Since its launch at The Hangar at Global Gathering, DJ David Guetta's latest tour is overwhelming audiences with the additional power and spectacular effects of SHAPESHIFTER automated luminaires from High End Systems. Lighting designer Jonathan 'Leggy' Armstrong used 44 C1 SHAPESHIFTER fixtures in his design, and runs his shows on High End's flagship Hog 4 console.

Leggy describes the experimental nature of Guetta's performances: "David Guetta is a genuine DJ; he doesn't just press play at the start of the show to begin a pre-mixed set. Everything is mixed live so each night is different – obviously there are regular tracks, but he will change the set to suit that night's audience, and mix in and out of tracks at different points. He’ll even finish making a new track on the plane going to the gig then debut it that night. Because of this there is no timecode involved, and all lighting and video cues are operated on the fly. This means our show evolves over time as we experiment, putting different lighting and video cues together to create new looks which keeps the show feeling fresh. It’s an exciting way to work, rather than operating an identical show every night. The video is the foundation of our whole show. Lighting wise we take all our color cues from the video content, and the physical design starts with the screen layout. We work very closely together, with both departments happy to take a back seat and let the other shine."

Leggy first became aware of SHAPESHIFTER during a phone conversation with HES Sales Manager Craig Burross. The LD explains, "Craig told me that there was a new Richard Belliveau fixture coming out and that he thought I’d be interested in it. I went to the open house in New York City, and was suitably impressed, so a few weeks later I flew down to HES in Austin and had a play around in the demo room. I was convinced that the fixture could give us a fresh, cutting edge look for the David Guetta show, which is something we always strive for."

"Being an EDM show, it’s all about being dynamic," says Leggy. The SHAPESHIFTERs have proven to be extremely versatile. We can keep it simple and treat them almost like a standard wash fixture, then let loose with a barrage of effects. Whereas I would normally use wash fixtures to supply a base and rely on my profiles and beam lights for the impact, I found them taking a back seat as the SHAPESHIFTERs could give me the animated beam action we wanted, but in a form we’d never seen before. SHAPESHIFTERs give the 'shock and awe' that we are looking for, but I can also see the potential to give much subtler effects, which I look forward to exploring on a different production. The output is even more impressive than I’d hoped, which is important for the scale of shows we do which can be very large open air performances. Also, the Indigo back-lighter has a much bigger impact than I first imagined; it’s a great effect in its own right. So far the fixtures have been extremely reliable - I've finished every show with 100% functioning."

As a seasoned veteran of the Hog OS, Leggy's desk of choice is naturally the new flagship Hog 4 console. "I've been a Hog user for a very long time," says Armstrong, "and I love the way the Hog 4 felt familiar the first time I walked up to it. It has a very straightforward, efficient workflow which means I can achieve big things in a short time, and its flexible enough for me to use in any situation – a loose, organic show like with David Guetta, or a more structured, theatrically cued show - or anything in-between. The new platform is a pleasure to use; it is so responsive and the new features such as User Kinds and Command Keys make it even more flexible. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the new features to be released over the next few months."

"We don’t have a regular production company due to the way we tour - equipment is supplied at all gigs by the promoter to our specification. Due to this, I normally specify very generic fixture choices that can be replicated, or easily substituted, anywhere in the world. But for this design, I decided to change that policy and go for the SHAPESHIFTERs, as they give us such a distinctive look that it is worth the effort of trying to get them supplied everywhere."