Concert Lighting

[jfitzpat]

Kindred,

I agree with you...the design makes the show, not the fixtures.

When I toured moving lights had not yet been invented, all we had were Pars, Lekos, Scoops, Beam projectors and Fresnels. We were still able to make the audience gasp on cue or stand up any scream.

My first system was 32 1K Pars rigged 8 to a Genie air tower and I did hundreds of shows and tours for the likes of Harry Chapin, Hot Tuna, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. Later one my system was a 40' x 25' truss grid with 120 1K Par cans and full curtain system which toured mostly arena sized events during the late 70's and into the 80's.

Bill,

Suddenly I think we may have already met in person. I did a BOC tour (albiet towards the group's EOL), and I still know the words to Hot Tuna's 'Hesitation Blues'... I also just realized that I haven't followed up with you to make sure that Patrick got you squared away. Sorry, I'll follow up via email.

On topic - I have to agree, what you do with the gear is more important than the gear itself. The two best pieces of advice that I can pass on for concert lighting are:

1. 'Don't blow your wad' (aka, don't squander your bank roll)
2. 'Less is more'

I put both in quotes since I know that I am not the first to say them. Both these have served me well, regardless of rather I was in a tiny club with 8 par cans or in the middle of an arena with mountains of gear at my fingertips.

Imagine you are doing a club band and your best special (perhaps your only special) is a par can behind the drum riser. Don't use this 7 times during the first song! Who cares about the opening song, the crowd is excited that the show is starting. Hold this dramatic look for a big moment later in the show. If you blow all your tricks early, your show has no where to build to.

The concept of 'less' is related and hard to stress enough. I can remember a Triumph tour were there were constant complaints about the lasers. Everyone said there needed to be more lasers, more power, more effects. This was before the YAG revolution, when more power meant still more Spectraphysics 171 argon and krypton lasers, each a power and water headache.

It reached the point where the crew was struggling just to get all the laser equipment up each day and still no one was happy. I was supposed to go out, brainstorm, and help come up with a new effect to smooth feathers. My 'innovation' consisted of putting the audience in the dark, teasing them with sparse beam bursts, slowly drawing the Triumph logo, color strobing it, then doing a beam ceiling. I think the band was told I put in new optics...

Think about it, laser beams everwhere, graphics flying around a screen. You go 'Wow!', for about 3 seconds. Sit in the dark for 3 seconds with the music swirling around you and the suspense builds. Flash one laser beam over that crowd and they scream.

The power of less also applies to conventional lighting. Run out of looks at a dance recital or concert? Experiment with using your rig one fixture at a time!

-jjf

 

[Thomas]

Just for interest's sake, if anyone wants to see an example of really BAD concert lighting, check out the InFlames "Used and Abused In Live we Trust" DVD. That's a good example of moving light overkill. The music's great though.

 

[ManOfLights]

What kind of concert is it? ROck Band? school proformance?

 

[len]

The two best pieces of advice that I can pass on for concert lighting are:
[[snipped]]

2. 'Less is more'
-jjf

I wish my I could get some of my clients to pay attention to that. They want "more is more." They want Vegas style flash, and most of them don't have the budget. And sometimes I have to switch gears from day to day. On the 27th I'm doing a show for a band that wants a very dark, edgy show, a la Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, and the 28th and 29th another client wants Vegas glitz.

 

[digitaltec]

Finally a topic I can relate to...

I hear the less is more comment alot and you know to a point I agree by it.

As some of you know, the rigs I use currently are 98% moving. Most of them have 150+ movers in them. Most of you guys would kill to see that many lights But at the end of they day I would kill to have some PAR Can's.

PAR cans can achieve effects that no movers can. Plus when lighting for video, movers can't acheive the right color temperature that most VD's are looking for.

Some of the best shows I have done and have seen contain barly any movement from the movers. You can achieve so much with just scroling through colors and gobos with some shutter effects.

You also got to keep the designs in control of who you are lighting for.

I can go on and on but going back to the whole less is more comment... yeah I agree that some old school techniques can make any show just as well as new school.

 

[soundman1024]

There are limits to less is more obviously. One must have a sufficient amout of gear for the area they are in. I also disagree in that once everything is light correctly it is nice to have a few extra lights. At the same time I agree very much. There is a threshold between enough and too much. Overusing lights, particularly movers is bad.