Gary Numan took to the road in April 2022 with a moody and ethereal lighting design, created by award winning, LA based designer Dustin Snyder. Inspired by Numan’s three red stripes of facial war paint, from his portrait on the cover of the ‘Intruder’ album, Snyder’s design centers around a heavily backlit, multi-layered video wall and light design.

An essential objective of the design was to ensure that the fans could see Numan and his band’s expressive, heavily made-up faces clearly from all parts of the room and on camera. For that reason, Snyder sought out the precise framing capability and familiar CMY color palette of the VL2600 WASH from Vari-Lite.

In addition to showcasing Numan’s Intruder album, the tour also includes songs that span his 45-year-long career. Snyder was keen to give each album its own aesthetic. Using stark, desaturated colors to accompany the industry and synth heavy music, Snyder reinforces the apocalyptic world of the video content as requested by Numan himself: “Gary wanted a video wall that felt asymmetrically fractured with pulsing light radiating from the cracks. The aim is to convey the despair of the climate crisis from the perspective of the planet as opposed to that of humans.”

The result is an atmospheric and moody show where the focal scenic element on stage is a huge video wall that oozes ominous, cinematic images of a broken planet, destroyed by humanity, as Numan manifests himself as the planet’s own tragically lamenting voice. Numan’s signature industrial synth and electronic sound is equally as full of rage as it is desolation and treachery, and Snyder’s beautiful and precisely programmed, often menacing lighting design spreads a disturbing and dystopian atmosphere throughout each venue.

With three versions of the show design, created to accommodate the various sized rooms the tour is playing, Snyder says he was looking for a controllable fixture with substantial firepower for his frontlight, as he explains: “This was my first time using the VL2600 WASH and their high output, flat even beam and precise full wipe framing shutters made them an excellent choice. This was especially true for the Wembley gig where the show was being filmed for DVD as well as IMAG. The VL2600 WASH provides a solid and reliable front light packed with all the features I need to keep the band clearly visible from the front to the back of the room and on camera.”  

Lighting and Video equipment for the UK and Europe legs of the tour were supplied by Siyan Lighting and Universal Pixels respectively. Business director for Siyan Lighting, Tom Grant, adds: “The VL2600 WASH has been a solid workhorse unit for us and always deliver well in any application we throw at them! They were the first-choice solution we offered Dustin when he was looking for front light options for his full production shows, given their great color rendering and variable CTO color mixing.”

Gary Numan is touring UK, Europe, and USA until the end of 2022.

Find out more about Dustin Snyder in this popular podcast: https://plsn.com/podcasts/people-pleasing-primadonna-in-pink-chiffon-with-dustin-snyder/

Discover more about Siyan Lighting here: https://siyan.co.uk/