Progressive rockers and sci-fi storytellers Coheed and Cambria continued to compel audiences on their recent The Infinite Arc Tour, taking concertgoers along with them as they traversed both space and human emotion.

In support of the band’s eleventh studio album, “Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe,” the tour amplified the storytelling of lead singer Claudio Sanchez’s comic book series “The Amory Wars.” In addition to the narrative arc, each show on The Infinite Arc Tour brought the impressive visuals and musicality the band has hallmarked throughout its successful three-decade career.

Lighting designer Ben Jarrett of Squeek Lights took all of this into account when crafting the lighting looks and palettes for the tour. He explained the rig, detailing how one special onstage feature influenced his approach, and how X-Laser Skywriter laser projectors added impact to the overall design.

“The lighting rig had four overhead trusses arranged to make two chevrons and a fifth truss downstage for front light,” he said. “We left a large gap in the middle for the 28’ tall inflatable, a ‘Mad Max’-looking character from The Amory Wars called ‘Blind Side Sonny,’ and many of the lighting positions were based around him.”

The show highlighted much more than the inflatable centerpiece, however. Jarrett explained that the lighting design reflected the full range of human emotion, as evident in the music from Coheed and Cambria’s deep catalog.

“Coheed’s set list is usually a healthy mix of loud, energetic and exciting songs like ‘Favor House Atlantic,’ mixed in with slow, reflective, almost-scary moments like with ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth,’” he said.

When the moment called for special effects to take those emotionally evocative cues further, Jarrett called upon four X-Laser Skywriter HPX M-20 lasers. On each side of Blind Side Sonny, two of the 20-watt Skywriters sent vibrant laser beams and liquid sky effects into the air.

“I tend to use space or nebula color schemes in my programming, and the laser liquid sky effects fit really well into the ethereal looks based on the sci-fi themes found throughout The Amory Wars,” Jarrett explained.

Whether cueing up galactic liquid skies or bold beam effects, Jarrett appreciated the smoothness and flexibility of X-Laser’s Mercury firmware, which allowed him to program the lasers simultaneously with the rest of the traditional fixtures, all directly from the grandMA3 Light console running in MA3 mode.

“The lasers worked really well alongside the rest of the lights,” he said. “There were lots of movers and a large video wall, so I had to be very deliberate with lighting positions when I wanted to make a ‘laser-dominant’ look. During those times and transitions, I saw a lot of phones come out in the audience, so it was clear that the lasers made quite the statement. I just wish I could have had more than the four lasers in the rig!”

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X-Laser is America’s leading manufacturer of high-powered laser fixtures for lighting professionals. Visit here to learn more about X-Laser’s range of production-grade laser fixtures and Mercury Laser Control.

Squeek Lights is a full-service production company based in Sayreville, N.J.