Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures showed they are country strong with appearances in the lighting rigs for superstar Kenny Chesney's Brothers of the Sun Tour with with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw and the fan-favorite CMA Music Festival with concerts at Nashville's LP Field.
Lighting designer Mike Swinford used 16 Sharpys in the Brothers of the Sun rig; he integrated 55 in the rig for the CMA Music Festival, which was videotaped over four nights to create a music special to air later this summer on ABC.
"I first saw the Sharpys online when they were being introduced to the U.S.," recalls Swinford. "We had some of the first batches; I used them on TV, and then they went on tour. I really like how small and fast they are. Of course, their main attribute is the tight beam that cuts through any other light in the design. I think of them as the new ACL."
For the Brothers of the Sun Tour with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, which plays stadiums coast to coast, Swinford is using four groups of four Sharpys mounted on top of giant Marshall amp replicas. "They stay on the cabinets for shipping, so they don't get handled every day," he notes. "That makes for a very fast set up."
Swinford deployed a complement of 55 Sharpy fixtures on the CMA Music Festival spread out on low circular trusses "so almost every camera would get them in frame," he explains.
Mark Butts, who served as lighting director for the CMA Music Festival and as programmer for the Brothers of the Sun Tour with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, concurs with Swinford on the power of the compact Sharpys. "They hold their own against 350 1200-watt lights in the stadiums on tour with Kenny and Tim," he says. "And they're very unique for TV. Their color temperature is so high that I had to run them on a low percentage for the CMA Music Festival because they blow everything out."
Swinford ran the lights for about a month in rehearsals prior to the tour. "The Sharpys are one of the most reliable lights we have," he says. "We seldom have issues with them."
A.C.T Lighting is the distributor for Clay Paky in North America.
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, adds, "I love that the same designers are using our Sharpys for touring as well as television. It's a clear demonstration of their impact and versatility."
About Clay Paky
Headquartered in Seriate (Bergamo), Italy, Clay Paky SPA has a history of designing and manufacturing innovative professional show lighting. The company was founded in 1976 by entrepreneur Pasquale Quadri who anticipated the enormous impact the evolution of technology would have on the show and entertainment worlds.
For more information on Clay Paky products, please contact:
Francesco Romagnoli [email protected]
Davide Barbetta [email protected]