CHATTANOOGA - The historic Soldiers and Sailors auditorium lies just over 300 miles from the nearest body of salt water. But still, fans who packed the historic downtown landmark this fall couldn’t help but feel a sea breeze blowing through their hair when the Black Jacket Symphony’s “The Era of Yacht Rock Tour” stopped in Chattanooga.
The laid back catchy music of this popular band (the kind they’ve been playing for over 20 years!) set the good-time mood. Helping that vibe flow even more happily was the evocative lighting by their LD, Gable Larramore who artfully used the CHAUVET Professional Rogue and COLORado fixtures in his rig to create a summer-by-the-sea look on stage.
“This being the ‘Yacht Rock’ tour, I made a ton of gradient sunset and water-colored scenes to sell the vibe 100-percent,” said Larramore. “The main goal was to accent the music tastefully, while still being engaging and exciting. At the same time, I wanted to ensure that every one of the 14 band members was lit properly.”
Helping Larramore conjure up the captivating colors in his show, including his immersive monochromatic panoramas, were his rig’s 24 COLORado Batten Q15 fixtures, which like the rest of the lights are owned by the band.
“Putting them in 64 channel mode really allowed me to use more resolution in my color mixing,” Larramore said of the RGBW battens with individually controllable LEDs. “We initially had 12 units, to accent our giant riser set up. They were all placed on the rear of the risers, which spanned most of the stage, and pointed through and over band members. We ended up getting a venetian drape after the first couple of shows and another 12 COLORado units to uplight it. The drape really took the color well, which had a lot to do with creating the transformative mood.”
Of course, like any day at sea, the production on this 18-city tour was continuously changing with one captivating look following another throughout the show. This variety has as much to do with the lights that Larramore didn’t use at any one time as it did with those he did.
“I was able to keep it fresh by being sparing with my bag of tricks, and mostly avoiding having the entire rig on at once,” he explained. “The idea that ‘less is more,’ is something I keep in mind whenever I program.”
Key to creating the vibe Larramore was after was a generous helping of audience lighting. “I’m a sucker for slow flyouts,” he said. “Throwing a beam or two above peoples’ heads really adds depth to whole rig -- and it gets people involved in the show.”
Contributing to this audience lighting were the 15 high-output Rogue R2X Wash fixtures in Larramore’s rig. However, with its five zones of LED control, the RGBW wash did much more than light the crowd.
Flown far upstage, the fixtures were often used as “hair light” for the band. “When zoomed out, they provide a fantastic wash,” added Larramore. “They’re the brightest wash we have, so I also used them to make some fun graphic positions.”
This brightness, along with some vivid colors, created a good time mood on stage -- exactly the sort of feeling that runs deep in the waters of Yacht Rock!
About CHAUVET Professional
CHAUVET Professional offers innovative professional lighting fixtures for the production and touring market as well as permanent installation in theaters, hospitality venues, cruise ships, clubs, television and architainment applications. For more information, please visit www.chauvetprofessional.com
Photo Credit: Rob Hereth
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