HOUSTON – Everyone remembers being a kid and wanting to go back on a rollercoaster for a second ride as soon as the first one ended.
Most of the 40,000 fans who attended chart-topping rapper Travis Scott’s one-day theme-park inspired Astroworld Festival in November felt the same way. They’re going to get their wish, too. A week after the conclusion of the festival, which was a stop on Scott’s national tour in support of his No. 1 Astroworld LP, the platinum-selling artist announced that there would be a second annual event in 2019.
More details from Chauvet (www.chauvetprofessional.com):
Stand-out performances by Scott and guest stars like Lil Wayne, Young Thug and Rae Sremmurd had a great deal to do with the festival’s popularity. Also playing a role, however, was the colorful, immersive and carefree theme park vibe that permeated the entire event, which was located next to the original Astroworld, a place that Houston native Scott always dreamed of visiting as a child, and the inspiration for the name of his album and tour.
Enhancing that vibe with bold and vivid colors was a collection of almost 400 CHAUVET Professional COLORado fixtures, deployed throughout the grounds by Abbas Ritscher and his team at the Design Oasis. “We wanted to support the theme of the show with bold colors that conveyed an old school amusement park feeling,“ said Ritscher. “We went with a lot of dramatic colors, not a lot of pastels or subtle hues.”
Ritscher specified 350 COLORado 1-Tri IP par-style fixtures that he placed around the festival’s large scenic elements and in the VIP tent. Drawing on the output of the 14 3-watt RGB LEDs in each fixture, he was able to colorize an array of scenic props while also creating mood lighting in the VIP area.
“We were very happy with the output of the Tri IPs,” said Ritscher. “Although we used quite a few fixtures, we had a large area to cover; plus, many of the scenic pieces were rather outsized. When we hit them with the intensely bright colors from the Tri IPs, they really popped, creating the kind of fantasy atmosphere you associate with a great amusement park.”
Adding impact to the lighting display were the 40 COLORado 2-Quad Zoom IP fixtures in the festival rig. Arranged around strategic spots throughout the grounds, these RGBW units were used to add greater depth to some of the larger scenic elements.
“We wanted our lighting to project excitement all around the festival,” said Ritscher. “This festival made a big splash in Houston.”
Splash indeed! On the day of the festival, Houston mayor Sylvester Turner declared it “Astroworld Day” throughout the city, a fitting tribute for a superstar native son, who came back to rekindle the childhood imagination of his fellow Houstonians.
