Disturbed 'Immortalized' Tour
- by Bobby Boyer
- in Wide Focus
Mills is using Chauvet Professional’s Strike 4 fixture as a wash, blinder and strobe. Photo by Todd Moffses.
After a five year hiatus pretty much characterized by dead silence, heavy metal legends Disturbed returned with a roar on their Immortalized Tour. Judging from the intensity of their performance, the group must have built up a lot of stored energy over the past five years. Judging from the reaction of the crowds, so had their fans!
Martin Atomic 3000 LED strobes blind the audience. Photo by Todd Moffses
Lighting designer Matt Mills and set designer Sooner Routhier of SRae Productions did justice to the powerful emotions behind this tour with an intense, versatile and multi-faceted design that featured soaring pyro effects, six moving truss structures that reconfigured every three songs, and massive amounts of immersive warm white light from Chauvet Professional’s Strike 4 multi formatted LED fixtures.
Show Group Production Services (SGPS) provided the motion control system that moved six independent trusses, and the pyro company for the tour was FFP out of Los Angeles. “Propane flames were a big part of the show,” says Matt. “We had a curtain of pyro/propane that closed behind the band to encompass the entire stage with flames.”
Along with the Strike 4s, Mills’ lighting rig, supplied by Christie Lites, also included 26 Martin MAC Quantum Washes to wash the band and provide eye candy effects. Other fixtures included 34 MAC Vipers, 42 Atomic LED strobes, six Elation ZW-19s, eight CITC Maniac smoke machines and 14 Chroma-Q Color Force strip lights. A pair of grandMA2 Light consoles were used to control the rig.
“I had originally thought about spec’ing a whole rig of just LED fixtures. But in the end I needed the firepower of the Vipers,” says Mills, who also chose the fixtures in his rig based on their versatility.
Moving truss, pyro and versatile lighting fixtures are giving the shows a distinctive look. Photo by Todd Moffses
A Warm White Glow
Mills flew 20 Strike 4 fixtures on the fully articulated trusses and positioned two additional units on downstage ego risers, allowing him to create a warm white aura around the entire performance.
“We had lighting that could change moods and create different look to reflect the wide scope of the band’s music,” says Mills. “There are 10 Strike 4s on the two downstage trusses, six Strike 4s on the two upstage trusses, and one on the bottom of the four vertical ladders, plus the two on the downstage ego risers. With this configuration, I could create looks from a lot of different angles.”
This flexibility was needed, given the impressive ability of Disturbed to venture forth smoothly in multiple musical directions. (How many heavy metal groups can score a No. 1 hit with a cover of a 1960s folk song like “Sounds of Silence?”) Mills’ design placed an emphasis on creating a rig that could turn on a dime to convey the right mood for each song.
“I first noticed the Strike 4s when I was at LDI, and really liked what I saw: a nice warm LED source that had a lot of functions to it,” recalls Mills. “On this tour, I used it as a wash, blinder and strobe. For the first few songs in the set, they were a basic four light blinder, then I let them rip and do different things. It never failed to surprise the audience when the blinders start strobing!”
The wash capabilities of the Strike 4s were also used to set an intimate tone, when Disturbed’s lead singer David Draiman interacted with the audiences. “David likes to address people in the crowd quite a bit,” says Mills. “When he does, the Strike 4s create a nice warm, even glow across the audience. It helps set a good mood. Personally, I love the warm tungsten look it produces. I’m a big fan of that look.”
Aside from having a flexible rig, Mills enjoyed the benefits working with a versatile hard working crew on the Disturbed tour that included Alan Gregg, Lowell Hawley, and Austin Schussler. He also appreciated the chance to be back with Disturbed. “I was honored to get the call back after the guys’ five year hiatus,” he says. “This tour has been a blast to light, and I am loving the new stuff. So glad these guys are back at it.”
Disturbed photo by Todd Moffses
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