slowly revealed as she answers Nancy’s vocals.
Both luminaires house bright white LED engines calibrated at 6,500K (BRUTUS at 1200W and MAXIMUS at 950W), which enabled Burnett to make them appear as the same light when needed. Covering Led Zepplin’s Ocean, a song Carl knows well from his work with Robert Plant, all lights were irised, zoomed down and pointed stage right for a special diagonal look.
“I was impressed with how well they did that look,” he stated. “You can see the beams clearly, and because the optics are so similar, it looks like they are all the same light.” Additionally, by lighting the backdrop while projecting video onto the gauze, the designer could create some unique 3D effects.
Elation’s Graham Hill brought Carl a BRUTUS and MAXIMUS light to the designer’s studio in Malvern, England, so he could get hands-on with the fixtures and sort his palettes for the tour. “I could have done them without having the fixtures in front of me, but they wouldn’t have been exactly right for the tour start,” Carl said. “It meant that my palettes, rotations, gobos, and color were absolutely perfect. That was incredible and very helpful.”
The PROTEUS BRUTUS and PROTEUS MAXIMUS excel as refined lighting tools, offering intense output and subtle, nuanced control for sophisticated lighting designs. Carl has been designing since 1983 and says he has seen Elation’s growth as an innovative and durable brand. “I wouldn’t use them if I didn’t think they could be put up and taken down every night,” he said. “Elation, particularly over the last couple of years, has been a serious contender, which is why I’ve used them.”
Crew:
Production Manager, Paul Chavarria
Production Coordinator, Taylor Cochrane
Stage Manager, Scott Nordvold
Carpenter, Sam Hooker
Lighting Crew Chief, Ryan Anderson
Dimmer Technician, Daniel Castaneda
Lighting Technician, Jennifer ‘Freddi’ Rogers
Lighting Technician, Charles Boyington
