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GLASSJAW - LIVE IN BRIXTON Post-hardcore luminaries of the early 2000’s, Glassjaw delighted fans last year by returning with their new album Material Control - their first in 15 years. Armed with their new record, the band joined forces with Lighting Designer, Hayden Borgars, and hit the UK. TPi’s Stew Hume reports…
It’s an exciting time to be a post-hardcore fan, with several bands ending their extended hiatuses. Whether you’re a fan of At The Drive In, Thursday or Refused, there seems to be a renewed appetite for the genre in a live setting. One of the latest to re-join the ranks is Long Island’s Glassjaw. To the surprise of fans, the band dropped their new album, Material Control, in late 2017 - their first in 15 years. As ever, with a new release the question of live dates was inevitable. This summer the band played 2 back-to-back shows in the UK with headlining slots at ArcTanGent Festival on 17 August followed by a Brixton Academy show the following night. Lighting Designer, Hayden Borgars, was tasked with running the lighting for both performances. He only graduated Rose Bruford in 2016, but Borgars has already amassed an impressive resume of artists including The Amity Affliction, Me and That Man and The
Pineapple Thief. TPi caught up with the Borgars as he aided Post Malone’s crew, ahead of the singer’s Reading and Leeds appearances, to speak about his time with Glassjaw. “I can’t really remember how the conversation with the Glassjaw camp started,” laughed Borgars. The LD had already worked with the band’s Tour Manager on other projects and he put his name in the running to operate the UK shows. The LD knew he wanted to have a fixture able to produce a really tight beam which could also backlight the artists on stage. After a trip to this year’s ProLight+Sound, he found the solution. “I saw a demo of the Philips Vari-Lite VL800 BeamLine at Frankfurt and knew it was exactly what I was looking for!” enthused the LD. The VL800 is the first LED effects unit from the Philips Vari-Lite brand. Consisting of a linear strip of 12 RGBW emitters, 24
