It was “a perfect show on a perfect night” one local newspaper critic wrote of Hootie & the Blowfish’s appearance at Michigan’s Pine Knob, speaking for the 14,000 fans who packed the amphitheater earlier this summer. This sentiment is being echoed (weather permitting) at every other stop on the iconic alt rockers’ 43-city Summer Camp With Trucks tour.
But even when Mother Nature isn’t in the most cooperative mood, the multi-platinum Grammy winners deliver a “perfect show,” taking fans on a musical journey through 29 years of Hootie & Blowfish hits, sprinkled with covers of classics by the likes of R.E.M. and Led Zeppelin. The free-flowing musical journey creates the kind of relaxed atmosphere that makes it easy for fans to feel like (true to the tour’s name) they’re sitting around a campfire reminiscing and listening to their favorite songs.
There is even a point in the show where the set takes on an outdoorsy appearance with frontman Darius Rucker and the band singing in front of a campfire. That flourish, like so many other immersive visuals on this tour, is part of a beautifully crafted lighting and production design by Kevin Northrup and Will Lowdermilk of Silver Bullets Design.
Drawing on the performance features of over 100 CHAUVET Professional fixtures, supplied by Special Events Services, Northrup and Lowdermilk have created a multi-layered lightshow that is marked by subtly shaded color washes, some bold downlighting, intersecting aerial effects, and a generous serving of crowd lighting.
Throughout the production process, Northrup and Lowdermilk have worked closely with Jason ‘DB’ Parkin (the band’s PM), Jason Parkins (tour PM), and Matthieu Larivée, who, with his team at Lüz Studio, handle creative direction and video content. The net result of this collaborative effort is a set that engages on many levels, with its massive blow-through video wall and captivating sun burst circular overhead set piece giving the stage an inviting 3D effect that that pulls audiences into the performance. By using different lights to different degrees at different times and changing the content and configuration of the video screens, the design team varies the look of the stage throughout the show.
Northrup discussed how the creative process worked: “During the design phase, Will and I spent a lot of time bouncing various designs back and forth. We knew that we wanted something with some shape to it. The sunburst shape we landed on came from the lyrics to ‘Let her Cry” with the line, ‘If the Sun Comes Up Tomorrow.’ That set the tone for the design. We also worked hand-in-hand with Matt from Luz studios to provide a balanced lighting-video look.”
Lowdermilk elaborated on that light-video balance. “We use the video content on the blow-through wall in combination with wash lights flown upstage, to create really big looks. At the top of the song ‘I Will Wait,’ there is content of a lighthouse with one of the washes acting as the actual light. It creates a really cool, life-like effect.”
Engaging the crowd throughout the show are the 30 STRIKE Array 4 fixtures in the air and the six additional units on the deck behind the band. “We mainly use these fixtures for audience abuse with the flown Strike array 4s in the air and powerful band riser backlight including color with the four ones on the floor,” explained Lowdermilk. Helping to hold this complex set together are 67 COLORado Solo Batten 12 units that line the straight trusses, and 14 COLORado Solo Batten 4 fixtures that line the curved truss.
“Our COLORado battens are contributing a lot,” said Northrup. “They reinforce the shape of the rig with a nearly continuous lines of light. Not to mention, they also have the output to act alone in the rig to provide a stage wash and are great eye-candy to run chases through.”
The COLORado fixture have a huge hand in one of Northrup’s favorite looks, which happens during the band’s cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Hey Hey What Can I Do.’ “In this song we throw as much color from the rig as we can, especially in the last chorus and outro. We run a magenta, yellow, green, and blue color gradient combined with a random pixel chase effect on the battens.” For Lowdermilk, one of his favorite looks happens during: ’Oldman and Me’ with “huge lighting looks and the Tree of Life video content.”
Indeed, everyone seems to have their own favorite look in this good-time concert. No matter, though, regardless of anyone’s favorite, everyone agrees with the scribe from Michigan, it is “a perfect show.”
Further information from CHAUVET Professional: www.chauvetprofessional.com
Photos by Keith A. Griner
