Elation lights rock concert on Sacramento Bridge
- Details
The PPV concert, executive produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, was lit by Justin Wade and Sacramento Production & Lighting (SPL) using a rig of Elation Professional luminaires.
Formed in 2005, Dance Gavin Dance hail from Sacramento and are local favourites. Last February, the band had just started a tour to promote a new album release when the shutdown hit. Tour manager Travis Wade and Dion Cook of SPL decided to see if there was a market for pay-per-view streaming of the band, a project that culminated in a successful July PPV concert from a recording studio set up in a converted space in SPL’s warehouse.
When the band decided to do a second PPV concert last fall, Travis and band LD Justin Wade, called on Dion and SPL to help make it happen. Soon thereafter, the three began hashing out a design. Travis, a co-producer of the event together with Derek Brewer, came up with the stage concept while Justin handled lighting design and programming.
“The show needed to be an elevation to anything the band had previously done and we treated it as such,” comments Justin, who began working with the band on their Artificial Selection tour a few years ago. “This show was shot in the round, with each band member facing other directions, similar to the cover of the Tree City Sessions 2 album. With that in mind, the goal was to create a similar atmosphere around the band, where lights would work almost as audience members, encapsulating the stage, while complementing the bridge and adding additional tonal focus to the bridge’s architecture.”
Forming the scenic backdrop and surrounding the band for the shoot was Tower Bridge, a historic truss bridge in Sacramento that is among the most beautiful vertical lift bridges in the United States. “When I was told the location would be the iconic Tower Bridge the first thing I did was to get a set of the 1934 blueprints in order to make a 3D CAD drawing in Vectorworks,” Dion of SPL states. “From there we collaborated on the design, taking into consideration extra requirements such as dealing with a major roadway closure and the police departments of two cities, working with the Coast Guard as the event took place on an active waterway, and creating a design that could be clear of the bridge breaks so that the bridge could open if needed. Of course, we also had to be COVID-19 compliant.”
With the host of extra issues to contend with, Dion was glad the choice of lighting fixtures was a more straightforward task. “We chose the Elation gear because of the LD’s familiarity with the lights but also because I knew that the fixtures chosen would cover the structure and give Justin a saturated look for the bridge, all while keeping the band the primary focus.”
Surrounding the circular stage was a ground-based square of 20 Platinum 5R Extreme beam moving heads and 16 Platinum FLX hybrid moving heads. Justin explains: “These were meant to work around the band, never at the band, using geometry in the position of the beams to complement the bridge but surround the band, directing focus inwards towards the stage itself. The positions were meant to reflect that, almost reminiscent of string art and geometric shapes.”
Another key piece of the show, he says, was a circle of Fuze Wash Z350 single source par moving heads in the centre of the stage used as a dynamic backlight around the band.
Additionally, a series of Colour Chorus 48 battens, Platinum 1200 Wash moving heads and additional Fuze 350s and FLX's were used to light the architecture going up and down the bridge. “Brightness and clear defined colors were key as these were needed to really accentuate the architecture of the bridge,” Justin continues.
Filling out the rig were 13 Cuepix Blinder WW2™/WW4, eight SixPar 100” Par lights, and four Design LED Strips. Dion adds, “We chose Global Truss for its size and speed of assembly and it meshed well with the bridge architecture.”
Reflecting on the day, Dion says that the SPL crew did a fantastic job and he was glad to put 26 stagehands to work if just for a day. He also expresses his appreciation for the partnership he and Elation enjoy. “Elation gear and staff have always stood by us, supported us and have been a great partner. From our first national tour over 11 years ago and thru this shut down, I want to give a big thanks to Raul Fonseca of Reef Sales, Eric Loader, John Lopez and Gines Gines of Elation. Without their support we would not be here today.”
