Canada – There is movement in colors…and this kinetic power was on full display Saturday June 27 when the multi-platinum headliner, Flo Rida burst onto the stage at the Strangers in the Night Gala, a sparkling bedazzled microphone in hand, and instantly transformed the sprawling Videotron Centre into a Miami nightclub.
Along with the thunderous bass lines that reverberated throughout the building, the atmosphere was electrified by color changes. Indeed, it was the movement of varying hues and whites, along with some intense, well-timed strobing and dramatic light angles that endowed this show with an irresistible energy force.
“Color played a key role in this,” said Gil Perron, who designed the Montreal show, and another one that followed the next night at Quebec City’s Videotron Center arena. “Flo-Rida is the quintessential ‘305’ artist (Miami’s area code), and that means his shows are all about warm colors, and vivid hues. That motivated me to use the Quadratic Color Wheel. I went with two opposing sets of complementary colors — one color per instrument type.”
This strategy led to some vibrant color mixes that managed to be both intense and engaging at the same time. It also resulted in color changes that flowed so seamlessly, they actually seemed to put the entire stage in motion.
Reaching into his LSM supplied toolbox, Perron selected four different CHAUVET Professional fixtures to help him work his magic. “This rig was built on the Rogue Outcast BeamWash, the Maverick Force 3 Profile, the COLORado 1 Quad, and the COLORado PXL Bar 16,” said Perron. “Why these fixtures? Well, consider this: they produce great whites and colors, they are extraordinarily bright, and they have great coverage. When you have a hip-hop artist like Flo Rida running all over the stage, coverage is everything. Trust me, it works!”
Meticulous strobing, by board operator Fahed Hammami from LSM was part of the free flowing stage dynamics. “We got more energy by strobing at selective moments,” said Perron. “Fahed and I sat together in previz and hashed out something more focused on heavy color than massive movement/strobes. Fahed programmed several layered chases on his ChamSys MQ500 which he could apply to his fixture groups. As he would show me different ideas, we would lock them in on the track list.”
‘In addition to Fahed, I also got a lot of help and support from our master electricians; Ryan Germundson and Penelope Tremblay, both of whom dealt with my many ‘ideas,” continued Perron. “Production directors Fakhri Ben Mariem and Olivia Cosentini were also invaluable. They consistently pulled rabbits out of the hat to keep things going.”
Perron and his collaborators thought outside the box when they added an exciting element to the show by varying light angles to change eye level. “This was a let me try something moment,” he said of the decision. “We realized that because of the higher trim potential we could push truss angles quite a lot, such as by opposing 10-degrees for mid and upstage truss… and we didn’t even get a frown from the riggers!”
The results of this adjustment were “beyond expectations,” noted Perron, explaining that the light angles made it seem as if the fixtures intertwined… another example of how this vibrant design swept fans up in its flowing motions.
