Color has always been “a huge part of our design process,” Dayne deHaven says of the work that he and his collaborator at the District 5 design studio, Tyler Shapard, have been doing for The Band Camino. Fans of the red-hot rock-pop trio would readily agree; the band’s music is so evocative, that each song calls out for its own distinct color signature. Ironically, though, on the band’s recently concluded 25-date tour, the show begins in virtual darkness, as eerie electronic sounds resonate over a blacked-out stage. That’s only fitting, since the tour was called Screaming in the Dark, a nod to the group’s latest hit album The Dark.
However, once the band breaks into “Afraid of the Dark” the first tune in their 30-song set, color reigns again in all of its powerful mood-making glory; this time, with help from some distinctive UV flourishes. Starting off slowly, with no front lighting, deHaven and Shapard, along with touring LD Alec Molinaro and Lighting Tech Sean Mines, build a ground swell of colors that set a wide range of moods on stage throughout the 90-minute show.
To accentuate the beckoning mood of the show, the set design included scenic elements that were coated with UV light sensitive paint. The same paint was also used on the band’s instruments. “This tour design was all about dynamic color and UV looks,” said deHaven. “In many of the songs, we use color to accentuate Jeff (Jordan) and Spencer (Steward) as they trade off singing lead vocals. By assigning a specific color to each of the lead singers, we added a visual element to their dynamic vocals. From lighting to video content, to lasers, and SFX — color brought everything together into one cohesive look and feel.
Helping the designers create their intriguing panorama were 21 Color STRIKE M, 24 Rogue R2X Wash, and 16 COLORado PXL Bar 16 fixtures from CHAUVET Professional supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. Adding a dosage of complementary warm white audience lighting to the mix were 16 STRIKE Array blinders.
With one trailer devoted exclusively to light, deHaven and Shapard designed their rig so it could be scaled up or down depending on the tour’s venue, which ranged from live music theatres to arenas. “Our Backdrop as well as other scenic elements helped to tie everything together and achieve large looks with reasonably small fixture counts for a tour playing venues of widely different sizes,” said deHaven. “At the same time, we never took the focus off versatility. We never repeated a single look or color combination in the entire set. Songs that had similar color palettes were lit very differently, using different fixtures in different ways to make them feel new.”
The versatile Color STRIKE M wore many hats in the tour’s multi-faceted lightshow. “Of course, we used the STRIKE Ms for strobing,” said deHaven. “Can you ever have to many strobes? Seriously, though, they were much more than just strobes. On the upstage truss, we ran them in full pixel mode and were able to get a ton of varied looks. Using their pixels, we could really dial into the video content, created by Patrick Tracy, and run by Trenton Varnell. We also relied on the center tubes to accentuate the sound effects and timed hits. On top of that, the fixtures were used for uplighting the drums and side lighting the band in the 24-channel mode. “
Also adding color were the rig’s COLORado PXL Bar 16 fixtures, which were arranged to surround the band. As they were flanked by color from the ground, the band was also washed from above by the Rogue R2X Washes on the upstage towers. “We used the Rogues in full control mode, both to wash the band and color the stage,” said deHaven. “We specifically used their ring control for a dynamic show intro. We loved having ring control to break up the looks.”
The designers also relied on UV light to break up looks as they transitioned from song to song. Creating smooth transitions was especially important, given the wide range of looks deHaven and Shapard devised. For example, with some of the acoustic numbers, the looks were relatively static, then with the song “Daphne Blue” at the close of the show, they pulled out all the stops, using every square inch of the rig. This transition, says deHaven, left fans “feeling like they had been on a journey” with the band. And oh, what a great journey it was!
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