Even those who might be a little leery about attending an EDM or rave show would probably walk away from a Gryffin concert impressed by what they just heard and saw. Praised by one critic for creating “EDM For Everyone,” the uber-talented California artist captivates fans of many stripes with the sheer brilliance of his musicality.
Blowing away crowds with his blasts of dubstep beats and trashing techno shreds at one turn, then picking up a guitar the next to venture forth into dreamy dance tunes, Gryffin is a one-person ensemble of diverse sounds.
This was beautifully evident during the multi-talented artist’s recent performance at the iconic Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Taking the stage in his trademark baseball jersey, Gryfinn treated fans to a dynamic, EDM-infused musical banquet, as he performed on the stage and an exposed-scaffold riser.
Keeping pace with him and reflecting his energy with stunning colors and motion was a compelling stage production by Lighting Designer Julien Reux, Content Creator/VJ Eddie Perez, and Tour Manager Jonny Stiegler. Like the star’s performance on stage, the looks supporting him were multi-faceted, while still being perfectly harmonious.
“Everything about any show I do begins with balance,” said Reux, owner of Black Lantern Creative. “Our team wanted to give every visual aspect of the show a unique character. At the same we wanted everything to create this single, seamless cinematic visual feel.”
Contributing to this immersive aura was a collection of 4Wall Entertainment supplied CHAUVET Professional fixtures that included 90 Color STRIKEM motorized strobe/blinders, 30 COLORado PXL Bar 16 motorized tilting battens, 12 Strike 1 units, and 12 R2X Washes.
Run in 74 channel mode, the Color STRIKE M fixtures were flown on stage left and stage right vertical truss, as well as on three rows of raked overhead truss. From these positions, the fixtures filled a variety of roles, including audience lighting, strobing and creating special effects.
Reux played the Color STRIKE M units’ output off against the large centerstage video wall, sometimes matching it in color, to envelop the stage and its surroundings in stunning monochromatic palettes. He also used chase sequences to complement the dynamic imagery on the wall with lighting.
Throughout the show, Reux intensified the overall effect of the production by contrasting the movement of his lights with dark spaces and shadows. “In a lot of my EDM builds, I like to cast shadows from different places, so that it feels dramatic and tense for the audience,” he said. “Many of my designs this year have been focused on edging/framing portions of production to either mask the object, or give it some flare.
“Most of my programming relates to the BPM sync of Gryffin’s music,” he continued. “We’re able to ramp up the energy of the show with layers per fixture type to big epic looks for the audience. The Color STRIKE Ms orchestrated the music syncing, without them, we wouldn’t have had such dynamic moments.”
The COLORado PXL Bar 16 fixtures were used to line the edge of the artist stage deck. There were some moments in the show when Gryffin withdrew into the dark. When this happened Reux created a sort of halo ring effect around him.
Its myriad looks notwithstanding, Reux’s design called for a relatively small number of fixtures. “My approach is always simple,” he stated “I’m not much for adding a lot of lights just because I can. I wanted to frame the center portion of the production to give as much depth as possible. I’m all about seamless looks.”
