“They melt your face off!” – high praise indeed for famous Solaris Flare® fixtures, from Toby Dennis, Production Designer and Technical Director for The Chemical Brothers. The electronic music duo’s autumn arena tour of the UK, Europe, and Mexico featured a set design including 93 Flares from the tour’s lighting provider Lite Alternative, with help from Dry Hire Lighting. With more than enough lumens for any continent, the tour will continue in the US this year.
Show Designers Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall created an immersive visual experience for the synth duo, where “the visuals become the lead singer.”
“Strobes are an integral part of Chemical Brothers’ shows,” explains Adam Smith, “for the 2018-19 shows we created a wall of them. Using Flares allowed us the flexibility to strobe into the audience, but also to saturate them in light as musically appropriate. Their incredible brightness and colors, plus their multi-use capabilities and reaction time, are what made us choose them.”
Marcus Lyall adds, “For arena shows the strobe wall comprised a 5 x 11 grid of Flares on custom wire ladders which went up on mid-stage winches at points in the show. With three more rows of 11, plus more on the stage and truss, we used a total of 93 Flares. We love the Flare’s intensity and great saturated colors. They work well for strobing but also as a wash light. Their output really knocks people over!”
Toby Dennis says, “The Flares gave us a multi-colored strobe fixture that also satisfied the level of intensity we required. We used the four-cell mode for different shapes and textures giving us endless visual options to play with. The Solaris Flares are a true multi-purpose fixture, so much more than just another colored strobe.”
Lite Alternative’s Jon Greaves asserts, “With the high demand for Flares these days, we’re much appreciative of Dry Hire Lighting’s support. They’re the trustworthy, go-to folks to supply what we need, when we need it. A little shy about taking credit, they are nevertheless ‘silent partners’ for many companies like ours – gaining little glory but much appreciation.”
Located in Buckinghamshire, Dry Hire Lighting recently boosted their inventory of Flares to support lighting and production companies in the UK and Europe. “Our inventory is based entirely upon demand,” says Dry Hire Director, Rob Merrilees, “and the Flare is definitely highly specified these days. We have over 2,000 intelligent lights in our inventory, all of which are tested and maintained to the highest standards. The Flare is an incredibly bright, in-demand fixture, and fits well in our rental stock.”
Dry Hire is a “neutral partner” to professional lighting hire companies within the entertainment industry, helping them fulfil their equipment shortfalls discreetly, as and when required. Find out more about Dry Hire at www.dryhirelighting.co.uk.
Since 1990, Lite Alternative has provided lighting, A/V equipment and designs for concert tours, clubs, theatres, TV/film, corporate and special events in the UK and Europe. Certified for all aspects of production, including lighting, rigging, hoists, and scenery, Lite Alternative offers cutting-edge, contemporary stage and spatial lighting design, incorporating all aspects of lighting, video and stage production techniques. Learn more about Lite Alternative at www.lite-alternative.com.
For more “Chemical related” material, visit Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall on Instagram. Learn more about Toby Dennis at I Smashed It Productions. Tour Production Manager is James Baseley of Little Fella Productions with lighting programming and operating by Thomas Dechandon and J. C. Aubree.
TMB is exclusive distributor for Solaris Flare products. Learn about other innovative products from TMB at www.tmb.com.