"Unfortunately, we had had very little time -- I mean 48 hours -- to programme the entire thing. My lighting directors Andy Figueroa and Dan Norman sacrificed quite a bit to survive their first patented Butch Allen programming death march, but the end result was well worth it!"
The end result that Allen speaks of was a relentlessly intense and vividly colourful lightshow, punctuated by punchy rollercoaster ride sweeps and zooms along with some impressive atmospherics. Anchoring this immersive display was a collection of 24 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Washes supplied by RK Diversified Entertainment.
"You want to know about the look we were after?" asked Allen. "Get in the Wayback Machine! Remember the year 2000? That is our focus -big colour, big beams -- the whole thing."
A key part of the powerful look Allen is creating on the tour is provided by the upstage washing delivered by the Maverick fixtures. Positioning 18 of the MK2 Washes on upstage truss, he is using them to sweep the stage with rich colour washes. He is able to position the majority of the Mavericks upstage, because the fixtures' field angle allows him to use relatively few units for his downstage apron wash.
"We have 18 Mavericks on the upstage truss and six on the downstage," he said. "The crazy field angle of this fixture (7°-49°) made it possible for me to provide a great apron wash downstage with only a few of the Mavericks, so I could put most of my firepower upstage."
In addition to the Mavericks, Allen is using a collection of other Chauvet fixtures on the tour. For atmospherics, he has ten Vesuvio RGBA foggers and a collection of Amhaze II hazers. He is also "filling holes" under the set's stair risers with eight Nexus 4x4 LED panels. CHAUVET DJ SlimPAR fixtures are mounted on truss for "some dazzling eye candy".
(Jim Evans)
