Interpol investigates Ayrton Cobra
NYC post-punk band, Interpol, concluded the penultimate leg of its world tour with five dates in the UK at the end of the year. The tour celebrated the 20th anniversary of the band’s seminal landmark album, Antics, which the band played in full, reminding fans of Interpol’s position as one of the most influential bands of its generation.
In keeping with Interpol’s cool, brooding image, Ed Warren’s lighting carried a cutting edge, spartan quality which is a work of modern art in itself. The stripped back design employed 21 Ayrton laser-sourced Cobra fixtures – Warren’s only moving lights – in what Warren terms an ‘extremely considered and precise’ show.
“There was a lot of symmetry going on between all the elements, and paramount to the geometry of it all was to have clean straight beams emanating from above and below,” the lighting designer explains. Fifteen Cobra were flown on a staggered array of truss fingers over the band and six remained on the deck between and flanking the drummer and keyboard risers.
“I chose Cobras because we needed a clean, crisp, bright, narrow beam for a number of key looks,” says Warren. “We spot-lit the bandmembers, especially lead singer Paul Banks, from above with a single spot for many parts of the show. We also used the floor Cobras to backlight the band members and produce incredible wide silhouettes which projected to the back of every room. I also chose Cobra for the mirrorball moments – an open white, focused Cobra on a mirrorball is sublime!”
Warren has worked with the band for 14 years, and been a fan since their first single 22 years ago, so his feel for the design came naturally. “It’s hard to pinpoint what the concept for the Antics tour was inspired by, as it just came together in an hour while I was on a flight in front of my computer,” he explains. “The band’s music is so claustrophobic yet grand, it was pretty easy to complement. I knew I wanted to use three projectors, I wanted it to be symmetrical, I wanted every song to be its own singular piece of art but I wanted the entire show to look as one. I also wanted to limit myself as much as possible and create something from relatively nothing. Quite a few people were surprised we only had 15 flown moving lights in venues such as Alexandra Palace and the LA Forum, but it worked.”
The Cobra fixtures were supplied by LCR as part of the minimalist lighting inventory. “LCR were great from the start,” says Warren. “They supplied kit that worked, were on hand for any questions and the technicians, George Milner and Matt Brown, were ace!”
“It was extremely pleasing to see the final result of Ed’s design for the Interpol show,” says LCR’s Rob Watson. “The design was incredibly well thought out with every single fixture having a particular function for the different songs. He and Christian (Lincoln, the operator and production manager), made an amazing show from start to finish using only a handful of flown fixtures, and really did get the best out of the Cobras. It was a stunning show to work on and witness.”
Text: Julie Harper
Photos: © Luke Dyson
