Chauvet Rogues rock with Breaking Benjamin
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When lighting multi-platinum rockers Breaking Benjamin on their North American tour earlier this summer, Veneziano stopped himself from using this feature at points during the band’s 90-minute, 17-song set. “I love the infinite pan and tilt, but I didn’t want to over-use it and become predictable,” he explained. “My plan was to save theses looks for key moments to maximise their impact.”
There were plenty of such moments in the band’s performance, as they rocked the crowd with ‘their heart-shaking base, crunchy guitar riffs and thunderous percussion’. When they did, Veneziano was ready with his 12 Rogue R1 FX-B units, which, like the rest of the rig, was supplied by Bandit Lites.
Veneziano had eight of the FX-B fixtures rigged on pipes to the upstage truss, and six on pipes on upstage floor carts. From these positions, they provided dynamic specials for songs like Blow Me Away underscoring the high energy of the music.
Sticking to his less-is-more approach, Veneziano limited himself to two colour palettes through much of the show. Covering the stage with distinct sections of reds and yellows, or blues and greens, he created an extra sense of depth on stage.
Contributing to these colourful combinations were the rig’s 33 COLORado Solo Batten fixtures. In addition to colorising the stage, these linear units served a variety of other functions in Veneziano’s design.
“We used 12 of the COLORado Battens to uplight the white fabric backdrop, which was an important part of the show’s identity,” he said. “Then we had another 12 battens positioned to downlight the backdrop. Another batten was positioned under the drum riser, while the remaining fixtures were positioned on the downstage edge to uplight the artists.”
Adding to the immersive effect of Veneziano’s design were the large gobo patterns that he ran across the backdrop. Working with the lighting and video, they created a deeply textured setting that reflected Breaking Benjamin’s heavy sound.
Veneziano credits his Bandit rep Brent Barrett, crew chief Joey Dileo, and tech Eric Taylor with helping his design come to life night after night on the extended tour. “I can’t say enough good things about our crew,” he remarked, noting that in the case of teamwork, it’s not less, but more that is always better.
