Ryan's lighting concept for the tour was to create a warm and natural vibe, reflecting the feel of the songs, whilst contrasting with blasts of colour when the music reached more dynamic levels. To achieve this, Ryan specified a lighting rig including Martin MAC Auras, Thomas 8-Light Blinders and Altman 1500W 18" Scoops, all controlled by the Jands Vista S1 console connected to a MacBook Pro running the Vista v2 software.
"The Vista S1 is very flexible," says Ryan. "I really like the programming interface, which is intuitive and visual, as well as the controllability I get with the timeline. It makes it very easy to control fade time in sync with movement, which I primarily utilized with the Auras. I was so impressed with the simplicity of the console. You have great control, but are not overwhelmed with pointless extra buttons and knobs."
Ryan continues, "Whilst much of the show was pre-programmed, I utilized the venue house lights and/or our crowd blinders and scoops on the fly. The Vista performed really well with these - the faders were very responsive and I never had any issues with clearing out looks."
Ben Rector's autumn show toured coast to coast in the States, kicking off in California last September, moving to the east coast in October, and finishing in Oklahoma in November.
"The size of the console was great. It was very easy to transport - I was able to fit it, as well as my MacBook, in a nice Pelican case!" says Ryan.
Jands North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc., worked with North Carolina-based Special Events Systems to supply the Jands Vista S1 for this tour.
(Jim Evans)
