NASHVILLE -- The art of life is a constant adjustment to our surroundings, wrote the 19th century Japanese philosopher Kakuzō Okakura in his famous “Book of Tea.” Good advice to live by, perhaps, but also wise words to follow for anyone hoping to create a consistent fan experience on an eight-month world tour that visits over 50 cities and nine countries with stops at amphitheaters of various shapes and sizes, state fairs and festivals, Las Vegas casinos, the O2 Apollo in London, and big arenas like The Toyota Center in LA.
Production designer Kevin Lichty and lighting designer André Petrus proved this beyond a doubt in multi-award-winning super group Old Dominion’s How Good Is That World Tour, which concluded its first leg at Miramar Beach, FL, on November 15. (The band will soon begin a second leg that will run through 2026.)
Old Dominion has an extraordinarily dedicated fan base, and the two designers wanted to give loyal audiences a consistent experience true to the spirit of the tour at every show, something they acknowledge was not always easy to do, given the wide range of venues they visited.
“The stage size varied every day because the main ‘chunk’ of our shows were in amphitheaters,” said Lichty. “So, every day was just a little different; some were odd-shaped, others slightly smaller, and some bigger. One of the ideas behind the design was to be able to scale the show without losing significant elements of it depending on the venue limitations. We were always able to flatten the video ceiling or lose a tower SR and SL and not have to sacrifice the whole aesthetic of the show.”
Lichty and Petrus accomplished this with an artful design that relied on lighting to frame a massive center stage video wall and overhead video fingers, while also edging the left and right sides of the stage. The geometric pattern gave the stage a consistently powerful look in all the various venues, while the overhead fingers gave fans a direct visual connection to the show regardless of where they were sitting.
A collection of 56 CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12 battens, which like the rest of the rig was supplied by Solotech were used to frame the stage, giving it a consistent identifying look from venue to venue. Most of the PXL fixtures (48 units) were arranged in three staggered columns on either side of the stage. The upstage columns were positioned closer to one another than the downstage ones were, which gave the stage with a compelling sense of depth. Completing the frame were rows of PXL Curves along the upstage truss and the riser deck.
In addition to defining the stage geometrically, the pixel-mappable motorized PXL battens added variety to the lighting design thanks to the wide zoom range, tilting, and color rendering prowess.
“One of the workhorses of this rig was the PXL Curve 12s,” said Lichty. “They really added versatility to the rig and became the main feature for most parts of the show. Because of how versatile they are you can practically use them in every song and get totally different looks every time. I think Andre did a great job finding ways to use them without constantly being distracting and overbearing.”
Lichty and Petrus also created refreshingly original looks with the LED video fingers that ran above the stage, displaying engaging content created by Fragment 9. “The video fingers were 31-feet long by 6-feet wide, and depending on the venue, the angle ranged from 30-40 degrees,” said Lichty. “They provided such a unique viewing angle for the fans that were down on the floor and pit, especially in the amphitheaters, where the stages sometimes are a little taller than normal. Aaron Hebda, our video director, knocked it out of the park every night. Crew chief Mike Wilson, engineer Megan Brandenburger, and servers Dan Albert, Johnathan Usellton, and Russ Spann did a fantastic job getting the video fingers and video wall built effortlessly day in and day out.
“Of course, we were also very lucky on the lighting side to have some of the best in this business,” continues Lichty. “PM Daniel Wright did a fantastic job coordinating all the logistics of this production and making sure it all runs smoothly. Crew Chief Robbie Sheene, Dimmer/Network crew Marshall Blair, Buzz Gibson, and Travis Edwards all deserve a lot of credit. Then there are tour manager Matt Anderson and the Old Dominion Band for trusting me with what really was a very big undertaking.”
Big? Yes, indeed, but not too big to be nimble enough to adapt a wide array of venues, providing fans with an unforgettable experience, regardless of where they saw this remarkable tour.
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
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