The show featured six budding talents visiting from Nashville
USA - Country music fans got a glimpse of the future on a warm August Georgia night at the Lady Antebellum Pavilion. There on stage, performing solos and as a group, were six budding talents visiting from Nashville. Having written hits for some of country’s biggest names like Luke Byran and Florida Georgia Line, the sextet was there to chase the dream, as performers. Supporting them with some colourful, evocative star-worthy looks was a John Berret designed lightshow that utilized 35 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Quest Sound & Productions.
“People familiar with country music know that quite a few stars got their starts writing music for established artists,” said Berret. “The musical talent on stage was pretty awesome. My goal was to give them a look that reflected their talent as well as their potential. I wanted to evoke the stardom yet to come.”
Berret accomplished this goal for the six writers (Ray Fulcher, Tyler Reeve, Cole Taylor, Trea Landon, Daren Racheals and Wyatt Durrette) with help from 19 COLORado 1-Tri IP Tours, eight Rogue R2 Spots and eight Rogue R1 Beams. His rig was controlled with a ChamSys PC Wing.
“I dispersed the COLORado fixtures throughout the stage to create warm colour washes that reflected the mellow sound of much of the music,” he said. “Of the 19 COLORados, 16 were on downstage truss spread out to create this nice back wash with blues, deep reds and other colours. Then I kept the other three COLORados in my back pocket so to speak to use as crowd blinders. They have the output (806 lux at five meters) to work as intense audience lights in this setting. We used them to great effect all night on the higher energy songs.”
Accenting the performers with side lighting gave them star looks. Berret relied on his Rogue R2 Spots to create this effect. He positioned eight of these units on the ground, four each stage left and right, to hit the writers-turned-performers with colored light from each direction.
“Mostly the side lighting created mellow looks and allowed me to give the stage some depth, with crossing patterns,” he said. “On occasions, we also used them to create some nice aerial effects on the crescendo moments.”
For added punch, Berret used the Rogue R1 Beams in his rig. Stacked on truss totems and cases, the beams created some intense audience lighting and aerials. They also were used for specials on individual artists.
“Our design gave the stage the look that fans would expect to see when they go to a concert by an established star,” said Berret. “This is the mood we wanted to create. These folks aren’t stars yet, but the future is in their favour.”
(Jim Evans)

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