RALEIGH, NC - How much emotional space can you cover in a 13-song set? For the sell-out crowd who turned out to see Seether at the Red Hat amphitheater on October 18th, words like “endless” and “infinite” came to mind.
The multi-award winning South African rockers covered the full gamut of intense moods that have made them true icons on that Saturday evening. In the words of one admiring local critic, Seether “delivered a career-spanning set that reminded everyone why they remained one of the most consistent forces in modern rock music.”
The famed quartet out of Pretoria has been working this kind of magic every night on their 24-city coheadline tour with Daughtry, which ends November 15 in Fort Lauderdale. Moving with them note for fiery note throughout their shows is a no-holds-barred Austin Zangi lightshow run on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Console.
“All of the songs have their own feel and vibe,” said Zangi, who programmed his cue stacked show on his MagicQ MQ250M Stadium console using Capture as his visualizer. “My initial setlist and design was to build the show up gradually, using more lights as things progressed.”
Fittingly for a band that had a hit album with “Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces,” Zangi is immersing the stage with deep shadowy looks. “My artists like dark and moody, he said. “So, I try to keep it on the darker side throughout the show only accenting certain parts such as the solos and core interaction moments with the fans.”
When he accents those moments, Zangi holds nothing back, unleashing some nuclear backlighting often in intense monochromatic palettes, silhouetting the performers on stage and elevating them to another zone.
“I use silhouettes in a lot of the intros, breakdowns, and endings as my singer prefers this compared to having front light,” explained Zangi. “It just takes the attention more away from the individual band members and allows the audience to enjoy the music. There is quite a bit of improvised parts in some songs that are not on the album, and the band is just grooving during these. My monochromatic palettes were added in the last few days of programming after getting inspiration from other designers.”
Although most of his 44-universe show was cue-stacked, Zangi did busk at points during some songs. “There is no click or tracks, just an authentic rock and roll show,” he said, adding that the intuitive layout and responsiveness of his console were invaluable in this regard.
The user-friendly features of this MQ500M also came in handy before the start of each of his shows on the coheadline tour. “We close every night, so my gear just pushes as far upstage,” he explained. “This creates the struggle of the changeover with getting all of Daughtry’s gear off stage in a timely manner. I often have five minutes left to check or even do all my focuses. So, I really appreciate the MQ500M’s layout.”
Also coming in for praise from Zangi were his MQ500M’s five extra faders, 12 Multi-Function Execute Buttons and two in-built large touchscreens. ‘I like the physical touch of the faders and buttons when busking songs without having to compromise any pause and play buttons linked to the execution page,” he elaborated. “Having the additional screen allows me to view more information without having to switch layout views as often.”
This extra firepower helped create evocative looks for a show that spanned the music of an entire legendary career… especially in the hands of an operator, who, like his client, is in it for the long run.
About ChamSys
Based in the UK, ChamSys Ltd. was founded in 2003 by a group of designers and product developers seeking to create a lighting console that offered greater flexibility. The company’s MagicQ range has set an industry standard used in some of the most prominent concert, theatre, broadcast and club applications around the world. ChamSys was acquired in 2017 by Chauvet & Sons LLC, a leading global provider of professional luminaires, trusses, controllers and related equipment headquartered in the USA. For more information, visit www.chamsysusa.com
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