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RUSH Snakes & Arrows Tour with Pyrotek
Thirty–three years after their self entitled debut album, RUSH is once again back on tour from June through October for their recent recording release Snakes & Arrows. With an anticipated five-year wait since their last studio album Vapor Trails, devoted fans everywhere are craving for the opportunity to catch the Canadian rockers live for their latest tour. This 62–city run is scheduled across Canada, the United States, the UK and Europe.
After being involved with the RUSH in Rio Vapor Trails Tour, Pyrotek Special Effects Inc. was consulted to brighten up a number of songs for their present tour. Long time lighting designer and agent Howard Ungerleider approached pyrotechnician John Arrowsmith to come up with a number of special effects. With a focus for a concussion effect to emphasize a specific moment in their newest hit single Far Cry, the requested effect was to synchronize upon the completion of the course “You can almost see the circuits blowing”. Arrowsmith collaborated with Doug Adams (designer and president of Pyrotek Special Effects Inc.) to design an element to the theme which ends with a big punctuation. During production rehearsals at the Hershey Centre (Mississauga, Ontario Canada), Adams design was demoed for the band. Describing his effect for “Far Cry” Adams explained: “It felt natural to follow with the sparking sequence and end with a concussion on the final impact.” Far Cry includes 18 one-second gerbs in a chasing effect, and 18 25 ft silver comets with tail along with a concussion effect.
Ungerleider uses High End Systems, Catalyst for a number video montages throughout the show. Additionally, the Pinnacle digital video effects machine used by the video crew produces crossfades and created a perfect integration between video, pyro and music for the titled song One Little Victory. The collaborating pyrotechnic effect takes place in the middle of song where an animated dragon exhales a breath of fire towards stage right. Eight dragon heads and three fire balls are utilized during this sequence. At this particular moment of the video, a fireball cue creates an exciting effect as the synchronized media resembles a breath of fire shooting from the video out onto the stage. Eight heads are used during the final video clip of the dragon breathing fire across the entire video wall. In creating an eerie feeling for their titled song Witch Hunt, Ungerleider was pleased with the fire-burning look around the stage, resembling a witch hunt. This effect utilized the Dragon devices to create a low random flame setting, a proper fit for the song.
Long time pyrotechnician John Arrowsmith, has the responsibility of bringing Adams designs forward to every show, and to accomplish the effects of specific cues. Furthermore, he coordinates safety measures and mandatory walkthroughs with demonstrations for the local fire marshals at every show. A number of effects such as, gerb chases, fireballs, and columns of dragon flames are seen in several acts from the 26–set song list.
The complete effects list consists: three fire balls, 18 25 ft silver gerbs, 18 25 ft silver comets with tail, a Flash report, and four double headed dragons.
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