LONDON – An album for people who love hard rock of bygone eras… That was how one admiring music critic described “Dreams on Toast,” the March 28th released album from The Darkness.

It’s a description that accurately sums up the essence of this iconic British band. Their dramatic stage presence and irreverent (but funny) antics notwithstanding, at the end of the day, it’s always been all about rock and roll for this gifted quartet since they were formed back in 2000.

LD and programmer David Garcia of Bigtime Lighting Design of Kansas City appreciates that. The band’s rock roots were front and center in this mind when they kicked off their recent tour. “The Darkness has always had that classic rock and roll feel to their music,” said Garcia who worked with a set created by Production Designer and Video Director, Eric Cathcart, also of Bigtime Lighting Design and crew chief Tom Rawlinson. “Our mission was to present that feeling with our lighting.”

Working with a lighting rig supplied by Zigzag Lighting, the design team did this in many ways, one of which was through the inspired use of light angles. “We chose to put ladder trusses of fixtures off stage to present the LED screens we had, which displayed The Darkness logo and IMAG images,” said Garcia. “We arranged these fixtures in straight lines to create the classic par can look like part of the rock vibe.”

Adding an extra element of light angles and movement to the design was a collection of CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized batten fixtures. “We had a row of PXL curves upstage,” said Garcia. “We really wanted their presence to be visible during when they were on. This added to the dynamic looks they made that matched the personalities of the musicians on stage and pumped up the energy level.”

With its 12 individually controllable, 200° fully pixel mappable tilting heads, and wide (5.7° to 36.3°) zoom range, the COLORado PXL Curve 12 opened a variety of creative options for Garcia. He put this opportunity to great use, rolling out wave after wave of dynamic looks.

Garcia also drew on the color rendering capabilities of his battens’ RGBW LEDs to conjure up an array of evocative hues. He noted that he normally, he likes to go with deep reds, ambers, blues, and congo, but he broadened his palette this time around.

He went with a “heavy use of CTO” for some songs, because the band wanted “a more of a sepia feel” on stage. That color tone helped enhance the mood the band wanted, creating an ideal environment for fans looking to immerse themselves in the hard rock vibe of a “bygone” era (or any era!) where this deeply moving music reigns.