John Mayers Stage Is A Wonderland Thanks To Elations Impression
LOS ANGELES - When John Mayer drew up plans for his 2008 Summer Tour, the singer-guitarist-songwriter expressed a strong desire to get back to his musical roots and make the show more “organic.”
“On previous tours, we had video in the show,” recalled lighting designer Michael Keller. “But John decided he was tired of doing video. We were going to go more straightforward rock n roll - the type of feeling where youre watching a band, not video. John wanted to keep everything very organic.”
Keller, who has been Mayers LD for three years, achieved the desired stage impression -- and other organic benefits, too -- with Elation Professionals Impression intelligent LED moving head. An extremely small and compact, yet high-output, RGB color-changing fixture, the Impression is the main lighting unit being used on the 30-city tour, which plays at 10,000-20,000-seat indoor and outdoor venues.
“You might think an LED is the opposite of what organic is,” noted Keller, “but the Impression is such a versatile fixture that you can get some very organic, true saturation colors with it.” This marks the first time he has used LED-powered fixtures to light John Mayers shows, added Keller, who initially discovered the Impression while visiting the Prockl Company, a lighting company in Europe. “I saw these little units and wondered, What are these? Then I turned them on and it was like, wow, these things put out a lot of light! It was the first LED fixture Ive ever dealt with that actually puts out a shaft of light, so I was quite impressed.”
Powered by 90 high-performance Luxeon K2 LEDs (30 each red, green and blue), each Impression unit delivers an output comparable to or exceeding a 575W discharge fixture. Yet, its small enough to be mounted on a 14” center and weighs a mere 16 lbs., giving it an enormous output-lumen-to-physical weight ratio. Whats more, it offers a 50% or better energy savings over traditional 575W fixtures, thanks to its high output of 60 lumens per watt.
Keller used a total of 34 Impressions on the Mayer set. Each of the 6 band positions is illuminated by 4 overhead units, 2 at the back and 2 on the sides. The remaining 10 units are mounted 8 high in a back row behind the band.
The LD reports he has been very impressed with the brightness and wide spectrum of RGB colors produced by the units. “Im getting much more output and a better color range than I ever could (with previous non-LED fixtures),” Keller said. “I have an audience focus, and the 24 (overhead) units are bright enough to light the majority of the audience, too. I was very, very impressed with that. I can light the audience with a deep saturated color or a really bright color.” Another feature he really likes is that “it gives you a full range of white color - probably the best white color Ive seen on RGB fixtures without utilizing a white LED.”
Speed is yet another of the Impressions attributes that has served well at John Mayer concerts. The fixtures compact moving mass, combined with state-of-the-art stepper motors, give it the capability of reaching 660° pan in 2 seconds and 300° tilt in 1 second, with extremely smooth and fluid movements. “John improvises so often, so whats really nice about the lights is that theyre so quick, I can get them into a new position right away,” said Keller.
The 10 Impression units positioned behind the band are used to create a more laid-back atmosphere during Mayers frequent forays into blues. “When were doing things like blues numbers, I like to bring it down to a real intimate club vibe, and the Impressions along the back of the stage have worked really well to give us this feeling,” Keller said.
Along with John Mayers desired organic look, the Impressions have brought another organic aspect to the tour - energy conservation. With its low power draw versus output, “the Impression is truly a green fixture,” said Keller. “Im saving a lot of electricity with it. Johns aware of what were using and he really likes the idea.”
For more information, call Elation Professional toll-free at 866-245-6726 or visit www.elationlighting.com
Lighting Designer Michael Keller can be reached at 702-498-4555 or kelrock@mac.com