Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX Luminaires Deliver Majestic Lighting for Queen + Adam Lambert

The fantastically bright VL3500 Wash FX luminaires held their own against the other vibrant onstage elements

Lighting designer Rob Sinclair has turned to the fantastically bright beams of 40 VL3500 Wash FX luminaires, supplied by Upstaging, to hold their own amidst the vibrant and energetic onstage elements of the current Queen + Adam Lambert tour.

"I needed lights that were bright enough to illuminate people and cut through everything else on stage," explains Sinclair. "As it's Queen everything has to be over the top, starting huge and getting bigger, which is why I chose the powerful VL3500 Wash FX luminaires."

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The VL3500 Wash FX is a super bright luminaire with an output that exceeds 70,000 lumens and features internal zoomable beam optics with either Fresnel or Buxom options.

The stage itself is in the shape of a giant 'Q', with the tail of the letter coming off as a B-stage. The VL3500 Wash FX luminaires were rigged on the front and side trusses and as part of the floor package upstage.

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"What I think is so fantastic about the VL3500 Wash FX luminaires is that they're very long-throw," continues Sinclair. "This is absolutely ideal from a front truss 40 feet in the air."

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Sinclair's large-scale design evokes a retro feel that highlights Queen's legacy, but with a contemporary edge. Alongside complementing the I-MAGS, old school video content of the band and extensive laser element of the show, the VL3500 Wash FX luminaires flood the all-gold set with intensely warm colours, thanks to their CYM colour mixing, dual five-position colour wheels and variable CTO colour temperature correction.

"The VL3500 Wash FX luminaires sit in the big picture very well and handle a lot of the keylight heavy lifting," concludes Sinclair.

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The Queen + Adam Lambert tour has so far been a roaring success, seeing sold out performances in some of the world's most special and prestigious venues including Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tour now moves onto its Australian leg.