USA - The official announcement for Apocalyptica’s just launched North American tour refers to them as ‘cello rockers’.
The three classically trained musicians from Helsinki's prestigious Sibelius Academy fuse two different worlds, playing metal rock (often covers of Metallica hits) on their cellos with ‘an unbridled ferocity that ranks with the best bone crushing bands of the genre’.
Among Apocalyptica's admirers is renowned lighting designer Mikki Kunttu, who has worked with them on a few occasions since 2007. "I love the band, and it is always so great to work with them," said Kunttu. "I have the highest appreciation for what they do – and for who they are."
Kunttu is showing this appreciation in stunning fashion with his lighting design for Apocalyptica's current APMB4C Vol 2. tour, which began its 24-city North American leg 6 February in Washington DC.
Prior to the North American tour, Apocalyptica did a very successful European run of shows, which Kunttu also worked on. In creating his powerful geometric looks for the EU run, he was aided by an impressive collection of Colorado PXL Curve 12 fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Kunttu artfully arranged the motorized RGBW Colorado battens in three identical rows of nine units each. His design called for the downstage row to sit on the deck, while the second row is elevated 30cm, and the third 60cm. Not only did this instantly create a perspective, it also allowed the band to fit nicely between the rows.
"I created the major part of this design back in September 2023," noted Kunttu. "One of the main ideas was to get the PXL Curves on board and to use them exactly like this – so we could create layers on stage and very effectively manipulate the stage deck appearance.
"This layered concept is at the core of our design. Once we determined that concept, we needed to find a rental company that would be able to deliver 27 units. I actually did a shoot-out with almost every other LED pixel bar available. In the end, there was no chance in hell I would spec anything else for this tour.”
“The lighting in this show was very much rhythmic and percussive and its forces are blinding and aggressive," continued Kunttu. "It was all about piercing beams, blinding strobes, flashing walls of light. The aim was to deliver an energy that feels and looks as if the soul of the song has come alive."
