UK singer songwriter Charli XCX has publically stated that she experiences sound-
to-colour synaesthesia and “sees’ music in colours … so it was not a complete
surprise to show designer Rob Sinclair and lighting designer Greg Hill when she
requested coloured smoke for her current tour. Prominent smoke is also in tune
with the “horror prom’ theme of the current live show.
Sinclair immediately knew the solution – Robe Cyclones – having used them very
successfully on the Kaiser Chiefs’ tour last year.
Hill, who is out on the road LD’ing the tour, has been working with the innovative
and interesting Charli XCX since 2014, and Sinclair came on board in early 2015 as
show designer. Some elements of the show look were already in place, including a
set of false scenic Orange amps which are up-lit very effectively with LEDs, so
Sinclair then chose lighting fixtures and positions to evolve the aesthetic from this
starting point.
The Cyclone is a moving head integrating a ring of 24 high powered RGBW multichip
LEDs and a fan, providing a tool to create some fabulous visual atmospheric effects.
The perimeter ring of LEDs has a zoom of 8 – 63 degrees and a variable speed fan
in the centre, which has a snoot to help create a strong central airflow which can be
combined with any type of fog and haze. The fan itself can be independently DMX
controlled and is a great complement to foggers and hazers needing fine-tuned
directional streams of atmosphere.
On Charli XCX, four Cyclones are positioned high on top of the LED cabinets and fed
by four fog machines running on quick-dissipating fluid. The outflows are ducted
right up behind the Cyclones, resulting in impressive and very clean, distinctive
coloured plumes of smoke.
Hill really likes the unique look that they create especially with the quick fog. “They
are bright and have a really crisp and fast shutter effect as well as some good
inbuilt macros,’ he stated, adding that the fans were also “immensely powerful.’
The Cyclones are being run from Hill’s grandMA2 light lighting console.
Charli XCX is also very involved in the style of her stage presentation. When the
coloured smoke and the Cyclone solution was proposed, her production – led by
tour manager Andrew Wilkinson – purchased the Cyclones from Robe UK.
