Def Leppard Hysteria in Las Vegas with some Robe Influence

Legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famers Def Leppard – one of the biggest‐selling rock artists of all time – played 12 incendiary sold‐out shows at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, complete with a spectacular new visual and lighting design created by Montreal‐based Luz Studio. On Luz’s lighting rig were some core Robe products, including WTF! IP rated LED strobe‐wash‐blinder fixtures, Tarrantula wash beams and four RoboSpot systems running with 18 BMFL FollowSpots, all supplied by Christie Lites, co‐ordinated via their UK office.

As the design started to evolve, creative director Matt Larivee knew early on that they wanted to use WTF!s and RoboSpots. He had seen the WTF!s during a visit to the Robe factory in the Czech Republic at the end of 2025. “They looked fantastic, so I thought they would be ideal for this residency, especially to cut through the massive video wall. I really needed fixtures with plenty of power and options.” The four floor‐level angled trusses traversed the stage set at around 8 ft heigh, two each side, and the 18 WTF!s were deployed on these trusses.

He loves the WTF!’s zoom feature, as well as the pan and strobing options, but it was actually the warm white LED zone of the fixture that was a dealmaker for him. This was because he knew he could get that classic retro blinder look that would help define a range of classic ‘big rock’ looks – which, together with the associated video content, were juxtaposed so elegantly.

The 24 x Tarrantula wash beams were split into two batches of 12. One set was positioned on the downstage truss, used for general band and mid‐stage wash, while the other 12 were on the floor, either side of stage, washing across the band from a lower level.

A total of 18 x BMFL FollowSpots were utilised, running on four RoboSpot systems. The operators were all positioned offstage. Matt would have ideally liked to use FORTES on the system, but he was happy to go with BMFLs. They are reliable and a known fixture that have graced many of his previous designs. Apart from the enormous flexibility that RoboSpot brings to any performance area, Matt specifically likes this remote follow system because of its straightforward application and abundance of good operators.

The Luz Studio team worked closely with Def Leppard’s longtime lighting director, Cole MacDonald, who flew out to Montreal and pre‐vizzed with them, as well as being on‐site at the Colosseum and running lighting for the shows. Luz Studio’s Pierre‐Luc Bedard led the lighting programming with Philippe Marquis and Cole MacDonald.