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Jack Thomas makes moods with Chauvet on Story of the Year/Senses Fail tour

Senses Fail and Story of the Year’s 19-city coheadline “Scream Team” tour concluded December 13, 2025, at the Riverside Auditorium. Lighting design for the shows was by Jack Thomas, who avoided “typical strobes” and video walls and relied on the use of dark space and changes in brightness levels to convey the mood of the music.

Thomas sometimes angled his light sharply downward, creating pools of monochromatic brightness against a sea of darkness. At other times, he covered the stage with crossing beams of light. Relying on changes like these, he created a flow of varied looks for the two bands. “I’m very grateful that Ross Landis (tour manager) entrusted me with this”, says Thomas. “It gave me the opportunity to stretch my creativity. I designed, programmed, and ran lights for Story of the Year and Senses Fail on the tour, working with Mike Null on putting together the floor package supplied by Allen Deneau at Bandit Lites.”

With limited stage space and fixed lighting in set carts, there was no “wiggle room” for physical changes in the rig from one band to the other. “I just programmed each song with intent to convey its energy visually from dark subtle bridges to exciting choruses with lots of motion and intensity”, continues Thomas. “Since I’ve never been one to use a lot of conventional ‘strobes’, I sprinkled them in here and there tastefully during peak energy moments. Otherwise, I liked to strobe different groups of fixtures throughout the rig creating depth and layers.“

Thomas used twelve Colorado Solo Battens and nine Strike Array 2 fixtures from Chauvet Professional, all of which were used at times to create strobing effects. He also relied on his high output battens to light the band, positioning four units downstage and an equal number mid-stage for side lighting; the two other Solo Battens flanked the 8-foot by 18-foot drum riser.

The Strike Array 2 fixtures in Thomas’ rig served multiple purposes in his design. Arranged in three 8-foot sections behind the drum riser, the fixtures delivered bursts of brightness during explosive moments and contributed to crowd lighting for the show’s many singalongs. Mostly, though, they provided warm backlighting to embrace Senses Fail and Story of the Year on stage.

(Photos: connorlazmedia)

www.chauvetprofessional.com

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