Toe tapping, and hand clapping are just about as natural as breathing at a Diamond Rio concert. The multi-platinum Grammy-winning band’s catchy rhythms and clever harmonies make it that hard to resist moving along to the music. The good time sound is so infectious that even when a lightshow is cue based, anyone lighting the band wants to do at least some busking. Just ask Willis Underhill, Diamond Rio’s Gallatin, TN-based Lighting Designer.
Underhill used Capture and CuePoints to program his show. When running the show as he did October 19 at the Columbus Civic Center, he busked over his cues to add depth and spontaneity his looks. It worked to perfection that night as he created a warm inviting party atmosphere inside the big venue with his fast-moving bursts of bright light.
The ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M (supplied by CLD Corp.) that Underhill takes with him on the road, made it easy to busk portions of his show. “This console allows me to add busking to a cue show seamlessly,” he said. “I am using Execute Screens and Changing Banks on the fly, which is really great.”
At the start of a tour, Underhill finds that his MagicQ MQ250M aids him immensely when programming shows. “ChamSys makes importing patch information and cue times easy with minimal effort,” he said. “Also, the Timeline feature provides me with a simple way to fine-tune cue timing. Helping me create greater depth within the programming of the MQ tracks.”
At the Columbus Civic Center, Underhill had to work within a tight schedule. “We didn’t have much time before the doors opened,” he said. “I dealt with that challenge by using Group Cue Programming. I rely on this, so I don’t have to worry about cloning and morphing fixtures. This frees up a lot of time for me.”
The Group Cue Programming aided Underhill in scaling his show up for the cavernous (23,000 sq. ft.) Civic Center. Given the layout of the venue, which typically hosts sporting events, Underhill knew that his design would have to fill a lot of space to create the desired sense of intimacy. “The capability to output a large number of universes from this console makes it easy to deal with any size lighting rig on tour,” he observed.
Underhill tapped into this capability to use his beefy rig to paint the space above the stage and audience with an ever-changing series of mid-air gobo breakups. Adding to the panorama were bold colorful stage washes punctuated by blasts of bright white light, all coordinated with generous servings of audience lighting.
“The most significant thing I focus on is immersing the crowd in the show,” said Underhill. That is precisely what he did, running a lightshow that fit the music like a well-worn pair of boots , making it impossible for fans not to get swept up in the toe-tapping and visually pleasing experience.
Further information from ChamSys: www.chamsysusa.com
