The latest Letters from the Labyrinth tour by the maverick prog rock band - which saw two TSO troupes simultaneously play the east and west coasts of America, eight shows a week reaching up to 45,000 people per day for two months - featured over 100 Robe moving lights on each rig - 60 x Pointes and 44 LEDBeam 100s.
These were part of design number 19 by Bryan for TSO, who are well known for their spectacularly visual live performances which have always enthusiastically embraced lighting, video, lasers and pyro. Bryan has been on-board with TSO since it started touring in 1999 and had also previously worked with O'Neill on other projects.
He first used Robe Pointes on the 2013 tour and decided to return to their popular multi-purpose workhorse fixture for this one.
A massive 29 mm pitch screen formed the backdrop and upstage side-stage wings for this latest tour, and with that came the need for some seriously bright but compact lightsources.
Eight square-shaped moving truss pods were flown over the stage, each rigged with four Pointes which were used to create a selection of signature ACL effects in all the different positions. "I grew up using ACLs as specials and for wow factor moments," explained Bryan, "and Pointes are the perfect modern equivalent - but with a hugely expanded capacity due to features like the zoom." The remainder of the Pointes were dotted around the other overhead trusses with some on the deck.
In addition to the moving truss pods, the 2015 tour stage set included two large claw arms complete with personnel platforms which articulated and moved across the full space.
Bryan programmed the show onto a Hog 4 console working closely with lighting director Dan Cassar for three weeks of production rehearsals in Omaha, Nebraska.
Dan directed visuals on the road for the west coast TSO troupe, while Bryan himself operated and oversaw the east coast tour, with the production design for both replicated exactly.
(Jim Evans)
