Pearl Jam, which has sold an estimated 60m records worldwide, is playing arena, festival and stadium dates across the US and in Canada throughout the spring and summer. Lighting designer Kille J. Knobel, who has worked with the band for 16 years, obtained 36 Scenius fixtures for the rig from Upstaging, Inc. in Sycamore, Illinois.
"We've been providing lighting systems for the band for several years," says John Huddleston, director of lighting services at Upstaging, Inc. The Scenius fixtures on tour with Pearl Jam represent the company's first purchase of the lighting instruments, which Huddleston believes "fill the gap for a compact, incredibly bright and feature-packed moving light . . . Our affiliate, Neg Earth in London, used Scenius for Adele's European tour and got really good reports on them. So we felt comfortable buying them on Neg Earth's recommendation."
Knobel also has 28 Clay Paky Sharpy Wash lights and a Sharpy spot on the tour. "The Sharpy Washes have been real workhorses in this rig for wash lights and visual eye candy," she says.
Knobel plans to keep Scenius front of mind for future projects. "I'm super-pleased with them and happy to have them on this tour," she says. "I really love what we've been getting out of them."
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky area manager for North and Latin America, added: "It's very rewarding to see such a high profile team of designers and performers using our new lights. We congratulate Ms. Knobel on such a great design."
(Jim Evans)