Eminem’s lighting director Benny Kirkham used 60 James Thomas PixelLine LED batten fixtures for the recently concluded "Anger Management Tour." Lighting designer Dan Boland specified the PixelLines, and Kirkham programmed and directed them for the tour using MA Lighting’s grandMA lighting console.
Thirty-seven Pixelline 1044s on the ground in DMX mode were broken down into 666 separate "cells" of control. The 1044s lined the entire downstage edge, fully outlining three 16’x4’ stage thrusts. Overhead, 22 of JTE’s latest 110ec PixelLines were broken down into five cells apiece, giving a total of 110 cells overhead.
The 110ecs were mounted into two truss structures shaped like the letter "M" (for "M" and "M"). The PixelLines required six universes of DMX control. With the lights set for DMX mode and maximum resolution, the effects achieved were "unlike anything I've seen before," states Kirkham.
With the PixelLines packed into such a small area, they created a sense of movement from the sources. "The individual cells were fast enough to strobe in any color or do slow sweeps across the stage," explains Kirkham. "The intense color and smooth response made some beautiful eye-catching animations". Kirkham also likes the compact size of the fixtures and the fact that the 1044s in particular are robust.
The tour lighting also featured Martin MAC 2000 profiles and wash moving lights, High End Systems PC Beams and Cyberlight Turbos, Syncrolite SX3Ks, and 3K Atomic strobes. Ed and Ted's Excellent Lighting supplied the equipment and most of the tour’s rigging, with 10 Vario motors overhead provided by Show Distribution of Quebec City, Canada.
Kirkham worked alongside his crew of Gordon Hyndford, Andrea Jepson, Peter Nieto, Lou, Sebastian Richard, and Todd Fass.
For more information on the Anger Management summer tour design, click here.