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Ayrton lighting, MDG atmospherics and GrandMA3 lighting control selected for Luke Combs’ fourth Australian tour
Lighting designer Kevin Northrup chose an array of Ayrton fixtures, MDG TheOne and Atmosphere HO foggers/hazers and GrandMA3 consoles for singer-songwriter Luke Combs’ recent stadium tour of Australia and New Zealand.
The Winston Salem, North Carolina-based Northrup has been working with Combs since his headline arena show in Asheville in 2017 and was lighting designer for Combs’ 2023 Australian arena tour. The new tour, the first for a country artist headlining a full stadium tour in Australia and New Zealand, played eight dates in January and February 2025 in Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
The show continued the look established by production designer Ollie Metcalfe for Combs’ 2023 North American stadium tour. “We knew that looked good, would work and fit the timeline we had”, says Northrup. “Luke likes to do really big colour looks: He’s a fan of red and white and the stronger and more saturated the colour the better. He plays everything from ballads to solo acoustic to heavy-hitting honky tonk, and I try to build moments and match the energy of what he’s doing while never overstepping.”
Northrup had used Ayrton Khamsin, Zonda 9 FX, Perseo Beam and Domino LT fixtures on Combs’ North American stadium tour. He reprised the Domino LTs for Australia, added Perseo Profiles and utilized Rivale Profiles for the first time. “I used the Rivales as audience eye-candy”, he explains. “We had six on each of six ladders plus 20-odd on the downstage truss. They were way brighter than the fixtures we had previously, so they gave us extra fire power.”
Northrup mounted two lines of 34 Perseo Profiles in an arc above the set. “I used them as band down lights, audience light and for stage washes”, he says. “I also pulled out twelve and dedicated them to rear follow spot action. Kind of a hallmark for Luke is having light from above that’s like an arrow pointing to where he is onstage.”
Northrup placed eight Domino LT fixtures on the floor on each side of the stage and hung eight more, six of which acted as FOH spots and two as specials on the end of the tuning fork-shaped thrust. The New Zealand rig was slightly different with the Ayrton fixtures consisting of Domino LT spots and Rivale Profiles mounted on ladders.
The New Zealand and Australian dates all used MDG hazers. Two MDG TheOne foggers/hazers were deployed in Auckland and six active Atmosphere HO haze machines in the Australian stadiums. “MDG TheOne is my go-to hazer, but they were hard to get in quantity”, Northrup says of the different units used. “TheOne has a variable output in fog mode. I like to have a constant flowing haze and build in fog bursts with TheOnes.”
Northrup brought a GrandMA3 full-size system and two processing units from SES in the US, and added another full and a light once on site. The full-size units controlled lighting from FOH while the light served as a tech desk. An OnPC system ran as part of the follow spot process. Lighting in New Zealand was supplied by Spot-light Systems; lighting in Australia was furnished by PRG.
(Photos: Kevin Northrup)
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