LD Brent Clark started out in college majoring in theatre lighting design. After that he toured clubs through the 80s, and toured with bigger acts out of Canada in the 90s. “In clubs it was kind of every man for himself: I would set up the rig, tech the rig,” Clark says. “As moving lights came in, I got interested in them. I would do my own programming and design work, and that's just how I've been doing it ever since. You might say I'm a bit of a control freak because I don't like it to go too far out of my hands.” Our Lady Peace, Crash Test Dummies, Honeymoon Suite, and the Jeff Healey Band are among some of the Canadian acts he's been lighting over the years.
Christie Lites is the lighting supplier for Clark's current project, the Nelly Furtado tour. “It's actually my first tour with them; so far everything's been great. I was lucky enough to get a really good crew of people I've known and toured with before — Terry Mueller and Jason Lewis are excellent, and the support is great.”
For spots, Clark has 18 Martin MAC 500s, which have custom gobos. On the floor are six MAC 600 NTs, which the LD says is “an awesome wash unit which throws out a huge amount of light.” Six Diversitronics 1.2kW strobes, blinders with color changers, and PAR cans with color changers along with the bubble machines and the mirror balls provide the audience with lots of effects. “When I was originally approached for this, Nelly said she wanted it to look like a candy store, a Willie Wonka feel. That's where the bubble machine came in. Basically we just try to keep the show fun and light.”
The show also had to be light in more practical ways. “It's a one-truck tour, so we were concerned about size and weight and budget,” Clark explains. “I was going to use the MAC 2000, a bigger fixture that could do more tricks, but because of the budget I opted to go with more lights to make it look bigger.”
For control, Clark prefers the Wholehog. “I've been using them for years; I don't think I would venture into anything without one. I have a main cue stack which is first chorus, breakdowns, and so on, then I load up the other faders with strobe hits or fade-ins and fade-outs, anything that's a big hit that's going to be repeated. When you're not doing one-offs, and you have the programming time, running it in cue stacks is easier and gives you more control.”
NELLY FURTADO
BURN IN THE SPOTLIGHT TOUR
| Lighting Equipment | |
|---|---|
| 3 | Christie Lights 20-light MR-16 blinders |
| 4 | Christie Lights blinders with Christie Lights CL3 color changers |
| 6 | Diversitronics 1.2k strobes |
| 8 | Christie Lights CL3 color changers |
| 12 | PAR-64 bars of 6 |
| 6 | Martin Professional MAC 600 NTs |
| 18 | Martin MAC 500s |
| 6 | 6'-high T-bar floor stands |
| 6 | ETC Source Fours 26º |
| 2 | Flying Pig Systems Wholehog II consoles with expansion wing |
| 3 | mirror balls |
| 2 | 1/2 mirror balls |
| 2 | CITC Bubble Max bubble machines |
| 1 | Reel EFX DF-50 hazer and fan |