Elation DARTZ Keeps Pace With August Burns Red

You’d be hard pressed to find a band that plays at a more upbeat tempo than August Burns Red.

The metalcore band’s fast-paced, aggressive sound keeps listeners on the edge of their seats, a
dynamic style of breakneck metal that has endeared them to their fans for the past 15 years.

Needing a compact yet powerful narrow-beam fixture that could keep up with the band on their 2019 “Dangerous” tour, which kicked off January 24th in Kentucky, USA, lighting designer David Summers chose 12 x Elation DARTZ 360 fixtures, supplied by Squeek Lights, as the bread and butter of his design.

“It takes a lot to keep up with a band this fast,” said Summers, who’s been with the band just over
a year and describes his lighting design as fast-paced, precise and large. “We needed a light that
could move fast with a good mix of color and effects options.”

Using 12 of the 3-degree RGB DARTZ fixtures grouped across 4 towers of 5-foot pipe in a straight line upstage, Summers put together an impactful yet artistic design that captures the emotion of the band and the energy in the hard- driving music.

“This set up yields insane positions, especially for universal pan/tilt cues,” the designer said, referring to the DARTZ’s continuous 360° pan and tilt capability, an ideal feature for an aggressive band like August Burn Red . “I obviously love the infinite pan and tilt options with this light. But truthfully, I think it’s an awesome beam fixture that doesn’t eat up your budget but can absolutely deliver in any setting.”

Using the fixture’s 3-degree aperture to create classic ACL beam looks, the designer also dug deeper into the fixture’s feature set to access an effects package of gobos and prisms.

From their four 5-foot high upstage positions, two each side of the drum riser, Summers effectively splits the visual plane in two, allowing for a variety of design possibilities. “I’m a big fan of symmetrical looks and movements so anything with big sweeping ‘XX’s’ and ‘VV’s’ I love,” he said. “I have an ‘XVXVX’ cue that I use frequently on the tour.”

The band also carries six Elation SixBar 1000 6-color LED battens as side light along with 6
Proton 3K Color LED strobes positioned on the upstage deck. “These are my favorite for creating
builds and I love using these while I’m transitioning between cues,” said Summers, adding that he
has been using Elation lights on shows for three years now. Antari Z-350 Fazers provide a canopy of
dry haze for revealing mid-air beams while lighting control comes via an Martin Lighting M2GO console with an M-Touch used as a wing.

Photos by Rob Wallace, @mindful_photo (instagram)