LD Mike Null sets mood with Elation for Motionless in White at Pennhurst Asylum

Goth metalcore band Motionless in White performed June 9th against the backdrop of the abandoned Pennhurst Asylum in southeast Pennsylvania for Deadstream #2, an atmosphere‐filled livestream show lit by Mike Null using Elation Artiste Picasso™, Dartz 360™ and SixBar 1000™ luminaires supplied by Squeek Lights.

Lighting designer Mike Null has been with the band for over a year, a stretch that includes a tour as well as the band’s first Deadstream, recorded at the Squeek Lights shop in New Jersey last October. Null used Elation Artiste Picasso™ and Dartz 360™ on that show and again turned to the LED moving heads for Deadstream #2. “The first stream planted a seed in their head,” he said. “If we can do this again, how can we make it bigger and better?” As the band hails from Scranton, Pennsylvania, the somewhat local and debilitated environs of the Pennhurst Asylum seemed a fitti ng place to put on a show at the end of a pandemic. For Deadstream #2, Null painted the Asylum building and projected gobos behind the band using eight Artiste Picassos, lined a path along the front of the building with 24 Dartz, and used some 30 SixBar 1000™ linear battens as foot lights. He also lined the yard with Hex Panel IPs from Elation sister company ADJ. Null says there were a few boxes that he needed to check regarding the lighting design. “First, this was a live show so we needed firepower and massive looks. Second, was to highlight this special place and create a theatrical and haunted feel, and third was to light for video. We needed something that could satisfy what Chris Motionless [lead singer] wants to see from a live concert perspective but also fill the needs that video as well as the environment needed.”

Null has worked with Victor Zeiser, Managing Partner at Squeek Lights, for over a year and appreciates the dedication and professionalism the lighting supplier comes with. “Victor and his team took 100% care of us. His whole crew made us feel like we were more than taken care of and every Squeek employee on the job went above and beyond from loading in to loading out until four in the morning.”

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Photos © Steve Kosiba / Squeek Lights