PHOTO : COURTESY OF SOLOTECH PHOTO : JOHN SHEARER
KENNY CHESNEY AT RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM , TAMPA , FL
KATY PERRY ON A SOLOTECH-SUPPLIED TOUR
habits and we wouldn ’ t continue to travel unnecessarily . One of the things that that I believe is a big deal is getting to LED light sources . When we look at the power consumption of some of these big rigs , when we switched the rig to LED , the power consumption is staggeringly different .
But to more directly answer your question , I don ’ t know all the specifics of the Coldplay tour . We ’ re doing the audio on it , but we ’ re not doing the lighting and video . Do you know more about it ?
PL & P : They actually have website just dedicated to what the tour is doing to reduce its impact ( sustainability . coldplay . com .). Some of it does involve reducing the number of trucks , fewer charter flights , using renewable energy and fuels , and so on . The stage is made of recyclable materials . But on the AVL design / technology front , they required that the whole rig use 50 % less energy than their previous tour . That influenced
the choice of d & b SL-Series speakers , and the PixMob LED bracelets are made from compostable material , as is the confetti , etc . The confetti is even shot using less compressed gas and the pyro products are eco-friendlier .
So , the main thing I wanted to get at is , will we see manufacturers getting pushed to go in that direction — not just for altruistic reasons , but because it ’ s better for business , too ? And does a company like Solotech have a responsibility to push manufacturers in that direction ?
Curbishley : We definitely have our responsibility , like you say . I remember about four years ago , I think it was something we were doing with the Jonas Brothers , and there was a beautiful design put together , but then we went over it and looked at the power requirements and we went back to the band and said , “ Hey , should we use some more LED lights ?” In the past , you ’ d sort of cringe a bit , but the LED lights are so good now and when we looked at the comparison in terms of power consumption , especially over a whole tour , the difference was insane . So , it became a non-issue . It was just , absolutely , let ’ s do it . We had to go buy the LED lights because we didn ’ t have them , but we pushed really hard for that . And since then , we ’ ve been on a bit of a mission to make sure we use as much LED as possible .
I ’ m pretty sure that we ’ re going to get to a point soon where the promoters are going to turn around , whether it ’ s Coachella or Hyde Park or whatever , and just say , “ Listen , you need to come here with as much LED and low-impact product as you possibly can .” They might even make a rule around it . That seems to be where they ’ re going , because they ’ re taking advice , and we ’ re led by that . We don ’ t generally get to decide which products are on a tour . We can have some of those conversations and point out power consumption or the size of something and how much more truck space it needs , but I think it ’ s going to be led from the promoters and the artists . If the artist sees a cannon that is taking half the energy and using something that biodegrades quickly , they ’ re going to ask you that question , right ? It ’ s like they used to ask us about smoke fluid . I remember when that first became a thing and they became aware of what they were breathing every day . Someone started to ask the question , “ Hey , what ’ s in there ?” So , the more you question it , the more we ’ re going to make these changes .
PL & P : Lastly , any AVL technological developments or design trends that are exciting you right now ?
Curbishley : I ’ m actually leaving today for London to go to PLASA to see what ’ s going on now . My next week is going to be spent looking at some stuff in the U . K . and I ’ m really looking forward to it because I haven ’ t been to PLASA for many years .
One thing we have been been buying a lot of the last few years is video screens . We have XR Studios down in Hollywood , which had been pretty successful during COVID and seems to have emerged even stronger since the film and TV world reopened .
Like I was saying earlier , we ’ re writing POs today for next year and there is such a broad selection of lighting instruments that we ’ re buying right now . Interestingly , clients aren ’ t really tied to one brand anymore . We have great relationships with all brand , and because we buy so much , they all really look after us . Before , you could feel some clients were in a certain brand ’ s corner , or certain manufacturer , but it feels much more open now . It feels like a more even playing field .
Michael Raine is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Lighting & Production .
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