Claypaky Xtylos played a key role in Limp Bizkit’s ”2024 Loserville Tour,” the nu-metal band’s 24-stop North American summer road show. Las Vegas-based OSA International, Inc. provided the full production package for the tour, including audio, lighting and cameras.
The ”Loserville Tour” kicked off in Wisconsin in July and wrapped in San Bernardino, California at the end of August. Justin Wade, who has worked with Limp Bizkit for about two years, served as Lighting Designer, Programmer and Operator for the tour.
“I was looking for a punchy beam that would cut through outside natural elements for this all-amphitheater tour,” Wade explains.
“Mark Fetto at OSA International steered me to Xtylos, whose laser source makes it a lot stronger than many other beams. And at a time when so many lights are getting bigger and bigger, Xtylos are compact, so they were a great size for us.”
Wade says that on Limp Bizkit tours the band is the star of the show and the lights play a secondary role. “The lights enhance the band, not overshadow them. The lighting rig needed to look big without being big.”
Wade flew three trusses, two onstage and one downstage. “The goal is that once the house lights are out, the audience doesn’t realize there are only two trusses in the air. The lights accentuate the band with more power than two trusses suggest.”
He mounted 12 Xtylos in three clusters of four on the two onstage trusses for “an old-school ACL vibe. They are the workhorses of the show with their brightness and effects. We relied on them to cut through and shape the stage while washes and spots kept the band lit.
“The Xtylos have great prisms; you can widen and slow them down for gobo effects and create sort of moving finger effects. You get much more than traditional beams, which helped us create moods. The open beam gave a hardline cut through the stage for heavier, bolder songs, while the prism effects and rotations helped breakup the stage for slower, more melodic songs.”
The fixtures are also robust enough for an amphitheater tour, he notes.
“The Xtylos hold up well in a touring environment,” concurs Fetto, Vice President Lighting at OSA International. ”As others come out with laser-based fixtures, interest in them has grown. But Xtylos delivers a completely different look from other laser lights in the market. Xtylos is a three-color laser light that gives amazing saturated color you can’t get from any other fixture.”
Wade says he would definitely use Xtylos again when appropriate. “I’m really happy with them. They have great saturated color, true colors and color mixing. I’ll be looking at them again in the future.”
In the meantime, Wade is ”creating a very different dynamic” by using 31 active Claypaky Mini-B fixtures for rock band Highly Suspect’s club tour.
George Masek, Claypaky Lighting Designer Relations & Product Specialist, concluded, “As all touring expenses increase and show budgets get tighter, making the most out of every lighting fixture is paramount for designers. Justin’s brilliant use of the Xtylos fixtures on this show makes the rig look far bigger than it is – I am so impressed with how much he gets from the fixtures. Also, it is always a pleasure working with Mark Fetto and OSA. Mark saw the potential for the Xtylos very early on and has been an ardent supporter of the fixture from the start.”