Multi-talented singer,
dancer and actress Tinashe is out on her 2016 “Joyride” world tour beneath an
Elation Professional rig of SixBar 1000™ LED battens and Platinum 5R Beam™
moving heads with graphic elements displayed across an LED wall made up of Elation
EMAG4™ LED panels. The efficient lighting and video package is highly versatile
and creates surprisingly big looks for the moody but active show.
Lighting
and production design is by DK Production Design of Evanston, Illinois (DKPDesign.com), a
turnkey visual solutions provider that worked with Creative Director Jamaica
Craft on the look of the show. Their first tour with Tinashe, DK Production
Design created the lighting and staging design as well as content creation for
the LED screen together with Craft, who they have been working with for years.
The
SixBar color-changing battens, which feature a 6-color LED multi-chip, can be
used for a variety of purposes – wash light, uplight, cyc wash, accent
lighting, pixel strip and more. “We needed a low cost LED to fill the space and
use the SixBars for big saturated color looks, to tone the rig and other
purposes,” stated Daunté Kenner, Production Designer for the tour and
Principal-Creative Director at DK Production Design. “We use 14 SixBar 1000s on
the show and they have been a godsend.”
Daunté
was introduced to the SixBars by Jason Reberski of JR
Lighting in Orland Park, Illinois (JRLightingDesign.com),
a production-rental lighting provider who supplied the lighting and video wall package
for the tour to DK Design. Although originally DK Design was only interested in a handful of
SixBar fixtures for the tour, after they saw what the fixtures could do, they thought
differently. “We weren’t sure how amazing they were until we saw them live,”
Daunté says of the 3-foot long LED battens. “They are really punchy; they have
a great UV LED and make a nice pure white. I also like the individual LED
control. They are now the workhorse of the rig and are used on every song.”
Reberski
notes, “We originally added the SixBar 1000 fixtures to our rental inventory as
a general purpose wash/strip lighting fixture and were very impressed with the
range of color and more importantly, the high-quality white-light-mixes that
could be create I personally like how the large TIR lenses are similar in
size to MR-16 lamps, meaning that in a direct-view application like this, they
have a significant ‘presence’ on stage.
After seeing the unique ways in which Daunté and Brandon utilized the
SixBars on the Tinashe Joyride Tour, a whole new realm of possible uses was
realized. What they achieved is incredibly impactful.”
The SixBar
1000s are spread across the rig with four surrounding the video wall plus three
stage left and three stage right on towers for side lighting on performers. Six
fixtures with frost filters are used downstage as side light to highlight
dancers with an additional two fixtures up on outer towers.
Lighting
and Media Director Brandon J. Clark, Jr., Designer at DK Production Design,
serves as tour operator and shared programming duties with Daunte. He comments:
“The SixBar is very multi-purpose and the primary visual element in terms of
the design. We use it for texture and blinder effects as well as other
eye-candy effects. One unique effect in particular we have on the show is a UV base
that randomly pops cells to white,” a look that Brandon says you can only do with
a 6-color LED fixture like the SixBar.
“Their
homogenous output is a huge benefit that you don’t get with other LED strip
fixtures,” he adds. “Also, we didn’t have dedicated strobes on the show so we
used the SixBars for that purpose. You get the punch of all the LEDs when you
use it as a blinder. They are able to cut through the rest of our rig and
anything the house rigs may have.”
EMAG4
LED Wall
Located
upstage center is a 10 x 5 video wall made up of EMAG4 LED panels, Elation’s 4.8mm
pixel pitch LED video panel. “It’s the dominant visual piece and performs
beautifully. The resolution is high and it has really made the client happy. It’s
extreme value for the cost,” Daunté says of the EMAG panels, which include
tool-less quick locks and a magnetic module design for quick setup and
servicing. “The panels are quick to put together; it’s a one person job. It
also works great in a tight spot, for example in a club. It helps to maximize
the space and no extra people are needed to put it up.”
Media
director Brandon Clark reports that with well over 20 shows under their belt, the
EMAG panels have only had one minor issue. “We throw quite a bit at them and they’ve
been extremely reliable,” he says. “It’s super quick to get up. The wall goes
up in 20 minutes and down in 15 – I love the ease of assembly.” Video
processing is from an Elation-distributed Novastar NovaPro HD™. “By far the
best I’ve used,” Brandon says of the plug and play processor. “It works right
out of the box, configuring was super easy and the interface is intuitive.”
Mounted
above the LED screen is what Daunté calls his #1 go-to beam light, the touring tested
Platinum 5R Beam. “We switched from the Sharpy and the Platinum Beams have
become a staple fixture for our company,” he says. “The price is good and it’s
lighter in weight. The beam with the frost is larger as well. We prefer it.”
Jason
Reberski adds, “We have had the Platinum Beam 5Rs in our inventory for
approximately three years and after multiple tours, thousands of hours of use
and time on the road, they continue to work flawlessly every day. They have been a fantastic rental piece.”
The 23-year-old
singer began the North American leg of the “Joyride” tour on February 28th in
Minneapolis, playing 30 dates across the United States and Canada into April
with dates in Europe, Asia and Australia to follow later in the year.
http://www.elationlighting.com
