Kiss and Aerosmith

October 08, 2003

Concert tours rarely get more entertaining than the Kiss/Aerosmith double bill currently making its way across America. Two of rocks more popular bands of all time have joined forces for an irresistible show that Aerosmith LD Jim Chapman describes as a “fun, slash and burn, big rock show.”

Co-lighting design

The lighting system for the tour was co-designed by Bryan Hartley (Kiss) and Jim Chapman (Aerosmith) and incorporates some 150 MAC 2000 Wash and Profile units along with 32 Atomic 3000 strobes all supplied by LSD/Fourth Phase. Benny Kirkham (currently on tour with the Dixie Chicks) aided in design and draftsmanship.

Rotating stage

Kiss and Aerosmith share a unique stage, a rotating, turntable-style platform that allows two monster shows to be put on with only a 30-minute interval between performances. After both bands have set up prior to the show, on respective sides of the stage, Kiss opens the show. Then, after a brief break, the stage rotates to expose the Aerosmith set up. According to Jim, the turntable stage is a big time saver.

Jim Chapman

Jim has been with Aerosmith for years having designed their lighting on the 1986/87 and 1996 tours. As he explains, he designs by what he is trying to light, the structure involved, not by quantity of lighting fixtures. Just over a year ago he contacted Martin’s Sales Manager in California, Ray Whitton, looking for a bright wash and profile to keep up with the brightness from the main stage video screens, which are located only 32 feet from the front of the stage. That means a lot of LED light spill, therefore Jim needed a bright light to cut through that. After Ray demoed the MAC 2000s for Jim, he was convinced.

“It’s not only bright, it’s brighter than bright,” Jim stated. “The 2000s kept up with other 3000K lights. The colors are rich and big, from wide field soft edge to a tight beam and you have this awesome ACL beam. The hard edge has to keep up with the wash. You can cut out paper with that hard edge. It’s a great 1-2 combination. The MAC 2000 intensity and light level really kicks all other lights of its size and caliber.”

Jim expressed his satisfaction with both the lights and the service he has received. “Technical problems have been few and far between. The few problems we did have were understandable because the lights really took some abuse - with Bryan and me programming they took some wear and tear. We had them operating about 20 hrs/day.”

“When the house lights go down, that’s when the 2000’s talk,” he continues. “We’re really happy with them. Movement is sweet with no jerkiness. We needed to use the Atomic 3000 to keep up with the intensity of the Wash.”

The 2000s are positioned both in the truss and spread out across the stage floor. They are used as scenic lighting, lighting scenic drapes 15 feet away, for washing, hole filling and floor to ceiling illumination. In keeping with the big, rock ‘n roll look, various shapes, angles and multiple beams engulf the stage.

Bryan Hartley

For the Kiss portion of the show no repositioning of the lights is done although, according to LD Bryan Hartley, the set up is higher than Aerosmith’s. The Kiss set features a mylar, silver tone with four rows of speakers with silver fronts (10-12 across) which take light really well, says Bryan.

Bryan has a wealth of design experience behind him including working for Trans Siberian Orchestra for the past 5 years. He also counts Meat Loaf, Poison, Anthrax, Slayer and MegaDeath among his lighting credits. He loves his moving lights and describes himself as a ‘moving lights designer’, usually designing shows using all automated fixtures.

“Martin is making really good stuff,” he states. “The MAC 2000 Wash is phenomenal. The colors are great and it’s the best green I’ve seen which I use a lot of. You can do some cool tricks with gobos in the Profiles and the Atomic is the best strobe out there.”

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