Ed Warren Evokes Narrative for Kingfishr With CHAUVET Professional

	"I limited my palette to very natural colors, such as warm whites and ambers," Warren says.

Discussing his client Kingfishr's current Halcyon Tour, lighting designer Ed Warren declares, "In all honesty they don't even need a light show, "such is the richly textured visual power of this rapidly rising band's story-telling music. But as evocative as it is, Kingfishr's indie Irish music is allowed to flourish all the more on stage when it is supported by a lighting design that understands it at its core level. Warren is demonstrating this on the trio from Limerick's tour with a design that calls forth shadows, silhouettes, and subtle colors changes to reflect their music.

"Given the nature of this band, it was just important to provide a setting for them to perform within the stage that would complement whatever it is they're doing," says Warren. "I want to let the band perform and tell their story in a warm welcoming environment without providing any distractions."

Warren notes that there are different elements to his tour design. "First and foremost, this band are not suited to the overuse of video/content," he details. "They're very real and have an 'analog feeling.' So, for the UK tour I go primarily with a scrim backdrop, and project the band's silhouettes onto it, which keeps everything natural and engaging.

'When it comes to larger shows (30,000 capacity outdoors) we have an upstage video wall as part of the house rig, which we utilize sparingly," he continues. "We hang the scrim in front of the video wall to diffuse it and take out some of the LED harshness. For the full arena rig we are actually projecting onto the scrim which gives us a much more textured video look working in tandem with the silhouettes."

Providing the lighting power for Warren's design in the tour's full arena show are 96 STRIKE 1 fixtures and 10 COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens, both from CHAUVET Professional and both supplied by Neg Earth. Most of the STRIKE units are arranged on two lower-level rows on the sides of the stage and the upstage backdrop. Additional units are on side and upstage truss as part of the floor package. The PXL battens are positioned just upstage of the band to backlight them.

"Some of the patterns we get with the PXL are truly lovely," says Warren. "The STRIKE fixtures give us very dynamic, exciting looks around the band, but at the same time, they look very real and inviting, so they connect to the crowd. As you can imagine, the show is one very big sing-along."

In addition to generating excitement on stage, the STRIKE 1 fixtures are connecting the crowd to Kingfishr through audience lighting. They're also contributing to the monochromatic mood Warren is creating on stage. "I limited my palette to very natural colors, such as warm whites and ambers," he says. "Three are one or two moments with a red or blue but again we want to retain the warmth and natural feeling of the show."

Working closely with his collaborators Steve Heywood (programmer and operator), Dave Glover (TM/PM), Ben Milner (video director), as well as Davide Palumbe and Shelley (lighting techs), Warren keeps his looks neat, symmetrical and pleasing to the eye. "Our goal is to provide a design that is welcoming to the audience no matter where they are in the venue," says Warren.