AUSTIN, TX – On April 6 Diamond Rio put out an Instagram post celebrating the 20th anniversary release date of their moving hit “God Only Cries For The Living.” More than a few of the people in the audience exactly two weeks earlier when the iconic band appeared at Rodeo Austin weren’t around when that song broke. But you wouldn’t know it to look at the fans of all ages, even teens, who were jumping, clapping and singing along, as the famed six-piece band from Nashville brought down the house at the Travis County Exhibition Center, creating what one local radio station called “a full-on party.”
The band’s lighting designer, Willis Underhill kept the party swinging with bold color changes, dynamic aerials, and sweeping washes that were as high-spirited as this timeless band. Impressively throughout all the lighting hoop-la, Willis kept his key lighting as crisp and clean as a theatre’s, ensuring that each of the musicians on stage was properly face lit.
“There were three key things that help ensure we had good face lighting,” said Underhill. “Thanks to the rodeo lighting rig’s great design, we had wash far enough away from the stage. We also used follow spots for coverage of the band members as the stage rotated. Last, and certainly not least, was our eight Maverick Storm 3 BeamWashes that surrounded the 28-foot wide stage in the main hang of the lighting rig.”
The high output Maverick BeamWashes were not the only CHAUVET Professional fixtures in Underhill’s LD Systems supplied rig. He also drew on the performance features of the eight STRIKE Array 4 warm white strobe lights and 12 Color STRIKE M motorized strobe-wash units.
The STRIKE Array 4 fixtures were used for all-important audience lighting, which helped Diamond Rio and the crowd feed of one another’s energy. As for the Color STRIKE Ms in the rig, their color washing, pixel mapping visuals, and strobing added to the show — and in the process, they also helped Underhill meet the challenges of working on a circular, rotating stage.
“I usually have upstage and downstage specials for every band member when lighting Diamond Rio,” he said. “That wasn’t possible this time due to the rotating stage. A big thing in this situation was being able to backlight the band. I used the twelve Color STRIKE Ms in the rig to make the backlighting happen, and at the same time I was also able to wash the crowd with a color to keep them from feeling disconnected from the band. On top of that I was able to provide some eye candy and strobe effects.
“The rodeo house rig made all this possible,” continued Underhill. “There was no room on the stage for us to have a floor package. Everything was up to LD Systems. Big thanks to David Jackson and his crew there. They made it an easy night for me, so I could concentrate on creating the best atmosphere.”
Maverick Storm 3 BeamWash
STRIKE Array 4
