Eric Church holds his own with STRIKE 1
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Butch Allen of Blame Funnel Creative, who specced the multi formatted STRIKE 1 units from Christie Lights, uses them in lieu of house lights to set an emotional tone for Church’s deeply personal tour. “We wanted the whole arena itself to be part of the show, to create a totally immersive environment, since this tour is all about Eric connecting to his fans,” said Allen. “The STRIKE 1s are our house lights. Then, once the concert starts, they emerge as the backbone of our show. They become 63 death machines.”
For the first 90 minutes of this marathon three hour plus concert, Allen uses all white lights, anchored by his STRIKE 1 fixtures, which are flown on three massive rectangles: one over the main stage, one over the audience and one over FOH. Using white lights exclusively for this opening stretch underscores the concert’s elemental heartfelt theme.
“We light the extended opening of the concert with a variety of white lights with different colour temperatures to convey different moods and keep the show fresh,” said Allen. “The inspiration for having all white for an hour and a half came from the STRIKE 1s. They create a variety of looks for us, going from being gentle audience washes, to blinders, to strobes at different points without missing a beat -- and they put out a ton of light. The looks we can get from them fit so perfectly into the mood of this concert.”
Church, who has used pyrotechnics and dramatic production elements on his past tours, wanted to evoke a warmer more engaging mood for Holdin’ My Own, which has him powering his way through 38 songs in two sets with a short intermission. “This concert is really a basic emotional exchange between Eric and his fans,” said Allen. “There are no opening acts. It’s just Eric, his music, and his fans.”
(Jim Evans)
