One of those stages, the Tourmaline, didn't feature the biggest names at the three-day festival. Devoted to emerging artists, it showcased the talents of newcomers like Katastro, David Rosales and The Drowning Men. Although they might not have enjoyed the name recognition of a Sheryl Crow and other Kaaboo stars, these up-and-comers were supported by a lightshow that was every bit as dynamic as anything at the festival, thanks to an all-Chauvet rig put together by LD Matt Collier.
"I wanted to give this stage a big symmetrical look," said Collier. "This was a big moment for the bands and they drew large enthusiastic crowds. The goal here was to design a lightshow that created special moments for the bands and their fans."
Collier poured sweet and sassy looks all over the Tourmaline stage with the help of eight Rogue R1 Spot moving heads from Chauvet Professional, as well as four Chauvet DJ Intimidator Wash Zoom 350 IRC movers and 20 SlimPAR 64 par-style fixtures. The high-output 140-watt Rogue R1 Spot was the exclamation point of Collier's design, creating layers of prism effects that tied the stage's lighting package together.
"I wanted to get a very symmetrical look for this show, so I placed four Rogues on the upstage truss and four on the middle upstage truss for a tiered look," he explained. "This design allowed me to create a lot varied looks over the course of the festival. I was able to do a lot by varying the intensity of Rogues and play around with different pan and tilt effects. Being that this was an outdoor setting, there wasn't always a lot of haze, so I counted on the brightness of these units. Plus the crisp gobos showed up really well."
Also unifying the look on stage were the rows of par fixtures placed across the upstage and downstage truss. "I grouped the SlimPARs in groups of two and aligned them evenly across the trusses for a good solid stage wash," said Collier, who controlled his rig using a Martin M-PC on an external touch screen.
For accenting performers on stage, Collier relied on the four Intimidator Wash Zoom 350 IRC moving LED wash fixtures, taking advantage of their zooming capabilities. "The 14° to 58° zoom of these lights really gave me a lot of options," he said. "I could position the light in a narrow tight beam on an individual performer, then pop out and give the stage a nice even wash with them. Having four of the Intimidators on a stage of this size was just right, and with the zone control I could turn them on the audience for some sweet looks."
Apparently that audience appreciated those sweet looks, as well as the music emanating from all of the stages at Kaaboo. The festival drew large crowds all three days and earned rave reviews. No sooner had the festival ended than its organizers announced dates for an expanded 2016 event. It's safe to assume that Kaaboo will be part of the music scene for a long time to come. The same can be said of the emerging acts that - along with a Collier's killer lightshow - captivated crowds on the Tourmaline stage.
(Jim Evans)
