Elation KL Fresnel gets retro for Plant and Krauss
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CMT Crossroads is a television programme broadcast on CMT that pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres. The programme, which debuted in 2002 and is celebrating its 20th Anniversary, has helped spawn many successful collaborations including that of Plant and Krauss.
The British singer-songwriter and American bluegrass-country singer have enjoyed success as a duo since collaborating on 2007’s Grammy-award-winning Raising Sand album followed by their first CMT Crossroads special in 2008. The pair toured together this past summer in support of their second album Raise the Roof and returned to Nashville for their second CMT Crossroads show, which aired on 29 November.
When full-service event production company DCR Nashville was looking for retro-looking lighting for Plant and Krauss’s summer tour, they chose Elation’s KL Fresnel 8 as part of the visual package. “When putting the tour together they were looking at a theatre-like setup but then you have to deal with dimmer racks,” stated DCR president Paul Owen, who says they went to Elation and looked at the KL Fresnel line of LED fixtures.
“That made things a lot easier and they have that traditional Fresnel look.” Owen reports that Robert Plant loved the fixtures and asked that they be painted white to fit in with the more theatrical look and backdrop draping. “So, we sprayed them white,” Owen said. “Put them on towers and they looked fantastic. It was just a good subtle workhorse and were fantastic for the tour.”
When it came to taping the CMT Crossroads show, lighting designer Tom Kenny looked at the touring show (lighting design by Brent Clark) and realised the KL fixtures would fit right in. “Robert had the Elation KL Fresnels already on the tour and we kept them for this special show,” stated Kenny, who designed many of Robert Plant’s solo shows, including the historic Page/Plant tours. He has also lit nearly all of the CMT Crossroads shows.
Kenny placed the fixtures behind the artists, both left and right, and said the design was an extension of the tour vibe with beautiful theatrical whites that reflected the folk-based moods of the songs. “They complemented the retro look and drape with their warm white look and added to the whole look of the show. They fit right in with a classic artist and a classic show,” he said.
4Wall Nashville provided the lighting rental for the 90-minute episode alongside DCR who supported Plant and Krauss’s tour.
