USA – “The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion,” Albert Einstein once said. He had a point! The 13 years that have passed since Pretty Lights last album seemed to vanish in an instant this July when the electronic music icons released their new recording, “A Trip Thru Time Fantastic.”
The same magic struck again on Friday August 21st at The Capitol Theatre, when Pretty Lights took the stage for their first live appearance since a show at Red Rocks in 2018. Just like that…from the moment they kicked things off with a new song Vigs Drop… the years since their last show disappeared in a puff, as fans got caught up in a moment of pure, unadulterated joy.
That moment, and all that followed, were marked by transformative music, richly imaginative scenery, the powerful stage presence of legendary artists, and a lighting design that wrapped itself brilliantly around all of the above.
Lighting designer Robert Fuller and his LD Jake Roeber created deeply layered looks that folded and opened with the seamlessly fluidity of the music being performed on stage. “Our looks reflect Pretty Lights’ music, which is so layered and ever evolving,” said Roeber, who live busked the show. “There are so many sonic elements working together to create one cohesive sound, the lighting should emulate that to the best of its ability. Also, because these shows aren’t just single 90-minute sets, we have plenty of time to explore what the rig and fixtures are capable of, sometimes stumbling upon happy accidents that end up becoming intentional moments.”
A collection of 113 CHAUVET Professional fixtures provided the design team with the capabilities needed to create these immersive looks. Included in this mix are 70 STRIKE V tilting strobe-color washes, 10 COLORado PXL Curve 5 arrayable battens, and 33 COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens.
“The Chauvet fixtures along with the rest of our lighting rig were supplied by OnServices, while Beware supplied our video element, and I can’t say enough good things about both vendors,” declared Fuller. “All of the Strike Vs are hung across 12 towers at variable heights ranging from two feet to eight feet. We wanted to have a lot of flexibility and options on how we pixel mapped the rig. This orientation allowed us to use the Strike V’s and PXL curves as a continuation of the video surfaces.”
Roeber draws on the color rendering capabilities of the COLORado PXL and STRIKE V fixtures when busking the show. “I try my best to match color to the tone and emotion of the song,” he said. “Is it happy? Sad? Uplifting? Mysterious? Earthly? Otherworldly? I try to find a color or range of colors that can fit that. When the band goes in and out of jamming, we may or may not add or remove other colors in the mix, everything is left up to the moment. Just like the music, all the visuals are performed live. Nothing is pre-programmed or running from timecode –100-percent punt!”
In addition to color, geometry plays a key role in shaping the show. “The design naturally has pockets and angles and curves built right into it, so even when highlighting through the rig you end up with these natural slices that play together to make this massive spaceship- looking source of light that can move and bend at will,” said Roeber. “Once you break it down into its elements, each of those is so powerful that it can stand on its own in a solo.”
After three nights at The Capitol Theater, the Trip Thru Time tour moved on to festivals and later venue shows, beginning with The Filmore in New Orleans November 6-8. “As the tour moves through different dates, we will change the rig,” said Fuller. “We have three different configurations of this design. When initially conceptualizing this show with my design partner John Adamo, I aimed to have everything as mobile as possible. So, we have towers on wheels and pre-rig truss. Through our A, B and C rigs, we can shorten our footprint. The Capitol Theatre was our C rig.”
Although rigs may change from time to time on the tour, the hard work of the support team behind the production will remain consistent. Fuller expressed thanks to his team Pedro Pradenas, Chris Sommerville, Peter Schmidt, Rich Cano and Roy Bowling.
Another thing that will remain unchanged is the nature of the show. True to its name, regardless of venue, it will offer a fantastic trip through time.
