Laser Design on Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour

After traveling through Australia and Japan, Katy Perry has kicked off the North American leg of her California Dreams Tour. The show, which you can read about in the August issue of Lighting&Sound America, has everything, including dancing gingerbread men, whipped cream, and even machines blowing candy cotton scent into the audience.

Laser Design Productions has provided the tour with five laser systems; one 20W full color laser, two 15W full color units, and two green Yags that fill the stage with syncopated beam and scanned looks. Lorenzo Cornacchia, president and designer of Laser Design Productions, decided that, in order to fully utilize the lasers, he would place the Yags offstage, and the color lasers above the stage. "We have two full colors, right and left of the staircase, and they're basically up about 10' on a vertical truss so they can clear everybody," said Cornacchia. "There's also one laser that's hanging upstage center; it projects down and hits the flap on the downstage edge." A full range of laser effects is experienced throughout the performance; rotating cones, beam chases, morphing scans, mirror bounces, and color cycles.

During "Who Am I Living For," laser operator Brian Van Trigt uses diffraction effects to harmonize with the lyrics of the song. A memorable static look is created as lasers fan over the audience's heads and an array of atmospheric scans and beam effects are incorporated.