Mathias Kuhn Chooses Robe Gear for Halestorm Tour

	Inspired by the film This is Spinal Tap, Kuhn and the band came up with four custom mobile stage carts containing Marshall stacks modeled on the idea of Stonehenge, but full-size. Photo: Alan Evans

The American rock band Halestorm is on the road supporting the new album Everest with the nEVEREST Tour, complete with a lighting design by Mathias Kuhn and Robe moving lights among other fixtures on the rig.

Kuhn has spent three years working with the band, which, this time, requested a retro aesthetic and a raw, in-your-face light show. With no video or other potential distractions, all eyes were on lighting plus some scenic elements, also designed by Kuhn.

The designer was inspired by the original 1980s PAR-can wall-of-light rigs made immortal by the likes of Queen, AC/DC, and Judas Priest. To replicate this classic look using the power and dynamics of 2020s tech, he added 78 Robe MegaPointe moving lights, eight FORTES (BMFL WashBeams in the US), and 30 LEDBeam 350s to the plot.

The tour kicked off with some support dates for Iron Maiden, so Kuhn also wanted a distinctive set that could be swiftly deployed and cleared from the stage. Inspired by the film This is Spinal Tap, he and the band's guitarist, Joe Hottinger, came up with four custom mobile stage carts containing Marshall stacks modeled on the idea of Stonehenge, but full-size. The higher Marshalls are scenic, but the lower ones are a working part of the backline setup. Upstage of this is a scenic curtain complete with rock formations, mountains, and a magical curving stairway.

These dollies have six LEDBeam 350s on top (ACL style) and four MegaPointes in the base. The amps and their lights all travel together and are simply wheeled in/out of the trucks and on/off-stage. They were the starting point for the rest of the lighting design.

Both LEDBeam 350s and MegaPointes were chosen in this context for their compact size and power. Central to the concept was the ability to scale up/down to fit an eclectic array of venues on the first legs of the tour.

The overhead rig was defined by six flown, raked lighting pods that complemented the four mobile stage carts. Kuhn chose lighting fixtures he knew well for the design, which included the Robe products. "LEDBeam 350s are so small and light with a massive output, and they work brilliantly alongside MegaPointes in beam mode -- they are a great match and super-fast!" he says.

MegaPointes are an all-time favorite of his and were perfect for this design and for Halestorm's desired look due to the intensity and gobos effects. The MegaPointe aesthetic is mirrored in the roof with each of the six flown pods populated with a three-by-three grid of MegaPointes, making a total of 54 in the air, joining the 18 in total on the floor.

For front lighting and specials on the front truss are eight FORTES or BMFL WashBeams, chosen for their brightness and solid performance. On the recent UK and European dates at the end of 2025, these luminaires were FORTES. The full lighting and audio package was supplied by Liverpool, UK-based Adlib, together with audio.

The floor set was supplied by Go Audio from Hamburg, Kuhn's hometown, for the European tour, and in the US by Bandit Lites.

The tour is being production managed by Joe DiLeo, the lighting director out on the road in Europe and the UK was Alina Schmidbauer, and in the US, the lighting director and programmer was Rodger Pugh.