ISTANBUL – Every night, fans of Empire of the Sun, affectionately known as Empyreans wait in line to see the Australian duo’s Ask That God tour. Many follow the band from city to city. And why not? Attending this richly nuanced and incredibly diverse show time after time never gets boring. It’s like looking at the starry sky night after night — always different, always timeless, always transporting you to a universe of fantasy and imagination.

Less of a traditional concert, and more like an experience where sci-fi mysticism slams into concert energy, Ask That God blazes its own path in every possible way. Describing this four-act show with its mix of theatre, costume changes, cinematic video, soft intimacy, and thunderous musical blend of EDM, synth-pop, New Wave and various forms of rock is often difficult for fans to do in a single sentence.

Imagine, then trying to light this panoramic production!

Oliver “Olly” Suckling was more than up to the task on the long-awaited EU leg of the Ask That God tour, which concluded August 30 at Bonus Parkorman in Istanbul, after beginning July 23 at Sagres Campo Pequeno in Lisbon, with stops in Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, The UK, Poland, The Czech Republic, France, Belgium and other countries along the way.

After designing the show, Suckling skillfully ran it on a rig supplied by Lights Control Rigging (LCR), using two ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Consoles. Throughout the show, he navigated his way brilliantly through its multifarious facets, always maintaining looks that were as fresh and vibrant as his client’s music.

“It was important to follow the style and pace of the music,” said Suckling. “This is a very theatrical show that ranges from intimate moments to full rock out moments, heading all the way to all out rave moments. The lighting looks we created aimed to support this quality, whilst also keeping it dark, moody and mysterious.”

Suckling relied on 14 CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens, positioned along the front edge of the stage to evoke the range of moods he was seeking to convey. Drawing on the fixture’s 12 independently controllable moving heads with their wide (5.7° to 36.3°) zoom range, he created a variety of supportive looks that fit every moment.

Explaining his choice of the fixture, Sucking said: “We needed a batten type pixel fixture that would add a punch to the front edge of the stage but also be able to stand strong against all the other fixtures we had on stage. We needed to make the single line of them stand on their own. We also needed the added feature of being waterproof due to half our shows being at outdoor festivals.”

In the end, Suckling used his rig to contribute mightily to a tour that one critic said, “is as much a visual experience as a musical one.” It was also an experience that, as all Empyreans know, never ceased to excite and amaze.