Pushing their musical genre to new limits with their unique classical string arrangements that blend with ferocious guitar riffs and growling vocals, Imminence has been a magnet for metal fans. Small wonder, their recent 20-city tour sold out quickly. Fans who flocked to see the quintet from Trelleborg, Sweden weren’t disappointed, as the band roared through each song with unbridled passion. However, even as they became more immersed in the show, members of the audience didn’t always get to “see” band members, at least not in the literal sense. They didn’t mind, though, the evocative dark space created by the band’s LD Nate Haber made it easier for them to dive deeper into the visionary sound that has made this band so popular.

Capturing the mood of the music in the aptly named The Black Tour, Haber sometimes kept the entire stage black. At other times, he cast long shadows from his side lighting over much of the stage and presented the musicians as darkened or monochromatically covered silhouettes. “Darkness is a pretty big element of the show. The programming of the performance is really where the role of darkness is applied,” said Haber. “ Many times, during the show we simply turn everything off and leave the audience in pitch black. For example, many of the songs have instrumental interludes and my thinking is that by totally removing the audience’s ability to see it will heighten their sense of hearing and make those auditory things more impactful.

“We also use very little front light,” he continued. “Really, almost no front light. An example of the kind of effect we were after is during the violin solo by our lead singer Eddie Berg. We use one side fill to create an effect where it looks like his upper body is appearing from a complete blanket of darkness. The whole stage is dark. All you can see is his head and violin and the side lighting creates extremely dramatic shadows.” Helping Haber accent the darkness is a collection of 18 CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M moving fixtures.  Describing the high output motorized strobe-washes as  “the main workhorse of the show,” he relied on them as his principal light source and as a tool for shaping dark space.

“We had the Color STRIKE Ms around the drum and keyboard riser behind the windows, facing the audience,” noted Haber. “When I could manage it, I liked to have some flown in the air as well. We basically covered the stage in STRIKE Ms. Definitely my favorite fixture of that type.”

Haber combined dark space with ambers and a variety of monochromatic palettes, most notable teal. “We actually used teal more than anything,” he said. “We were going for a cinematic, theatrical look. Our goal was to recreate a vibe that was similar to what was in the band’s music videos.” Haber also made good use of low-lying fog on the tour and looks forward to incorporating this effect in the future. “We have a new headlining tour in the spring,” he said. “I think we will have some new fog and props to add to that show.” When that happens those new design elements will be sure to have a powerful effect on audiences, especially when they’re cast in the evocative dark space and shadows created by this inspired designer.

Photos Courtesy of CHAUVET Professional

Further information from CHAUVET Professional

Article Sourced from PLSN: Projection, Lights, and Staging News