Latin America. Bruce Rodgers of Tribe, Inc., who describes his lighting design for superstar Romeo Santos' second leg of the Golden Tour, says, "It's all about scale and simplicity." The "scale" part is evident to anyone watching a show on the 18-city tour that began in September. Dominating the area above the center stage is a colossal armor structure that resembles a UFO about to land. The intense glow radiates in a floating way, courtesy of the 117 Maverick MK3 Wash Chauvet Professional, which were supplied by 4Wall Entertainment Lighting.
The "simplicity" Rodgers refers to may not be so obvious instantly, but once the initial fear inspired by this circular panorama passes, it becomes easy to appreciate. For all its size and power, there's no waste in Rodger's Golden Tour lighting design. No distractions. There are no dead ends. Just a beautifully balanced combination of circles and sticks, working in harmony with a slightly convex video wall.
Rodgers, who achieved international recognition as a production designer at Super Bowl halftime shows and on tours for stars like Madonna, uses the equipment and video wall on his platform to create a holistic stage image that engages audiences and supports Santos' performance.
"When we developed this show with Romeo, we worked to have the lighting, video footage and effects played together throughout the concert. We have a very talented team to help us do this on the Golden Tour, starting with the great team at 4Wall. Then there are people like lighting director/designer Jorge Carabalo and designer/programmer Felix Peralta. We were also fortunate that the 4U2C team developed content with the help of Romeo's veteran visual mixer DeeJay Mad," he said.
In keeping with this design philosophy, Rodgers sees lighting equipment not only as lighting sources, but also as key components of scenic imagery. "We used Maverick accessories for different reasons on this tour, such as generating light, providing a nice point source, and creating pixel mapping effects," he said. "The ultimate goal is to provide a great visual show."
Limiting the number of luminaire models on the platform was key to achieving Rodgers' vision. "Early in the sketching phase, it became apparent that we wanted to have as many units of the same equipment as possible integrated into our sun-ray structure," he said. "This would give our massive platform the clean simplicity we wanted to combine our lighting and scenic elements. Of course, to make a single luminaire model such an important part of our platform, we had to be sure that it could do a lot of things right."
There were a number of reasons why Maverick MK3 Wash equipment was selected for the gigantic upper structure, according to Rodgers. In addition to their relatively compact size, which makes it easy to disassemble and set up on tour, RGBW motors offer rich, realistic colors to reflect the mood swings of the show. Maverick units are also used to create a wide variety of styles, thanks to their built-in color gobos, wide zoom range, and pixel mapping capabilities.
"We wanted the light to be beautifully emitted from this great mass that we have on stage," Rodgers said. "The MK3 Wash was chosen to be our modern and consistent equipment. Visually, it works well for all the creative twists and turns we take in this show. It's so versatile, doing so many things well, that you can really do a full show with this one as your only accessory model. When you look at all the things that Maverick MK3 Wash does, it really makes the circle above come alive, which animates the whole show."
With a variety of looks emanating from the circle of sunbeams on stage, the distinction between lighting and landscape seems to have disappeared. As Rodgers describes it, "lighting flows naturally" from the stage design. This creates a massive visual image that is both simple, elegant and endless.
