Robe LEDWashes Get Aboard Train Tour

	Robe LEDWash 600 on the Train US tour

Lighting designer Brock Hogan specified 28 Robe LEDWash 600s for the recent US tour by San Francisco rock band, Train.

Hogan has worked for Train for the last three years, and was interested in the features and functionality of Robe products -- specifically the LEDWash 600 - as supplied by LMG Touring, a national provider of video, audio, and lighting equipment.

LMG Touring added Robe products to their inventory last year, and supplied lighting, video, and LED for the recent Train tour.

Hogan first used LMG's initial batch of LEDWash 600 on last year's Good Charlotte tour, and followed up by integrating them into his latest design for Train.

Hogan's aesthetic starting point for lighting the tour was to create a 'big rock show' look for the band, with plenty of colour, movement and spectacle.

From the outset, he also had the LEDWash's individual ring control in mind to use for some specific effects in particular songs, the company says. Hogan evolved a unique "eyeball" effect for the moody "Ordinary" (from the soundtrack of the Spiderman 2 movie) with the inner ring in red and the outer in white.

A bit later on in the set, for "Calling All Angels" he produced eye-catching halo effects with the rings. Additionally, he used chases across the rings to enhance the onstage energy for dramatic effects, like drum solos.

Twenty four of the LEDWash 600s were rigged on four vertical trusses upstage of an 18mm pitch LED backdrop, which split into five separate columns at strategic moments, leaving two-foot gaps between and allowing the beams to blast through.

The other four fixtures were installed below two Plexiglas-topped risers onstage.

The LEDWashes were also utilized as back-light effects shining directly through the screen when in its solid format, and they had no problem penetrating the video wall according to the company, due to their impressive intensity.

However, Hogan's real trick to maximizing their impact was simply using them sparingly. He programmed and ran all lighting via a grandMA2, which made it really easy to get the most out of the LED ring control.

The company reports that Hogan loves the light weight, brightness, and versatility of the LEDWash 600, and appreciates the homogenized light engine, the smooth color mixing, that the lightsource resembles a real lamp with a beam rather than a collection of LEDs, and the theatrical-grade dimming.

"I'll definitely be using them on my next tour," Hogan confirms.

The equipment was supplied out of LMG's headquarters in Orlando, Florida. Craig Mitchell, national sales manager with LMG Touring, commented on the success of the LEDWashes at LMG. "They are extremely popular with lighting designers, and have proved very robust and reliable."