Day six of Live Design's '12 Plots of Christmas' features Cosmo Wilson's plots for the 2023 Aerosmith Peace Out: The Farewell Tour, which launched in Philadelphia, PA in September 2023 and is scheduled to conclude in 2024 (currently on hiatus due to Steven Tyler vocal injury).
The stage is in the shape of an A with flanked inflatable wings and various ramps and walkways, as reflected in the shape of the lighting rig.
"As most people know, I am an old school designer and director. My designs harken back to the big Par can rigs of the 80’s and 90’s. When I was told that this was going to be The Farewell Tour, I figured there would be a mixed audience — the older fans who have probably seen Aerosmith on several occasion, and the newer fans, who realized this would probably be there last chance to see such an iconic band live," explains Wlison.
"I was presented with the video wall first, which was essentially a triangle, or, an “A,” which has always been an Aerosmith look. Then, I was told that the show was going to be sold in 360*, which meant I could not block any views with the lighting rig. So I jammed the trusses inside the triangle, and loaded them up with Robe LED Beam 350 fixtures, which for me are the best representative of an old-school Par can "Wilson notes.
Light Plots: Click To Expand (and scroll for seven plots)
"I even loaded the trusses in such a way that it evoked the D-type trusses of the 80s, but instead of two bars of six, I did two bars of four and then put a BMFL in the space on the end, which was my signature look in the old days. I added Robe Pointe fixtures representing ACLs, as they cut through everything and had that tight beam ACL four-finger look. I needed some eye candy, so I added torms across the US that could fly in and out, so as not to obstruct the audience view, at least not for too long. Benny and I programmed looks that evoked the big Par washes and ACL focuses. I always run my shows manually, as that’s the way the band plays, and it adds another human element to the show. Also, moving the trusses down, especially at the end of the show, gave the band that old school “wall of light” evocative of the old days of rock & roll."
For Wilson, it was important for "the older people to be brought back to the good old days of big rigs, and I wanted the younger audience to see an old-school in-your-face lighting rig in person." A great way for this classic rock band to say farewell.
Lighting gear provided by 4Wall:
42 Robe MegaPointe
52 Chauvet Strike 4
28 Elation Artiste Monet
32 Elation Proteus Maximus
43 GLP JDC1 Strobe
40 High End Systems SolaPix 19
8 Robe BMFL Followspot
54 Robe BMFL Washbeam
184 Robe Robin LED Beam 350
36 Robe Robin Pointe - 36
48 Robe Spiider
3 30I Laser
16 AIM Double Barrel Cannon
4 AIM Silent Storm
30 Atom 12 AS
23 Club Cannon Pro Jet
12 Kvant 30w- 3D
24 Elation ACL 360i
2 LSG
1 Smoke Factory Carpet Crawler
8 Sonic Boom
Lighting crew:
Cosmo Wilson- Lighting Designer
Benny Kirkham- Associate Designer/Programmer
Steve Dixon- Show Producer
Amy Tinkham- Creative Director
Josh Zangen- Production Designer
Chris Nyfield- Technical Director
Phay MacMahon- Production Manager
Temple Dorough- Lighting Crew Chief
Thomas Foote- Lighting Tech
Charles Boyington- Lighting Tech
Beverly Wright-Osment- Lighting Tech
Joel Muir- Lighting Tech
Bart Buckalew- Lighting Tech/Dimmer 1
Wade Cotton- Lighting Tech/Dimmer 2
Mose Berreyesa- Robo Spot Tech