You don’t win four awards from Country Music Association, two awards from the Academy of Country Music, and a Grammy Award by being a one-dimensional band. So, it’s not surprising that Diamond Rio has touched a lot of musical bases in their storied career.
It may be impossible to imagine a single show encompassing the full range of moods the multi-platinum band conveys with their songs, but Diamond Rio is coming pretty close on their 15-city fall tour. Reflecting the scope of the six-piece group’s music with dynamic looks that engage audiences every step of the way is a boldly colored lighting design by Willis Underhill that features a broad selection of CHAUVET Professional fixtures.
Running his show on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M+, Underhill of Graffiti Lighting Concepts calls forth a continuously changing stream of colors to reflect the mood of each song. “I like to rely on bold color combinations to help evoke emotion and help create moments between the band and the crowd,” he explained. “I use a lot of reds, whites, yellows, and deep orange for high-energy moments on this tour. For more intimate moments, I lean towards pastels and similar colors.”
Of course, there is much more than a captivating palette that’s engaging Diamond Rio fans, Underhill is keeping his looks fresh by changing light angles and accenting his bold, often monochromatic, color schemes with bright white light accent.
This was beautifully evident in one of the band’s earliest fall shows in Paxton IL, when Underhill complemented the floor package supplied by Graffiti Lighting Concepts (eight Maverick MK1 spots, six Rogue R2X Washes and four STRIKE Bolts) with a house rig supplied by Thunder Lighting Productions that features 12 Maverick Storm 2 Profiles, 24 Maverick Storm 2 Beam Washes, and four STRIKE Array 4 blinders.
Unleashing the full power of this rig, Underhill is creating looks that are very powerful, but also very approachable, as they flow with his client’s music. He explained that since Diamond Rio is a very upbeat band with an ebullient style, he wanted a lighting rig that could keep pace with the many highpoints in their performance.
“The Maverick Storm 2 Profiles are ideal for this show,” he said. “I rely on them to provide delicate midair breakups to help highlight key moments between the band and the crowd. Then, I use the STRIKE Bolts as sidelight downstage to help frame the sides of the performance area and create depth on stage. I also use them as eye candy to create movement, as well as a strobe for impactful moments when needed.”
“I am also able to turn around immediately and utilize the Storm 2 Profiles’ high-output LED engine to help transition to high-energy moments with ease, to engage the crowd. As for the Storm 2 Beam Washes, they help me create both deep, saturated colors and airy pastels. This allows me to transition smoothly from high-energy moments to slow ballads with ease.”
Throughout his show, Underhill is careful to highlight the individual band members, each of whom has a dedicated special spot downstage and upstage in the house lighting rig. He highlights individual performers with this house rig and uses his ground package to direct attention to different areas of the stage at different moments. “I want highlight different band members at key moments, so they all get attention,” he explained.
Given all that this band was done since it started in Nashville in the ‘90s, the attention is very well-deserved.
