Kaleo hits Red Rocks with Chauvet Professional
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Kaleo’s distinct style is also reflected in their ethereal stage presence. Minimizing the use of colours, they prefer to be lit in subtle variations of white light. Max Lenox, who has worked with the band in various capacities since 2016 and is the lighting designer for its current tour, has mastered the art of creating subtle white-light-dominated looks, while still providing the versatility needed to reflect his client’s eclectic music.
This balance was on full display in late June, when Kaleo headlined at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, illuminated by a bright, evocative lightshow created by Lenox with help from a floor package that featured Chauvet Professional STRIKE and Maverick fixtures.
Lenox used six STRIKE 1 and 16 STRIKE 4 multi-formatted warm white fixtures, as well as six Maverick MK3 Washes supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. (Brown Note Productions of Denver supplied the flown rig). Working with these fixtures, he created a show that kept pace with Kaleo’s music through every twist and turn. Impressively, he did this while remaining true to his client’s preference to minimize colours.
“The band doesn’t like a lot of colour in their show, so I’ve always depended heavily on different hues of white,” he said. “CTO, CTB, and Open White are used extensively throughout my shows for Kaleo. The 16 STRIKE 4s in my rig have a colour temperature that adds contrast when I use them alongside ‘conventional’ blinders. I love the look.”
The STRIKE 4 fixtures also added a greater sense of depth to the stage. Lenox arranged them two apiece on eight mobile pipe structures of varying heights. The units themselves were positioned in an upstage semicircle, which increased the dimensionality of the design. Hung diagonally, the STRIKE 4 fixtures created the impression of diamonds. Through much of the show, Lenox activated only two of the four LED pods in each unit to vary the visuals.
The STRIKE 1 fixtures also were essential to Lenox’s lighting design. “I’ve used the STRIKE 1s in almost every Kaleo design I’ve done,” he said. “I love the colour temperature and amber shift.
Positioned stage left and stage right, the Maverick MK3 Washes in the rig were used as sidelighting.
Based on the success of his Red Rock show, Lenox will be using his floor package of STRIKE and Maverick fixtures for the rest of the year. “We’re doing a ton of daylight festival sets across Europe, where we’ll be the third or second act before the end of the show,” he said. “This will create a few challenges, the main one being how we will get on and off stage efficiently during set change.”
(Jim Evans)
