Zach Scott Brings The Academy Is Almost Here Tour to Life with MagicQ Control
CHICAGO – Silhouettes say a lot without ever revealing too much about themselves… a beguiling quality that makes them so moving in art and drama. Zach Scott is tapping into this power in his captivating design for punk rock icons The Academy Is… on the 12-city fall leg of their Almost Here tour.
Fans got a taste of this enchantment on September 21st when the band kicked off their tour at the 20th annual Chicago Riot Fest. Running his show on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Console, Scott mixes richly saturated colors, a stark blend of intense brightness and dark space –and some artfully placed silhouettes to captivate attention while supporting his client’s dynamic performance.
“The role of silhouettes, brightness and intensity in this show stems from my deep-rooted programming style of theatrics with impact,” said Scott. “It is heavily influenced by one of my mentors, Gigi Padron. I prefer to use dark space as my dynamic rather than video, and the band was on that exact same thought process.
“This is something that the guys noticed immediately when we first worked together back in 2022, and they wanted to keep on that path with this new show,” continued Scott. “The band absolutely loved the use of silhouettes in that show, so we immediately started discussions on how to use less key wash light and allow light to come from the rig naturally. With the record that the band is touring (Almost Here), the vision was to create texture around the guys without washing it out using DS fixtures. I have six Chauvet Outcast 2X Washes placed on the DS sides of the deck to give a bit of punch to their faces during certain moments, but most of the time these fixtures are used along with the rest of the rig as texture light.”
In addition to the DS side units used, Scott has 12 other Outcast 2X washes in his rig — eight directly in front of his upstage sleds to provided color behind the band, and four in front of the drum riser to serve as mid-stage washes.
Scott relies on his washes to light band members at times during the show. This was no easy task, given that the animated band enjoys moving around on stage. “We have a handful of moments where the guys will stand at their taped marks for certain key light cues,” said Scott. “But for the most part they’re moving around. Six washes at 50-percent output cover them very well.”
The JRLX supplied rig also includes 15 STRIKE P38 90W warm white blinders mounted on deck truss, and eight Rogue R2 Beams on the downstage wings. “My main purpose with the beams was to extend the visual experience as far left and right as possible,” said Scott. “With the larger venues and stages on the tour, I want to ensure that the entire audience is immersed with the same show, even if they can’t be directly in line with the stage.”
Scott created his immersive show without the use of video. “The band and I had contemplated having video involved during our initial talks, however we always made it back to the fact that it was too literal for this show,” he explained. “We wanted all elements to compliment the guys’ performance.”
Another consideration, said Scott, was that video would take away from “the raw feel” that he and the band wanted. That “feel” is so well expressed on this tour by the mystery of silhouettes and the artful interplay of darkness and light.
