“There’s going to be a few changes when the tour continues next year as we will be
heading to outdoor venues and stadiums,” said lighting director Nick van Nostrand,
who is in charge of realizing FitzGerald’s design out on the road. “The show is going
to be reworked and we are currently making decisions on what’s going to come with
us. Cory has stated that the Philips VL4000 BeamWashes are high up on the list.
There’s not anything else out there that’s a good substitute for all the roles it
performs in the show.”
“The VL4000 BeamWash is so powerful it can break through the different bright,
video-heavy moments during the set and manage to deliver some really neat
features, whilst maintaining that intensity. We’ve got lots of wide gobo looks in this
show, with a number of them pointing straight out. Even at full width they still
punch through the video wall and stage washes and give us some very dramatic
looks.”
Lighting designer Cory FitzGerald positioned the VL4000 BeamWash luminaires
upstage, on the articulated mid stage truss to deliver dynamic gobo work, seven
underneath the deck to deliver beams of light and texture through the raked video
floor, and four on the suspended trampoline, which Bieber and his dancers frolic on
during the song ‘Company,’ for audience lighting and gobo washes. A single fixture
has also been built into the centre of an octagonal cage of V-Thru LED screen,
where it works as a single down light for Bieber’s drum solo.
Colin Kavanagh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Philips Entertainment
Lighting, said: “Since launching the modern automated light more than 30 years
ago, Philips Vari-Lite has become synonymous with rock and roll and large-scale
event lighting. We are committed to continuing to meet the needs of the
entertainment industry with leading edge products, as evident with the recent
launch of the brand new Philips Vari-Lite VL6000 Beam and the planned new Philips
Vari-Lite launches throughout 2017.”
FitzGerald finalized the concept for the 2016 globetrotting tour before it embarked
on its journey of 115 shows in numerous international arenas. His design sees a
constantly morphing canopy of light in varying pop-tastic colours, featuring beat-
perfect attention-to-detail and multifaceted dynamic effects, which work in sync
with the stunning video content created by Possible and set designed by Chris
Gratton and Nick DeMoura.
“I’ve always been a fan of Cory’s designs [FitzGerald has worked with the likes of
Bruno Mars and Beyonce] so when I heard he was brought on board I was excited to
work with him,” says van Nostrand “His design is incredibly intricate and richly
layered. I really like the way the lights have been integrated into the rig and the
overall design of the show.”
Justin Bieber’s Purpose tour follows his studio album of the same name, which
debuted at #1 in more than 100 countries in 2015 and has sold more than 8 million
copies worldwide. The tour continues to stadiums in Australia, New Zealand and
South America in 2017.
