New Flare Q+ on Linkin Park Tour

	Linkin Park's One More Light performing at London's O2.

It is said "You can take the band out of Southern California but you can't take So Cal out of the band." Completing the European leg of their world tour in Birmingham last week, Linkin Park's One More Light is a departure from the group's earlier work. Smooth, subtle, and sometimes moody, the band's evolving sound is beautifully complemented by the tour's lighting designer, Celine Royer. Key to her design are 74 of the new Solaris Flare Q+ luminaires.

"We wanted to tell a story with the lighting, reflecting the emotional journey that happens throughout the night," says Royer. "A geometric look, with Flares everywhere, is a nod to the band's metal roots, while subtle hues are programmed to catch nuances in the band's newer material. We have the Flares on upstage, midstage, and downstage moving trusses, as well as sidefills and uplights. I've used Flares before and knew what to expect, but the new Flare Q+ is brighter by far -- I'll often run them at partial power depending on the segment. The extra output 'headroom' is great for dynamic and impressive crescendos. We use the Flares as washes, strobes, and blinders. I love using them with pixel-mapping, helping bring the motion alive. Everything is time-coded and controlled by a Grand MA2."

Royer is a 14-year veteran of lighting design and programming. She has worked closely with renowned French lighting designer Dimitri Vassiliu and has numerous touring, film, and TV credits worldwide. Production director for Linkin Park is Jim Digby, who is also executive director of Event Safety Alliance (ESA). According to Digby, "The Linkin Park crew is the first to have taken and completed the industry's basic safety training (ESAT www.eventsafetyaccess.com) offered by Event Safety Alliance. This training is the future of our industry's shift toward a safer culture."

Lighting gear for the European leg of the tour was provided by Nitelites of the UK. Shaun Moore of Nitelites explains, "As LX crew chief for this run, I can say the Flares are rock solid and extremely versatile -- the perfect touring fixture. The colors and effects are amazing. This is our first tour with Linkin Park and we sub-hired the Flares from the HSL Group in Blackburn." The tour will continue in North America at the end of this month through October.

Solaris Flares have become a staple for lighting designers worldwide. The new Flare Q+ has the incredibly smooth dimming, vibrant colors, control options, all the features of its distinguished predecessor, plus the added benefits of Solaris' revolutionary Q+ Technology. This new proprietary LED driver technology almost eliminates fan noise, while increasing brightness by over 40-percent -- up to an amazing 52,000 lumens in the classic 96-LED format, and 58,000 lumens in the new Flare Q+ LR 108-LED linear unit. In "theatre mode," the Flare Q+ is effectively silent, yet still 8-percent brighter than the original Flare. Of particular value in the rental market, all Flares now have a calibration function that allows matching of intensity and color between Flares of any vintage.

Learn more about Nitelites at www.nitelites.co.uk and HSL at www.hslgroup.com. Contact Celine Royer at clight.boltoncrew@gmail.com, and Jim Digby at www.linkedin.com/in/jdigby.

TMB is exclusive distributor for Solaris Flare products. Learn more about Flare Q+ , Flare Q+ LR, and other innovative products at the URL below.