The duo, who broke through late last year with their single Cruise, had been doing some support dates on Swift's Red tour. Recalls Cunningham, "Steve Richards, who is out as LD on the Taylor tour, introduced me to the fixtures, and gave me the inside scoop." Having also watched the Beyoncé videos, showing heavy use of the X-5 (white strobe) he immediately became convinced by the technology.
But it was the colour function that he could envisage working on the FGL tour, and he wasted no time requisitioning six from Theatrical Media Services (TMS) of Omaha. Owing to supply and demand this was the maximum that could be accommodated in a scaled down production - but Scott has certainly made the most of them.
The XC-5's have been placed inside the floor package, transported within handy Truss Carts, and have met all the requirements for Scott, who was able to replace his traditional power hungry xenon strobes with these far more diet conscious low wattage alternatives. "We carry six truss towers that feature several fixtures, and the XC-5's live inside those," he says.
"As we are playing a range of venues from 2,000-5,000 capacity amphitheatres and clubs, the ability to be able to say that our lighting package draws 100 amps is huge. Also, the colours the fixture can provide are great - from white to a deep saturated red."
And at the summer fairs and festivals those capacities have risen to 8,000-10,000. "I think it has been pretty safe to say that our summer headline shows have all been sold out - which has been awesome to see."
Summing up, Scott Cunningham says he is already looking to incorporate further XC-5's with FGL come the fall. "These have been great fixtures to use; the price point was excellent and they seem incredibly durable. After having them ride in our truss - loaded in and out of bus trailers every day - they are showing little signs of wear and tear."
(Jim Evans)
