USA - There were many magical moments in Boston’s 7,200-seat Agganis Arena on 14 December as Christmas came early for music fans with the arrival of Teddy Swims' Deck The Hall Ball.
Contributing to the special mood at the show was a balanced production from the team at Events United led by project manager/systems engineer Chase Clark, which drew on the bright output and colour rendering prowess of 82 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
Rachael Fahey, production designer for the concert, described how the fixtures were used. "When I design a show, I try to give our lighting designers a variety of tools to work with," she said. "Our light director Meg Fiske consistently does a great job working with these lighting rigs with amazing success."
Playing a key role in making the show come alive were 82 Chauvet Professional fixtures from Events United's own inventory, including 64 members of the Maverick family (MK2 Spot, MK2 Wash, Force 2 Profile, Storm 2 Beam, and Storm 1 Wash) 10 Colorado PXL Bars, and 16 Strike 4 wash-blinders.
Fahey noted: "For this show, we used Chauvet Strike 4, Storm 1 Wash, Storm 1 Beam and Force 2 Profile fixtures for audience light. The mixture of these fixtures gave Meg Fiske and the touring lighting designer for Teddy Swims the ability to use a variety of different colours and textures."
Though their adroit fixture placement, the Events United team, which also included stage manager Joel Pelletier; light techs Ryan Lane and Zach Dafeldecker; LED/playback tech Felipe Bida; Trifon Athnos on monitors; and David Bickel on patching, created looks that struck a harmonious balance between power and intimacy.
Most of the lighting/video trim heights on the 60ft wide by 40ft deep stage varied between 20 and 25ft. Fixtures on the upstage truss and two side structures were trimmed to frame the video wall. This design strategy created a "light-box effect", focusing attention on the stage, while at the same time creating a warm, inviting glow throughout the venue. This mood was amplified by amber audience lighting.
"We had hanging upstage fixtures trimmed with everything further down stage slightly higher so the audience could see the entire lighting rig," explained Fahey. "When a rig is trimmed like this, it not only gives the lighting fixtures a full range of motion, but really fills the room."
