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ADJ Encore DBX selected for The Strokes at Coachella

When The Strokes took to the Main Stage at Coachella this year, anticipation was high. Slotting in just ahead of Justin Bieber’s much-publicized return to live performance, the New York rockers delivered a set that balanced nostalgia with a fresh visual identity. Central to that look was a lighting design driven by ADJ’s Encore DBX LED blinder fixtures.

The creative vision for the show was led by Mitchell Schellenger, who served as Production Designer, Lighting Designer and Co-Creative Director. Working closely with the band’s Creative Director - who doesn’t come from a concert touring background - Schellenger helped translate an abstract artistic vision into a cohesive live experience.

He was joined by Associate Designer & Lighting Director Jason Rothberg, with the pair having first collaborated with the band during a run of one-off shows and festival appearances in the latter half of last year. Building on that partnership, Schellenger and Rothberg were brought back on board during the run-up to Coachella, tasked with evolving the visual aesthetic while remaining true to the band’s established identity.

“Since the band has an illustrious legacy, we wanted to honor the look they have established over the years”, explains Schellenger. “It has a bit of a ‘70s feel, combined with digital components, and heavy use of geometric shapes. So, we wanted to check those boxes, because when we’re brought in to work with a band that’s established themselves aesthetically, I think our role is to bring something new while respecting what’s been established over the years. A reference point, visually, was the early ‘80s version of ‘Tron’, which is very geometric and digital but in a retro way, with that film grain CRT VHS type look.”

To bring this vision to life, the lighting design centered around a custom floor package that combined scenic structure with high-output fixtures. A total of 72 Encore DBX units were deployed, distributed evenly across six bespoke zig-zag shaped carts, each loaded with twelve fixtures and finished with custom neon trims. These carts formed a bold geometric backdrop behind the band, reinforcing the retro-digital aesthetic while ensuring the lighting elements were always front and center within the visual composition.

Each Encore DBX fixture is powered by two 150-watt RGBAW color mixing LEDs, capable of delivering an output of up to 11,465 lumens. This brightness ensured the fixtures could compete with the scale and ambient light levels of Coachella’s expansive Main Stage, while still offering precise control. Independent dimming, color mixing, and strobing for each LED cell allowed the designers to craft layered effects that ranged from subtle atmospheric looks to full-on, high-impact hits.

“I felt like we needed a fixture that was scenic in itself”, Schellenger says of the Encore DBX, “because I knew I didn’t want an overly scenic design, as they are a rock band at heart. We didn’t want all this geometric scenery just for the sake of having it, we wanted it to serve a purpose. So, the purpose of the scenery became to house the lighting fixtures that gave us the punch that we were after for a rock show. The Encore DBX offers that classic rock-and-roll warm white blinder effect, but with the added scenic face, which meant it served both purposes.”

The Encore DBX’s background glow provided a rich canvas of color behind the primary light source, enabling dynamic contrast between the punchy blinder hits and softer, more immersive washes of light. Used creatively throughout the performance, this feature helped the fixtures function as both lighting instruments and scenic elements.

“The first light I ever owned as a child was actually a DJ Scan 250, which I used to learn the basics of DMX control, so ADJ has always held a place in my heart”, notes Schellenger. “The fact that we were able to use that same brand, in a new era, on a show of this scale, was cool for me.” Rothberg adds: “We brought in Warren Fu - a legendary video director - who did an awesome job of capturing the performance, and the ADJ fixtures came across really well on camera.”

The ADJ fixtures were the backbone of the whole rig, says Schellenger, and were used in some capacity throughout almost the entire show. “For some songs it was just the aura effect providing a background look, while at other times the blinders were really prominent”, he concludes. “Because each cell, as well as the aura, has its own independent color mixing we were able to do so many unique things that it never felt like they were getting overused. I’d like to explore more of what ADJ has to offer, as this really has been a positive experience.”

PRG was the lighting vendor for Coachella, with the ADJ Encore DBX fixtures being sub-rented from Eagle Productions.

(Photos: Jenna Murray)

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