Nathan Almeida from East Coast Lighting & Production Services (ECLPS) has had the honour, for the past eight years, of ensuring that all the energy and magic coming from the stage reaches right out and touches everyone in the audience... and this year he had the help of some Robe moving lights for the GrooveBoston Vitality tour.
This year's Vitality theme embraced life, liveliness and the general feelings of being in a natural state of euphoria. So, in the quest to find fresh new ways of presenting the event and getting away from conventional trussing configurations and a standard stage design, the set featured multiple curves, unique arches and circles with 'claws' reaching out above the crowd.
The lighting rig contained Robe Pointes, LEDWash 1200s and LEDWash 600s - 12 of each type, all from Robe's Robin Series and supplied by ECLPS.
With each of the gigs on the tour effectively a custom build to suit the space, the positioning of the fixtures around the set and metalwork varied from date to date. "I would say that Robin Pointes were definitely my favourite fixtures on this tour," enthused Almeida.
As they often visit venues where power is limited, the lower consumption of the Pointes was a real bonus that allowed him to create potent full beam and aerial effects.
The light weight of the Pointes - and of course, the LEDWashes - was another advantage, especially for ground support scenarios.
Almeida was also delighted with the colour wheel. "LDs paint with light and I use the Pointe as my 'zinger', as one of my college scenic arts professors would say."
While he was busy zinging away with the Pointes, the LEDWash 600s and LEDWash 1200s provided the concentration of colour he needed. Pastels were the essence of the Vitality lighting design, to which he loved adding dramatic whiteout accents with the Pointes.
His approach to lighting the Vitality event was a little different than other EDM-style shows. "I like to keep the energy bright and hard-hitting, rather than dark and mysterious," he says, describing his oeuvre. He adds that not only are the LED Washes fantastic for immersive colour washing, "Having the individual ring control is a huge value-add."
Almeida used the LEDWash 600s with their variable CTO for artist key lights - all of which was programmed and operated on a grandMA2. GrooveBoston uses a plethora of images and videos to promote their brand, so camera-friendly lighting of the artists was a vital part of the design and fixture selection.
Additional collaborators on this project included creative manager, Jason Slomovitz and production manager Ed Slapik.
(Jim Evans)
