PARIS - From Pic du Midi standing over 9,400 feet in the Pyrenees, to the more earthbound Terres du Son tucked away in the Touraine River Valley, punk rock heavyweights Skip The Use have been tearing up the French and Belgian festival circuit this year. The settings may differ vastly from event to event, so too do the size of the stages and the festival rigs, but in Nico Riot’s view one thing should be consistent: the fan experience… an experience that one fan described as enjoying “an all singing, all dancing band backed by incredible instrumentalists.”
Riot is working to ensure that the high energy persona of his clients with their explosive stage presence and genuine audience connection is coming across in vivid fashion at every stop on the festival tour. Helping turn this vision into a reality show after show, is a floor package that features 16 CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M motorized strobe-washes supplied by MPM of Lorraine.
“I needed powerful fixtures to match all the festivals’ packed rigs, so my shows look consistent everywhere -- and the Color STRIKE M is certainly powerful,” said Riot. “Keeping every look as stripped-back as possible while fitting everything into the budget, I am striving for a timeless, elegant aesthetic in a design that’s distinct enough to be consistent even when festival stages vary.”
Riot positions his Color STRIKE Ms evenly, having eight units upstage and eight downstage. He relies on the upstage fixtures for backwashing, to saturate the stage’s red curtains with color, and to illuminate the band’s heart backdrop at the appropriate moments. The downstage units are used to “clean up key looks,” in addition to providing low-angle front lighting on the band and creating classic strobing effects.
As part of his plan to create consistent looks that instantly connect to audiences, Riot is keeping his color palette simple. “There are actually only five colors in the entire show: open white, CTO, CTB, red, and a pale red,” he said. “I wanted to build a cohesive theme around red to mirror the album artwork and visual identity Skip the Use created for this cycle. It really was as simple and focused as that.”
Adding an extra, and particularly evocative element to Riot’s design is his artful use of dark space, which he describes as playing a “huge role” in setting the gripping aura on stage. To add to the power of these shadowy looks, he often accompanies them with dimly lit fog.
The interplay of light and shadows is particularly effective in accenting the design’s giant heart prop, which is open and empty in the middle of the stage. “I carried that heart concept as far as I could across the rest of the rig,” said Riot. “The band has immense stage presence, so my goal was to deliver high-impact moments, while using the lighting and not distract from their performance.”
As this year’s festival season ends, Skip The Use, will be kicking off a club tour at the Zenith in Paris. When they do, Riot will continue to balance lighting and the band’s performance to deliver the kind of experience fans expect.
About CHAUVET Professional
CHAUVET Professional offers innovative professional lighting fixtures for the production and touring market as well as permanent installation in theaters, hospitality venues, cruise ships, clubs, television and architainment applications. For more information, please visit www.chauvetprofessional.com