Rogues add concert looks to Lakeland church
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“Beams have become my favourite, because they add so much energy to a room,” he said. “I find myself going to them often.”
Partiality to beams might not be unusual in a concert/touring designer, but Lopenzo is speaking as technical director of Grace City Church, a 750-seat house of worship with a distinctly modern touch located in Lakeland, Florida..
“Many people have described our services as being like a concert, and to our worship team and me that’s a huge compliment,” said Lopenzo, who comes from a concert background and still works at the House of Blues in Orlando in addition to doing his lighting duties at the church. “We pull a lot of ideas from concert lighting and apply them to a worship environment to create something that we feel is unique and engaging.”
Positioned on the stage deck, next to the drum and keyboard risers, the Rogue RH1 Hybrids in the church’s rig (between two and six depending on the service or event) are used to accent key moments on stage and to engage worshippers by directing crisp tight beams across the room.
“I used the beams extensively because of their impact,” said Lopenzo. “Our stage is approximately 60ft wide, and the width of the room expands considerably as it goes out. The beams fill space beautifully. We only have one floor, so I am able to point a lot of the lights straight out at the back wall without worrying about them shining into a balcony. We also have a very large LED wall, but the RH1 hybrids cut through everything.
“For slower songs I'll put on a gobo and use them to wash the whole room alongside my R3 Spots,” he continued. “Most of the time, I will use a slow to moderate spin rate with a wide zoom; but I’ve also programmed the gobo spin rate to increase as the song builds to a bigger section.”
There are four Rogue R3 Spot fixtures use at Grace City Church. Flown evenly on upstage and down stage truss, they are featured in virtually every song performed during services.
Adding colour to Lopenzo’s vivid designs are four Rogue R3 Wash, 10 Rogue R1 Wash and eight COLORado Batten 12 fixtures.
