Ayrton boosts Vince Staples and Tyler, The Creator
- Details
To give each of the artists a dramatically different visual definition for their respective parts of the show, two contrasting designs were devised, with Staples’ performance taking place in front of a dramatic backdrop that juxtaposed cold white, stark and graphic looks, which then gave way to Tyler, the Creator’s set that featured a magical forest with lots of saturated colour, Kabuki drops and star drop visuals.
Add to that mix a rig that has to be moved away quickly to accommodate the set change to the headline act, and it’s easy to see the challenges that Staples’ lighting director and programmer, Tyler Santangelo, and manage r/ show director, Corey Smyth, had to overcome.
The solution was two lighting rigs of Ayrton fixtures, supplied by Las Vegas-based Morpheus Lights as part of the full tour package, with a bespoke floor package for Staples’ set that had a 10ft high back wall of 100 Ayrton DreamPanel Twin in a 5 x 20 configuration.
The ‘DreamWall’ was supplemented by two vertical side towers per side, each with four Ayrton MagicBladeFX (16 total) and an Ayrton MagicBurst graphic strobe unit. 18 more MagicBladeFX completed the look as downstage ground-row fixtures.
Tyler, the Creator’s headline rig included Ayrton NandoBeamS9 fixtures on the front truss, NandoBeamS6 units in main midstage truss, and NandoBeamS3 fixtures at stage level to uplight the trees in saturated colour, while also making use of the MagicBlade-FX groundrow from Staples’ set.
For the opening act, Morpheus Lights created a modular infrastructure that enabled the rig to be set up downstage of the main act, and be installed in just 15-20 minutes.
Mark Fetto, Morpheus’ chief operating officer, explains: “The first step was to develop a floor base that would allow us to efficiently stand twenty 10ft sections of Tyler GT truss side-by-side in a way that would make the array of DreamPanel-Twins quick and easy to set up.
“Five DreamPanel-Twins won’t fit inside a 10ft section of GT truss, so we top-mounted them on the truss. This meant that once the truss had been rolled onstage and flipped up onto its floor base, the GT wheel assemblies could remain attached to the truss. Casters on the custom floor bases and interlocks permitted the individual, five-fixture towers to be easily aligned to form the 100-fixture wall.”
The reliance on pure white lighting was at the request of Staples who likes to be heavily involved in the design process. “Programming with one colour did pose a challenge, but it forced a creativity for each song,” says Santangelo. “The design climbed an arc: it started minimally, with the video side of the wall and simple effects like bumps and chases. Things got more complex as the show went on and there was an entirely different look for each song. By the end of the set, everything was being used to its fullest potential; we had very specific programmed hits to sounds, and lighting and video were used at the same time, so you saw both.”
Both Santangelo and Smyth admit to being converted to Ayrton DreamPanel-Twins. Santangelo comments, “These fixtures are a great tool if you take the time to explore their possibilities; we imagined it and they delivered.”
Smyth adds, “I love the DreamPanel-Twins. I want more of them. I would like at least 300 more DreamPanel-Twins to use exclusively for the next two years.”
(Jim Evans)
