ASHEVILLE, NC – (For Immediate Release) – Dustin Klein has the philosophy that the primary goal of a lighting designer is to bring music to life by creating a visual space for the band. For his recent work on Papadosio’s second annual Summer Sequence at the Pisgah Brewing Company, part of creating this space relied on weaving the lighting around the band’s music to tell a visual story. Using rich jeweltones and super-saturated colors to create a seamless, kaleidoscopic environment, Klein relied on a variety of CHAUVET DJ fixtures to transport the audience to another dimension, one ruled by the genre-bending music of the band.
Placing six CHAUVET DJ Intimidator Wash Zoom 450 IRC lighting fixtures on the upstage truss facing outward allowed for an even spread of wash that created depth and shaping on stage to make the band really pop. “I ran the Intimidator 450s in their highest channel mode, in order to chase the individual pixels and tie together the different sections of the light in full rig color wipes and dimmer chases,” said Klein. “My intention is to build an atmosphere that enhances the relationships between the performers and the audience, and a big part of doing this is by creating an exciting, dimensional backdrop that works as the base for all the other lighting elements to play against.”
Klein clustered six CHAUVET DJ Intimidator Spot LED 350 lighting fixtures on the mid-stage truss to add extra power to the band and back wall lighting, and to create aerial effects with gobos and prism through the haze above the crowd. Klein utilized split colors to open up a variety of looks, relying on the dimming capabilities on the fixtures to create fast, punchy color fades that became an integral part of the visual story Klein was weaving throughout the performance.
A large tree built into the upstage area also added an interesting element to Klein’s design. Instead of trying to light around the tree, Klein used nine Freedom Pars angled up behind the video wall to create a natural texture and illusion of even greater depth on stage.
A layer of haze was provided by two CHAUVET DJ Hurricane Haze 4Ds, one Hurricane Haze 2D and two Geysers. The Hurricane Haze 4Ds were placed on either side of the stage, with the Haze 2D set in the middle. The two Geysers were mounted facing outwards on the mid-stage truss, flanking the Intimidator 350 fixtures. “Having haze spread out across the whole stage and into the audience really helped ensure greater coverage of the beams, and also carried the light throughout the space,” Klein said. “The Geysers also helped fill in a thick haze to add drama to some really big moments in the performance.”
“Asheville is a hometown show for Papadosio, so it needed to be extra special. While I had never been to the venue before, Ed Link, the band’s production manager and sound engineer, had worked several summers on the outdoor stage at Pisgah, and was able to give us valuable intel – specifically, by letting us know ahead of time about the big tree growing out of the stage,” said Klein. “By bringing some extra rigging to pull the truss away from the tree, we were able to avoid this becoming an issue. I’d also like to give a big shout-out to Stewart Sound, who provided the majority of the lighting fixtures, and Life is Art Productions, who provided the Hurricane Haze 4Ds and 2D.”
Klein’s lighting design hinged on bathing the band and their audience in bold, vivid colors that flowed seamlessly from stage to performers to crowd in an endless wave of color. The flexibility of the CHAUVET DJ fixtures allowed him to create a unique symbiosis between the band and their fans, transcending music alone and inviting the audience to become a part of the visual story. Judging from their response, they were more than happy to do so.
Photo Credit: Keith Griner
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Chauvet, headquartered in the USA, is a leading global manufacturer of professional luminaires, truss and related equipment, fulfilling the needs of various industry sectors. Chauvet has four main brands: CHAUVET DJ, CHAUVET Professional, ILUMINARC and TRUSST. They share Chauvet’ s unified strategy to pursue every market segment where it has a competitive advantage in terms of value, innovation and performance, with an emphasis on LED technology. For more information, please visit www.chauvetlighting.com