Imagine Dragons' 2015 Smoke + Mirrors World Tour is an ever evolving, high-energy production that has garnished rave reviews and thrilled fans across the globe. The vision came from, Creative Director Jesse Lee Stout.  The show is split into four acts, and masterfully shows its hand during the course of the concert as it evolves with dynamic use of color and video. Lighting Designer Sooner Routhier, specified 44 High End Systems Solaspot Pro 1500 fixtures as the primary profile fixture in the rig. Lighting and video production is handled by VER.　　Sooner says Jesse's creative genius is responsible for the initial tour concept, content creation and direction. "It's all scripted out," she adds, revealing that "it's not just another rock show, we have rules to adhere to. The first four songs have one set of rules - we don't really reveal all the color until the fourth song, and the next four get another set of rules. We didn't release certain creative elements until specific moments in the show, so the audience doesn't get tired watching the same things. There's a massive build to the show, and distinctive levels of production that we implement."
　　Asked to explain his overall design concept, Stout says, "In short, my vision was to exhibit various optical deceptions for the audience, as well as create an evolution in the show in realms of dimension, color, and shape. The Smoke + Mirrors album deals with a lot of deceptions - skeptical of what or whom you can trust - things aren?t always what they appear to be. As to the design, the stage is revealed as eight LED towers, interspersed with eight lighting towers in a forced perspective - a classic optical technique to create the illusion of infinite depth. Thirty minutes into the show, the stage changes shape, and continues to throughout. The LED towers are wrapped with 2-way mirrors, creating a sleek glossy look and you never see the LED product, but it also leaves an evocative warped reflection of its surrounding environment."　　Seamless integration of lighting and video was paramount to the team's design. Jesse comments, "Sooner and I were on the same page right from the start. We've worked together in the past on tours for The Weeknd and Jay Z.  So when it came time to discuss the show, our thinking was already aligned. From day one, I wanted to play visual tricks between the video and lighting. For example, there are moments in the show where the spotlights are aimed at the video walls and the content mimics the lighting - at times it looks as if the light beam is burning the video wall, at other times the light beam appears to go inside the video wall and bounce off of its edges multiple times. The audience surely doesn’t know the specifics of what’s happening, but it creates a feeling. Additionally, lights are often aimed at the video walls (wrapped in 2-way mirrors) to bounce light, disguise the light?s source, and to blend colors."
　　Sooner specified the Solaspot Pro 1500's after seeing a demo of the fixture. She says all 44 Solaspot fixtures are placed in the rig above the stage, and out front on a truss at FOH, as band visibility lights. "The show is very much a hard edged fixture show. We chose the High End Solaspots for our main profile, and it's been the best light I have used in ages! I am totally blown away with them. The biggest thing Jesse and I liked when we saw the demo was the shuttering capabilities. It's a very geometric show as well, and we needed to be able to create square beams and to be able to play with the beam shape. It's not so much a gobo heavy show; we needed that hard edge and the ability to get a super tight and very flat beam, and a quick shutter system to keep up with the tempos of the music. So when we saw how the shutter system worked in the demo we were sold.　　"The next big thing was the color mixing. Most of the colors that we picked for the lighting are not saturated, deep greens and oranges - it's mainly pastels and medium tones. So we needed something with a very even field of light pastels - CTOs, CTBs, super light straw colors and very light aqua colors. If you didn't have another light to compare it to, it would look white - but it's not. The Solaspot really blew us away with the color mixing, even when it gets right down to 5 or 10% on a color flag, you could still see the color, and it was even."
　　Stout says he picked the Solaspots because "as a visual artist, I can distinctly see the difference in the clarity of the Solaspot?s shape to other lights. The blend created when two Solaspots overlap is so clean and crisp, I feel like I’m looking at a Photoshopped image, but it?s real. On the song 'Friction', we took full advantage of the shutters in the Solaspots. That second verse of 'Friction' now has a twisting, transforming feel that no other fixture can replicate. For 'On Top of the World', we blend color after color seamlessly - matching the hues of the video content perfectly. Those color-blends are outstanding.
　　Sooner gives kudos to Lighting Director Mitchell Schellenger , Lighting Crew Chief Jeffrey Hubbell and the entire team for the success of this production. "They have a really great team out on the tour. Mitchell and Jeffrey are incredibly good at their jobs - I call Mitchell my 'resident badass'!"
　　By all accounts, the Solaspot Pro 1500s have performed above and beyond the call of duty on this tour. Jeffrey Hubbell comments, "The fixtures have pretty much been bullet proof for the tour. The low amperage of the LED source is also a plus, keeping overall power consumption lower than most tours this size."
　　Mitchell Schellenger adds, "It's been a pleasure working with the HES Solaspot Pro1500 LED fixture for a number of reasons. The intensity and color is incomparable to any other LED profile fixtures I've used in the past. We've had no trouble utilizing the LED source fixture as key light on our band. Even on i-Mag the color on skin tones looks fantastic. The shapers in this unit are incredible and have allowed us to incorporate very unique volumetrically intriguing effects that are very powerful in the performance. The speed is unlike any other shaper out there and it maintains its precision night after night.
　　"Something that is often overlooked or forgotten when choosing a profile fixture is what the source looks like on the lens. It's not just about the beam coming out of the unit. High End Systems has done a great job creating a 'base' output point that is both clean and symmetrical, but can have very dynamic and appealing looks when various colors are used. For example, when we have a deep amber in the unit and the light is panning, it looks almost like cats eyes - very stunning and interesting to look at."
　　Photography courtesy of Moment Factory
　　Tags - Imagine Dragons, High End Systems, Solaspot Pro 1500, VER, Moment Factory