Rascal Flatts wanted to get even closer to its fans - literally and figuratively - during its current 2008 The Bob That Head tour. So the group called on All Access Staging & Productions (Torrance, CA) to create a set that would make it easy to interact with the audience. "They basically had a T thrust on their last set, and this year they wanted one that would extend even further out into the audience," said project manager Mike Bell of All Access Staging.
Working with set designer Bruce Rodgers of Tribe Inc. and lighting designer Andy Knighton of Bandit Lites, All Access created "one of the most complicated sets I've worked on," said Bell. Featuring an intricate 32' high spiral staircase as a backdrop and a 48' x 68' main stage with a multi-level layout, the set incorporates a runway-style rectangular thrust that wraps around four spectator egresses to provide audience access. Five elevated risers serve as platforms for the instrumental players, while numerous stairways, ramps, bridges connect the various sections and levels of the set, giving the band the freedom to move deep into the audience and back to the main stage.
To tie together all of these divergent horizontal and vertical elements, All Access relied on nearly 1,000 colour-changing LED fixtures from Elation Professional and Acclaim Lighting. The massive number of lights are used to outline and highlight the thrust, risers, stairways and other elements, giving the set a cohesive look, while creating a breathtakingly stunning visual experience.
Some 730 Acclaim X-Cubes alone are installed on the set. A compact, rectangular cube-shaped RGB LED fixture, the X-Cube is used along the perimeters of the thrust and those of the risers where the instrumental players are positioned. The X-Cubes serve to "draw attention to the risers and the backline guys," said Bell. X-Cubes are also used to highlight three diamond-shaped decks that sit on top of two elevated audience egress bridges and on the front of the main stage, and a fourth square-shaped deck at the front of the thrust.
Octostrip LEDs from Acclaim's sister company Elation Professional dramatically illuminate the treads of the many stairways on the set. These include: two large staircases that lead down from the 32' silo to the main stage; four additional "screamer" staircases that surround the main stage; and eight sets of stairs that lead up and down from the elevated decks on the thrust. A 39" RGB LED strip, more than 100 Octostrip units are used on the stairways.
(Jim Evans)
