Ben Coker, lighting designer for Porter Robinson and Madeon’s co-headlining Shelter theatre tour, has just finished an extensive 34 date run in the U.S, with Robe BMFL Spots and WashBeams and Pointes prominent on the rig.
The rig had to be practical and capable of being installed in under four hours and coming out in three, and fit into various different stage sizes.
The artists wanted to be on separate risers, both backed by HD video screens with a low resolution video wall upstage connecting the two areas, adding depth and completing the set.
The lighting rig was straightforward with three trusses: front, mid and back. The two mediums were a carefully balanced mix calculated to deliver a stunning and exciting live show that kept the music center-stage.
The upstage truss featured 30 degree wings on both sides which were angled downstage, with three of the BMFL Spots on each of these. Ten BMFL Spots were rigged on the mid-stage truss. The BMFL WashBeams were grouped in eights located on both the downstage and upstage trusses with an additional six on the floor stage left and stage right.
The Pointes were placed directly in front of each artist’s riser on the floor.
The show’s video content was produced by a number of artists, all commissioned and coordinated by Porter and Madeon as well as Porter’s Video Director Ryan Sciaino. There is also content created by both artists themselves.
Coker operated lighting from a grandMA2 full size console with video running via Resolume Arena on MacPro servers, all cues – together with lasers – triggered by SMPTE timecode.
The Shelter collaboration is currently scheduled to continue in early 2017 with shows in Australia and Europe, and the lighting and video equipment for the Shelter tour was supplied by Zenith.