NASHVILLE — Music critics think Greta Van Fleet — the young old-school sounding foursome from Michigan — are on the verge of making rock n’ roll cool again and they are doing it on the road in 2018 with the help of a retro looking light package from Premier Global Production.
More details from Premier Global (www.premierglobalproduction.com):
Designed, programmed and operated by Bigtime Lighting Design’s founder, Eric Cathcart, the band’s floor package features 6 Robe Patt lights, 25 Chauvet Colorado Zoom 2 LED pars, 10 Elation Cuepix Battens and 10 Martin Axioms — the latter fixtures are the only movers on the stage.
“I wasn’t looking for a lot of movement,” Cathcart says when describing the overall look of the show. “I wanted to use the intensity and color to convey the dynamics of the music. Because we are playing smaller venues, and have limited transportation space, LED pars were the logical step.”
The band is currently on a world headlining tour that sees them playing in a variety of rooms each night, big and small. Each night Cathcart incorporates the house rig with the floor package to give the young rock band big, ambitious looks.
“We’re really pleased with the visual show Eric has created for them,” said PGP’s general manager Kevin Blevins. “More importantly the band and management are really pleased with the way the visuals match the music.
“I recently saw two sold out shows in Nashville and the lighting helped to take the show to the next level. But this is typical of anything we have seen Eric do in recent years. It’s always a great experience to work with him and his designs.”
Cathcart, who co-designs the Black Keys and Cage the Elephant among many others, initially met with the Greta Van Fleet at PGP’s headquarters in Nashville where they went over certain looks and colors.
“We discussed some of my prior projects and some color preferences, but other than that, I was given free rein to create,” Cathcart recalls.
After Cathcart’s design was approved by the band and their manager, the floor package was prepped and programmed at PGP. The band then came in and used PGP’s 10,000 square-foot, full production rehearsal room to dial in their 90-minutes set over 2 longs days of intense rehearsals.
“The rehearsal room was indispensable,” Cathcart says of PGP’s air conditioned and sound proof room. “I had done some pre-vis prior to arrival but having the ability to set everything up and prep in real world space constraints was just fantastic!
“Back line and audio also had the benefit of being able to cable for the biggest stage scenario situations.”
Greta Van Fleet is currently selling out rooms all over North America and Europe, which has many thinking larger rooms, and possibly arenas, are just around the corner. Cathcart says has already prepared for that eventuality by designing an air rig that incorporates many of the same elements the floor package features.
“A full production design was submitted pretty much from the beginning, knowing that the show would be expanding in phases in the very near future,” Cathcart says. “More LED par cans, lots of them!”
Bigtime Lighting Design is based in Kansas City, MO. More information on the company, including a list of its many clients, can be found at this link:
