Lighting designer Chris Reade is in his 10th year with Dierks Bentley and for this year's summer tour has a large automated lighting rig at his disposal, a setup that includes Elation Professional's industry-standard beam light, the Platinum Beam 5R, along with the increasingly popular SixPar 200 colour-changing LED Par light. The Somewhere on a Beach tour is the largest touring production to date for the multi-Platinum singer and features a unique spearhead set design and large diamond-shaped drum riser. The large rig used to support the lighting includes a series of automated trusses, which allows for a variety of looks and shifts in tempo.
Requiring a beam light to complement the rig's 1000W profile and wash fixtures, Reade uses Platinum Beam 5R fixtures with its 189W Platinum 5R lamp and 2.5° beam angle. "The 5R's are used more as a specialty instrument like big chorus looks for example," Reade explains. "I also use them in other songs with the frost feature for more subtle 'tempo' type verse looks. I prefer the color choices available on the 5R vs others for this tour. They have taken a beating, and keep coming back for more."
Reade has the Platinum 5Rs located in the air (12) on automated trusses with an additional 15 on the floor and set. With a fair amount of video in the show, including an upstage LED screen and large LED screen fronting the drum riser, the Platinum 5R's are also able to cut through the ambient video light.
Also in the setup are 30 SixPar 200 Par lights with homogenized RGBWA+UV LED source, which are used across the rig for truss toning.
Production designer for the tour is Bruce Rodgers of Tribe Inc., who Reade says is an honour to work with. "His creativity and vision are a huge inspiration to me," he stated.
(Jim Evans)
