Lighting designer Matthew Kilmurry is controlling Irish musician Hozier’s US and UK
tour lighting this autumn using an Avolites Sapphire Touch.

Kilmurry’s design for the Hozier tour is based around a warm tungsten atmospheric
feel, using old school Edison bulbs dotted around the stage which gives a wonderful
glow to the performers.

“I’ve been using Avolites consoles since I started out in lighting in 2001,” says
Kilmurry. “I trained in Ireland and the first console I used was a Pearl 2000. I chose
the Sapphire Touch for the Hozier tour in the UK and US this year as I find the
cloning/exchange fixture works very well and I can get around it much quicker than
other consoles. Everything I need seems to be a few less button pushes away.”

The Sapphire Touch is designed for ambitious shows, with more submasters, more
flash and executor buttons, and the power to control larger, more challenging rigs.
The two wide screen touch monitors offer a huge workspace area, expandable
further with Sapphire Touch and Sapphire Media Wings.

For the UK shows, PRG supplied the Sapphire Touch. In Ireland, Just Lite and
Production Services supplied the console, and in the US, the Sapphire Touch was
supplied by Christie Lights and PRG.

To create his looks, Kilmurry is controlling a diverse rig.

“I’m using par 64s and 4 Lite Moles to back light all seven musicians,” he says. “I
also use Mole Richardson Mole Beams, which I’m a big fan of as they create a large
shaft of Tungsten light which gives a spectacular effect for live shows. All this
Tungsten in conjunction with Martin Vipers or Robe’s BMFLs, Martin Atomics and
some LED movers and pars gives me the ability to make it really punchy or very
mellow at any time during the performance. Also with a mostly colour mixing rig I
can seamlessly create different moods, for example cold looks and warm colour
temperature looks with nice fade times that complement the music without
overshadowing any of the performance. I always strive to capture the dynamics and
feel of the music visually.”

Hozier – real name Andrew Hozier-Byrne – performs across the US during
September and October, including New York, Los Angeles and Portland. He lands
back in the UK in early January to play in Edinburgh, Manchester, Sheffield and
Liverpool.