Canada – It takes a versatile lighting rig to meet the needs of 17 different bands over three-day outdoor festival. It also takes a talented LD with a deft, flexible touch to run the shows for 13 of them. Rock La Cauze 2026, a fundraising event that took place at the spacious Parc Terre-des-Jeunes, was fortunate enough to have both!
Well-know designer Pierre E. Roy set up the festival rig and ran it for all but four of the festival’s headliners, lending his considerable skills to bands that included two-time Grammy-nominee August Burns Red, as well as an eclectic mix of punk, rock, metalcore, alternative rock, and local Québécois acts.
Roy’s formidable FOH skills were critical in helping him navigate his way through this widely diverse mix of musical styles and stage personalities. However, he also benefited from the same advantage that the visiting LDs for Killswitch Engage, I Prevail, Machine Head and Hollywood Undead enjoyed — a powerful and very flexible rig featuring CHAUVET Professional fixtures supplied by DGM Sonorisation in Victoriaville, QC.
Confident that he could work with virtually any fixtures specified in the headliners’ riders, Roy polled the visiting LDs before setting up his festival rig. “I reviewed each band’s technical rider to get as close as possible to their own touring rig,” he explained. “I also designed the rig so it could be cloned easily. This way, when the visiting LDs arrived it was quick and easy for them to adapt their show. Time is a major factor at a festival since we don’t have much time between bands.”
“As far as the fixtures, I selected go, the Chauvet Maverick MK1 Hybrids, COLORado Solos, Color STRIKE Ms, and Rogue Outcast 1s in FOH are all well-known fixtures among LDs,” continued Roy. “This means that there weren’t many concerns or surprises.”
Even though he describes the weather during the festival as being “perfect,” Roy was relieved that these fixtures were all IP65 rated, since this gave him one less thing to worry about. He also appreciated that the fixtures were compact, which made set up easier.
Fixture placement was a key part of Roy’s plan to create a versatile rig. He arranged his 22 Maverick MK1 units in pairs across the rig and drew on their versatility to have them fill a variety of roles. His COLORado units were placed SL and SR to be used for side washing. The Color STRIKE Ms in the rig were flow four-each on three stage trusses to provide crowd lighting, side lighting and specials.
As one media report noted Rock La Cauze 2026 offered “one of the strongest lineups in the festival’s history.” Thanks to this talented designer and his versatile rig, it was also one of the most artfully lit.
