Rea Garvey is one of the best-known musicians in Germany and is a guest on the biggest stages and festivals year after year. An arena tour for his new album “Halo” has already been announced for 2024. Prior to this, the likeable Irishman took the opportunity to feel the intimate audience proximity of smaller clubs again with the “Roots” tour – a very special live environment that requires a lot of flexibility on the ground. Chris “Rocketchris” Glatthor, who has accompanied Garvey as a production designer since 2014, was also on board. Rocketchris relied on the Cameo PIXBAR G2, AZOR and ZENIT Series – among others – for the minimalist stage designs.
According to the experienced production designer, who is responsible for the entire visual realisation of the shows, the Roots tour was something special in more ways than one: “It’s the first real tour in several years. What’s more, there is no new Rea Garvey album, hence the name “Roots”. We play in small clubs with capacities of around 600 to 1000 people, and the budget is manageable. Despite this situation, Rea wanted to take material with him to ensure that he could achieve the same looks every day and offer the audience the same experience everywhere – regardless of the nature of the room and what material is available in the clubs.”
Chris Glatthor’s Cameo setup comprised the PIXBAR SMD IP G2 LED bars, AZOR S2 spot moving heads, and ZENIT Z180 G2 LED PAR spotlights. The PIXBAR SMD LED bars had the greatest effect on the look of the shows, as they were distributed in a stacked version across the entire width of the stage and also illuminated the accompanying projection screen as a backlight on the floor. Rocketchris was also particularly surprised by the AZOR S2: “These are great, compact spots that offer a lot of possibilities despite their compactness. In small clubs, you naturally have little distance between the light and the artist. So you need spotlights that can also create atmosphere at short distances, for example with gobos.”
In addition to the technical lighting qualities, Glatthor needs lights that can keep up with the undisguised dynamics of a Rea Garvey club show: “With Rea, every show is different. He is the boss and decides spontaneously what he does, how he interacts with the audience and so on. That’s the exciting thing about a live show – and the reason why a timecode show wouldn’t work in this setting. I operate everything live, also to be able to react to these moments. The Cameo lights are my emotional amplifiers in this respect.”
To see a video interview with Chris Glatthor about his design click here.
Learn more about the Adam Hall Group at www.adamhall.com.
