Prior to working with Chevelle, Richter toured with Mudvayne, Rascal Flatts, and Seether when an opportunity arose to be the lighting director for what Richter thought would be a 'short little run' - an up-and-coming country singer named Miranda Lambert. That short little run turned into a three year gig.
Then at the start of the year Chevelle's tour manager/FOH, Chris Morrison, called up Richter and offered the opportunity to work with Chevelle. Richter found the deal was too good to pass up saying, "I'm a big believer in the fact that change can be good now and then."
Change proved only to be one aspect in the new tour as challenges for the production arose in the form of choosing a design that would meet the budget, truck space and varying venue sizes. Having toured for almost 15 years, Chevelle had a definitive idea of what look they were trying to achieve with the lighting. With having only met with the band once, Richter worked to create a design befitting the seasoned rockers by using versatile fixtures such as the GLP X4S's and Mac Vipers.
"I wanted something that would give me some nice tight beam looks but also was able to zoom out and wash the stage at the same time," said Richter of the X4S's. "I also knew I wanted a hard edge fixture and Martins pack so many great features into the light that it was hard not to take them. I also like to use a lot of gobos in my designs, and the Viper is packed with awesome ones that give me some really cool looks on stage and in the audience. On top of that they are fast, and can flood out as well as give me a Sharpy style beam if I want."
Richter also used Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300s to cut through everything on the stage, choosing the Alpha Beam over the Sharpy due to its ability to color mix. Finally, some well-placed Auras add eye candy around the drums them from the black drop.
(Jim Evans)
