CHAUVET Gear on Empire of the Sun's Ask That God Tour

	"This is a very theatrical show that ranges from intimate moments to full rock out moments…The lighting looks we created aimed to support this quality, whilst also keeping it dark, moody, and mysterious."

Empire of the Sun's Ask That God Tour is a four-act show mixing theatre, costume changes, and cinematic video, plus a blend of EDM, synth-pop, and New Wave. Oliver "Olly" Suckling took on the task of lighting the EU leg of the Ask That God Tour, which concluded August 30 at Bonus Parkorman in Istanbul, after beginning July 23 at Sagres Campo Pequeno in Lisbon, with stops in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Belgium, and other countries along the way.

After designing the show, Suckling ran it on a rig supplied by Lights Control Rigging (LCR), using two ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium consoles. Throughout the show, he navigated his way brilliantly through its multifarious facets, always maintaining looks that were as fresh and vibrant as his client's music.

"It was important to follow the style and pace of the music," Suckling says. "This is a very theatrical show that ranges from intimate moments to full rock out moments, heading all the way to all-out rave moments. The lighting looks we created aimed to support this quality, whilst also keeping it dark, moody, and mysterious."

Suckling relied on 14 CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens, positioned along the front edge of the stage to evoke the range of moods he was seeking to convey. Drawing on the fixture's 12 independently controllable moving heads with their wide (5.7 degrees to 36.3 degrees) zoom range, he created a variety of supportive looks that fit every moment.

Explaining his choice of the fixture, Sucking says, "We needed a batten-type pixel fixture that would add a punch to the front edge of the stage but also be able to stand strong against all the other fixtures we had on stage. We needed to make the single line of them stand on their own. We also needed the added feature of being waterproof due to half our shows being at outdoor festivals."

In the end, Suckling used his rig well to contribute to a tour that one critic said, "is as much a visual experience as a musical one."