They say the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. But sometimes, when one of those “parts” goes off on its own, it opens a wealth of exciting new possibilities. Such was the case when Ruben Block, frontman for the iconic rock band Triggerfinger, took a temporary pause, to record his solo album “Looking To Glide“.
Drawing on his rich, melodious voice, Block treated fans to a full menu of delicious sounds that included not just rock, but also a variety of ballads and even dance tunes. This musical variety was beautifully evident on his recent tour of the same name. Supporting his solo performance on stage was an equally diverse and nuanced lighting design Erwin Van Lokeren that featured CHAUVET Professional fixtures supplied by Splendit.
Like the music of his client, Van Lokeren’s lighting was richly varied, engaging audiences throughout the 90-minute show by changing looks and relying now and then on the element of surprise. His skillful navigation between light and shadows, along with the clever use of his rig’s 18 EPIX Strip IP fixtures, helped him achieve this effect.
“The whole idea for this tour was working with shadows and different contrast with lights on the backdrops and on the artist himself,” said Van Lokeren. “There a lot of different effects coming from Ruben and his guitar in the songs, and this blended perfectly with the shadow idea I had in mind with cold colors.”
“I positioned lights in different places around and in front of Ruben so I could play with the size of the shadow and work with different kind of shadows that suited perfectly for some songs,” continued Van Lokeren. “Because there was only one person on stage, I felt I needed to point attention to the artist in the center with the strips, and less to the surroundings of the stage.”
The use of dark space and EPIX fixtures flanking Block, helped Van Lokeren focus his entire attention on the award-winning star. “This really sucked me in to each song,” he said. “There was no distraction only the right light on the right spot to create the right atmosphere.”
As for the EPIX Strip IPs, Van Lokeren had this to say: “The reason for these fixtures was simple: Ruben is the only artist on stage, so it’s all about him. The look of the EPIX around him suited things perfectly when the songs became more intense. At those points, I could make the look bigger. Turning the strips on and off was very effective in changing the atmosphere on stage.”
Given their low profile and position on the stage deck, the EPIX STRIP IP fixtures helped Van Lokeren add his desired element of surprise to the show. “I liked doing a build-up for the show with lights, “ he said. “For the first three songs I did not used the EPIX Strips, then when song four started they were the only lights on — and they lit up the entire stage. This resulted in the kind of ‘wow’ effect that I really envisioned creating to support this great artist when I began the design.”
Further information from CHAUVET Professional: www.chauvetprofessional.com
