For the better part of a year the Red Hot Chili
Peppers have played to fans worldwide with back-to-back festival and arena
tours. Premier Global Production in
Nashville provided a large complement of versatile Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K20
fixtures for the tours.
The band’s busy schedule commenced last spring with
festival dates in North America, Asia and Europe. The European leg of the world arena tour
began last fall, and now the Red Hot Chili Peppers have launched their North
American world tour with arenas booked through June. The tour is in support of the band’s eleventh
and latest LP, “The Getaway.”
Premier Global Production, which also counts Metallica,
Tim McGraw and Josh Groban among its tour customers, acquired the B-EYE K20s at
the request of Scott Holthaus, lighting designer and show designer for the Red
Hot Chili Peppers. “We’re not gear
junkies, but Scott specified them for the tours and we try to meet or exceed
our clients’ expectations,” says James Vollhoffer, vice president of touring at
Premier Global Production “The B-EYEs
looked to be very road worthy.”
For the festival tour Holthaus deployed 44 B-EYE K20s. “I put them radiating from the
vertically-hung circle pods and 40-foot half-arc,” he explains. “For outside shows without any smoke or haze,
it is important for the audience to see the source. Having overhead lighting is a mistake in that
situation, so I made sure 90 percent of the show was upstage and pointed at the
audience through the band. The B-EYEs
have such a big source that they were perfect for the job.”
When the band began its world arena tour Holthaus
increased the roster of B-EYE K20s to 64, 52 of them active. “They worked so well on the festival show
that they are the main source for side and all floor lighting on the indoor
show touring now,” he reports.
“The more shows I do the less I ballyhoo and slam
color, but I’m making more bold looks,” Holthaus notes
“The B-EYEs are strong enough to hold those
looks. They also have a great dimmer
curve for LED fixtures.”
At Premier Global Production Anthony “Geddy” Kordyjaka
is the design manager.
A.C.T
Lighting is the exclusive North American distributor for Claypaky.
Francesco
Romagnoli, Claypaky Area Manager for North and Latin America, added, “Mr.
Holthaus has been using our fixtures for The Red Hot Chili Peppers for quite some time and it’s gratifying to see
him to continue that.“
