Julien Reux and Chauvet light Eric Nam tour
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Matching Nam’s passion and reflecting the nuances of each song on the 39-date tour was a far-reaching and evocative Julien Reux lighting design that was programmed by Matt Reynolds, and featured Chauvet Professional COLORado PXL Bar 16 and Color Strike M fixtures supplied by Kinetic Lighting.
Like the music of Nam himself, the lightshow was an inspired blend of boldness and subtlety. The mood on the stage was set by edge-to-edge colour washes, often monochromatic with white highlights. In some segments of the show, bright beams flared out from centre stage to the left and right, almost, as if opening a pathway for Nam. Throughout it all, regardless of how big the looks got, the focus was kept on the star.
“We wanted to have the audience focus on the scenic design, and when we had choruses, to have bigger light moments happen that highlighted the scenery, but at the heart of everything was always on Nam,” said Reux, owner of Black Lantern Creative. “As far as colours go, everyone who knows me knows that I love my ambers and CTO warm colours. I think in general, it’s the perfect balance of hue and saturation. Even though it’s my personal preference, it also played off with the artist and the aesthetics of the show.”
Playing a key role in creating this colour-scape were the rig’s 23 COLORado PXL Bar 16 linear fixtures. “The PXL bars were hidden or trailed along the scenic piece and downstage edge,” said Reux. “I really wanted to illuminate the scenic wall without having the PXL Bar fixtures themselves too conspicuous. We used them this way to great effect. For example, we created some really cool looks when we had the PXL Bars hidden behind the set’s two white columns. They would sneak in light in between the columns and scenic wall to make a crease lighting effect.”
The rig’s 11 Color Strike M fixtures were used to light the white Cyc, and to create some punchy strobe moments downstage. Drawing on the intensity of these fixtures, programmer Reynolds also relied on them to contribute to audience lighting, especially during sing-along moments.
“Matt did excellent work programming, as did Nick Perry, our L1,” said Reux. “Matt and I have been working together for years, and we’re very familiar with what Nam likes. He also knows when to rip the audience blinders and strobe washes when our client wants to interact with the fans.”
Reynolds, like Reux, also kept an eye on how the lighting was going to look in social media photos and videos. “Nam’s fans like to take pictures,” said Reux. “They want to remember this show.”
