NASHVILLE – There is a reason why physicists have defined time and distance in terms of light. Given that it appears to be everywhere at once, light is uniquely qualified to reflect the passage of time over remarkable journeys.  Matthieu Larivée and the team at Lüz Studio channeled this power when designing the production for Rascal Flatts' 21-city "Life is a Highway Tour," which ran for three months this year in North America.

The tour covered, the multi-award-winning band's 25-year career, one that has resulted in 16 No. 1 hits and over 11 million concert tickets sold. When discussing the best ways to reflect the band's far-reaching achievements, the Lüz team took a slight step back from the immersive 3D video elements that characterize many of their stunning designs and leaned more heavily on light.

"Given the nature of this retrospective tour and the band's rich history, we focused on lighting, which is timeless," said Larivée.  "Their catalog has some ballads, which need gobos or lighting chases, power ballads, which need powerful lighting swaps, and rock n roll songs, which need dynamic FX. Therefore, our lighting rig mixed with the digital lighting rig, gave all the tools to support the show."

A key part of the show's non-digital lighting rig was its 42 CHAUVET Professional Maverick Storm 1 Hybrid fixtures supplied by Bandit Lites.  Describing the 420W 7700K source beam-spot-wash unit as a "versatile fixture, " Larive used it to set a wide range of moods with colors and gobos.  

"We had the Storm 1 Hybrid in various positions to aid us in defining the shape of the rig without being too graphic and modern," he said.  "Also, since this tour was a celebration of the client's 25th year of music,  we wanted to support a strong connection to the audience, so we used 2 V trusses to help bridge the stage with the audience light."

Larivée explained how light, digital light, and video were blended in this production to create an engaging canvas for the band to tell its story through music.  "We did use one set extension for the entire show with multiple layers, like a Swiss army knife.  The condensed video was dynamic, but it displayed a 90-minute show within 30 seconds.    

"We started the show with the band logo on a 3D sign, and we did light it up differently for three songs," continued Larivée.  "That way, we were able to focus on the band for the top of the show.  Then we flew the sign to get to a virtual canvas for IMAG.  That canvas was a frosted glass.  Behind this glass was a wall of light that came in slowly through the next couple of songs, until at one point we got to the wall of lights and stayed there until the end of the show.  So, the idea is really about having a digital lighting rig to enhance the actual lighting rig, and less about a set extension or location."

Helping to ensure that the light rig had the flexibility to flow with the digital and video element of the design was a floor cart system created by Bandit's Dizzy Gosnell, Jake Tickle, and Andy Knighton. "With the two faces, they could light up and then create unique graphical effects that never felt too repetitive,” Larivee said of the carts, adding, "they helped light serve as a bridge between the band and video screen.“

Serving as a bridge to the video screen? Yes, it was one of the many ways that the unifying power of light led the way on the "Life is a Highway" tour for an iconic band that has withstood the test of time.

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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.