The American pop rock band toured Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand last year in support of its third studio album, Native. OneRepublic's tour has continued in 2014 with more dates in Europe and the UK.
On this final leg of the tour lighting designer Chris Lisle has carried over a diamond-shaped theme from last year, which features trusses, video screens and even some of the same fixtures. "The show has some big visual moments, so I had to come up with a design to meet that need," he says. "The band likes cutting edge, so using the latest technology is important to us."
Programmer Scott Chmielewski notes that, "Chris always designs his projects with the artist in mind and tries to keep the focus on the music. It's important for him to make sure that the technology doesn't overshadow the talent but still has the capabilities he needs. This has been a very technology-heavy show, but it was used tastefully and was well in control."
Lisle was introduced to the B-EYEs at LDI and "knowing the feel that the band wants in their show, it was a no-brainer to use them," he reports. "We used all 12 upstage on the diamond pods, both floor and flown, and facing directly out toward the audience. They have so many tricks up their sleeves that I think we used them at just 50 percent of their capacity."
He notes that the band was "amazed" to see the new B-EYE fixtures during rehearsals and immediately asked what they were. Chmielewski says, "these guys have been around the world over and over again on countless shows and stages so you'd expect them to look past new toys like this. But not this time!"
Lisle explains that he let "the fixture show itself off gradually throughout the show. First it was just a wash light, then we added a couple of 'inner/outer' ring tricks, then a couple of ring chases, and ultimately the lens spin tricks toward the end of the show."
Lisle says that two weeks into the final dates for the tour the B-EYEs were working "amazingly well" and proving to be "a very solid fixture."
In addition to the B-EYES, 30 Sharpys were an integral part of the lighting design since Day One, Lisle says. "I love the fact that they can punch through video intensity when needed. They also gave us some great beam/aerial effects. You can't beat them for speed: They were super-fast for the 'techno' moments of the show."
Chmielewski programmed the tour on a grandMA2 light with three active NPUs. A back up grandMA2 light was also available on the road. The equipment was supplied by Neg Earth, UK.
Pio Nahum, Clay Paky CCO, commented, "This is a very interesting tour visually and we're proud to be a part of it. The B-EYEs have been a big hit since they were introduced and the OneRepublic tour is a great example of what the fixtures can achieve."
(Jim Evans)
