Lighting designer Chris Stuba looked to Wilson's own music for inspiration in creating an elegant looking show. "I love the man and I love the music," said Stuba. "His band is one of the best out there working today."
Stuba utilized VL500D fixtures as the main wash, with VL3500s as key lighting in addition to four the floor with MAC Auras to light the drapery. MAC Vipers provided backlighting and VL2500s were used as "chin kickers".
"The VL500D is still my favourite wash fixture," explained Stuba, "and while it does have some limitations in the blue and green range, the red range and the tungsten all make up for it. It is very fast, and its coverage works really well for me. I feel tungsten is still a beautiful source and I love the way the dimmer ramps."
The main challenge for Stuba came in the form of sheer volume of material to programme for, as Brian Wilson's collection includes more than 400 songs (including more than 20 Top 40 hits). Bandit's vice president, Mike Golden, facilitated pre-programming for Stuba, an opportunity Stuba called invaluable. "Even though the songs are usually just a couple of minutes long, they are not like anything else I've programmed before," said Stuba. "They are beautiful, complicated and unique as Wilson is."
"I always thoroughly enjoy working with Chris Stuba and this tour was no exception," said Mike Golden. "It was truly an honour for us at Bandit to join him in lighting this legendary artist. Clint Boire (production manager / FOH engineer) was excellent to work with and the show looked and sounded absolutely incredible."
"Bandit always delivers," added Stuba. "The personnel and the gear are always fantastic and the support is always over the top. Thanks to Mike, Dizzy Gosnell, project manager Don Lockridge, and director of TSD Jake Tickle. And of course the touring team of Kurt Kalivoda and Jimmy Hatten, as they made for an awesome team."
(Jim Evans)
