Cassadee Pope is supported by a Michael Stanley-designed lightshow
USA - On her current tour opening for superstar Chris Young, Cassadee Pope is supported by a Michael Stanley-designed lightshow that's as freewheeling and multi-faceted as her music, thanks in part to some very versatile Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Bandit Lites. Stanley, who is also the programmer and lighting director for Chris Young, used 12 of the rotating Rogue fixtures in his floor package for Pope after consulting with the Bandit Lites team.

"Cassadee and her TM Don Muzquiz showed interest in going for a linear look," he recalled. "Mike Golden, Cassadee's account manager at Bandit, pitched the R1 FX-B to me, and Jake Tickle at Bandit demoed it. After we saw it, we jumped all over the idea. The linear shape of the fixture obviously could give us the orientation we wanted. But beyond that, we knew that all of the angles and effects we could get from the Rogue's rotations and movements could give us the kind of exciting looks that reflected Cassadee's music."

Stanley positioned the Rogue R1 FX-Bs inside 10' vertical truss with guide rods. The truss is built on pallets arranged in a staggered configuration to allow sweeping, unbroken coverage of the stage. Like the artist herself, the Rogues in Stanley's rig convey a myriad of emotions throughout the performance.

"I built the Rogue's pallets in a staggered position, so in 360° tilt there's ability for consistent sweeping without any large breaks and bursts of rolling fans," said Stanley. "At different points during the set, we'll use them for blinders and big beam looks, along with some crowd sweeping effects to reflect the mood of the music. They definitely build as the show goes on. We get some big looks using the 360° tilt close to the end of the set. Cassadee has a fun and dynamic show, and the Rogues keep pace."

In addition to the Rogue R1 FX-Bs, the Cassadee Pope rig, which is controlled by a grandMA2 Lite, is comprised of moving spots, washes and blinder panels. "We needed the rig to be streamlined because of trailer space and the fast set changes required," said Stanley. "We couldn't afford to have a lot of moving parts."

(Jim Evans)


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