USA - German DJ Bunt is touring with a "barrier-free" production design. "Bunt shows don't follow your typical format, where fans are barricaded off from the stage," said Tony Caporale, lighting designer for the current global tour, which ends later this month in Australia. "There are no boundaries. Bunt’s DJ booth is smack dab in the middle of the venue floor with the audience surrounding him. He wants to share the experience with the fans up close and personal."
Reflecting this philosophy, Caporale, of Infinitus Vox, creates a "perimeter of light" around Bunt and his fans. This, he says, "allows everyone to be in the moment with him from start to finish."
This openness has made it easy for the good vibes to flow between Bunt and his fans, but lighting an in-the-round DJ booth on a multi-city tour is not without its challenges. "We've had to retrofit the design at each venue, especially since we're always in the middle of the floor," said Caporale. "Analysing the venue specs and figuring out placement of the lighting package to remain consistent was the biggest task. Sometimes, you have to get inventive given the space."
Maintaining consistency during the tour was made easier by having the same fixtures in the show's rig, even though the sources supplying it sometimes changed. At the heart of this rig were 20 Color Strike M motorised strobe-washes and eight Colorado PXL Bar 8 tilting battens from Chauvet Professional.
"At every show, we surround the entire venue floor with Color Strike Ms, there is nowhere to hide!" said Caporale. "These fixtures were our main workhorse. They really brought the crowd and artist together when we lit the entire floor with them during hard-hitting EDM beats."
The Colorado PXL Bar 8 fixtures played a supportive role in Caporale's design, creating aerial effects and colorising the CO2 blasts. "We had them on vertical trusses in the far corners of the venue," said Caporale. "The colours helped tie everything together."
Pulling off such a seamless 360-design over an extended tour required close teamwork, and Caporale is quick to acknowledge the efforts of Nick Groff and Michelle Ronson of Rare Society Management; Andrew Plavnik, the tour/production manager; Louis Kortmann, the creative director/videographer; Destin Klug and Kirby Naylor, lighting directors in US and Canada; as well as Will Flavin, lighting programmer and Nic Cascino of Creative Management.
Caporale also extends a "very special thank you" to The Playground where he collaborated with Sooner Routhier, who served as executive producer. "The team really came together and acted as one," said Caporale.
