CLEARWATER, FL – You can learn from mistakes, or you can learn from testing, according to the time-honored business adage. John Conrath and the other members of Floyd Nation wisely chose the latter. A leading Pink Floyd experience band, they wanted a bigger and bolder rig to support their performances now that they’re playing at larger venues. Rather than simply add fixtures, they asked The Design Oasis to provide them with a rig that they could test for a three show-run through Clearwater, Jacksonville and Charleston.
When it was over, they and their lighting designer, Justin Kern, were so convinced that the rig, which is anchored by CHAUVET Professional fixtures, was a winner that they decide to build on it for their upcoming show at the State Farm Center in Illinois.
Kern explained the results this way: “The music of Pink Floyd is so diverse that it allows us to get creative with our color palettes – and since Floyd Nation allows us to free hand, our lighting can be fluid to vibe with the audience and tell an exciting story of the music as the night progresses. On top of that, Floyd Nation’s shows are pretty intense; the band always hand out creative challenges to production. The band pushes the production bar higher and higher each time they perform. That’s what makes it exciting to work with them. From a gear perspective the new rig is excellent. Chauvet makes their equipment easy to use right out of the box.”
The PXL Bar 16 fixtures in the rig helped Kern achieve his vision by allowing him to create a wide array of special effects, in addition to defining space on the set. “The PXL Bars were mounted in front of the spots on multiple sticks of pre-rigged truss,” he said. “The guys over at The Design Oasis came up with a unique way of mounting them to the front side of the truss. Being pre-rigged, it really cut down the setup, load in and load out time. Besides having fully mappable capabilities, the wide zoom range and tilting ability of the PXL Bars allowed for some pretty cool effects throughout the show. Very few other light fixtures can deliver the effects these can”
Key contributions were also made by the rig’s Maverick Force S Spot fixtures, which were mounted on the cross bracing on the top of the pre-rigged truss, directly behind the PXL Bar 16 units. “Just like the PXL Bars, the Force S Spots give me full control over color mixing with a wide zoom range,” said Kern. “I tapped into most of the abilities of these fixtures during the shows. They definitely have power, and can create a wide range of effects.”
Adroitly working these fixtures along with some totem mount lasers Kern created a show that never quit, moving from deep, blue monochromatic looks one moment, adding blinding white light the next, before then moving on to multi-level crossing patterns of brilliantly colored light. “We were really happy with the looks we got out of this rig,” he said. “Abbas Ritscher and the people at The Design Oasis were great to work with and I also got a lot of help from Sean Populorum, one of the best laser techs in the industry.”
As Floyd Nation keeps laying out tight tracks and Kern keeps conjuring up a plethora of such bold looks, it’s a safe bet that the band, it’s designer, and its new lighting rig will continue to showcase their stuff before bigger and bigger crowds.
