Proceed with Caution
I personally use it carefully at times. Like when emulating sunrays on a rear cyc, or stabbing fans of light in a rock show. If I am lighting a punk rock band, I may use it because it looks really horrible. But it seems like if you illuminate 99 percent of the objects in the world in yellow, they will look nastier. Perhaps there is a theater character other than Sponge Bob or The Simpsons who would look good in this hue, but I have yet to see it.
Back in the 1990s, I was hired to run the light console on the Eagles reunion tour. The overall lighting designer was Nick Sholem. Over years of working with my friend, I realized he didn’t like yellow, unless it was on a cyc, behind the band. Once in a while I could sneak it in on one of his shows, but he would usually bust me and we would remove it. On this Eagle tour, the drummer had approached Nick and told him he really despised the color magenta. He didn’t ever want to see himself bathed in that color. So that meant I was out two of the basic colors in my ROYGBIV formula. So I lit the cyc in a magenta tone a lot — because I knew the drummer never turned around when we played.
Good as Gold
Years ago, I liked to mix green with yellow. It looked pretty good with some alternative music acts, but I never seem to do it anymore. I think it was because of Alan Hornell. Years ago, I worked with another designer on a tour, which had hired Alan as the production manager. I built the light cues and indeed had lit a song using these colors. After two shows, Alan calls me and tells me I need to come visit and fix the lighting. It was not looking great, he said. “Offensive colors were all over the place,” I was told. So I fly out there and sit down with him. Turns out he doesn’t like about five songs I programmed. All five had yellow streaks of light, and I got the impression that he cared little for this color. So I asked him if he liked amber and gold. “Yes, I like that yellow color the Vari-Lites make,” he replies. Back then, the Vari-Lite color systems could never mix a proper yellow, but had a great gold instead. So I simply grab all the moving lights and dial them from a lemon yellow color to a golden hue. Then I record it back into the “Yellow” color palette on my console. Now, any cue that had lights turning to yellow were replaced with a gold hue. That move alone solved most of the problems lighting the show.
Yellowtail Blues
Last month, I was touring around the Guthrie Theater during a warm afternoon in Minneapolis. I wander up to the fifth floor, and they have a pleasant glass-cased room overlooking the Mississippi river. But all the windows are tinted yellow. The whole room is now bathed in an offensive yellow and, to be honest, I was uncomfortable. Then, last week, a friend of mine and I decide to meet for some sushi in Philadelphia. We go to an Asian fusion place that some TV chef had apparently just opened. We walk in and sit down before we realize the whole room is yellow. The walls, the plates, the light bulbs… all shades of yellow. The waitress walked over and I couldn’t help but think this restaurant was mocking Asians. When you add a tinge of yellow light to raw fish, it doesn’t look quite as appealing.
Rob Zombie is an interesting character. He is a rock star/filmmaker whose shtick is based on being an animated character. Part cartoon, part-walking ghoul, and his stage shows animated in strict color schemes. The entire live show has Mister Zombie front lit in either red or green. You never truly see the man, just the character. During each song, he seems to have a separate monster walk on to the stage to cause mayhem. I wonder if he could look more evil if someone front lit him in yellow. Perhaps a yellow strobe effect emulating a death ray? The flip side of this is the band Motörhead. They only have one real lighting requirement. The drummer needs to be bathed in yellow for the entire performance. I have seen them play blazing hot sets at 5 p.m. on a festival stage. The whole band is dressed in black, but being bathed in bright sunlight is apparently not hot enough. The drummer has 30 wash lites focused on him, ensuring that he will remain yellow.
Holiday Combos
For some reason, my stomach can’t handle certain color configurations in concert lighting. The fact is, I think whoever decided to pick the original color schemes for holidays got it wrong. And these colors don’t really look good. For instance, green and red are two colors you rarely see together except during the Christmas season. I think mixing green colored light with red colors makes for a ghastly look. I can rarely pull it off. Perfect for zombies, bad for my concert looks. The one that really yanks my chain is when a designer brings up what I call the “Easter Look.” Purple and yellow. These colors look okay when you mix them with a chocolate bunny in a basket. But mix them on a concert stage, and I find it harsh to look at. Red and yellow doesn’t bother me one bit, when red is streaked with yellow. But if I change that red color to magenta, I cannot make it look good.
A Putrid Hue
I like this one color that is very rarely used. It’s not green, it’s not yellow, heck I don’t even know if this particular color has an official gel number. It’s that color you get when you mix just a touch of blue in with lemon yellow. It starts to turn a very pale green/yellow mix. I call it dog vomit for lack of a better name. It is a truly putrid color. I first saw this color used by Patrick Woodroffe at a Roxy Music show in 1985. And I try and use it once in all of my shows ever since. Last year Clay Paky unleashed the Sharpy moving light on our industry. It came equipped with a limited wheel of just 18 chosen colors. I was amazed and well happy to see this particular color made the cut, being included on the wheel. No other manufacturer would have thought to put that color on their fixtures wheel. I wonder if Patrick consulted with them on this choice.
