Jack Thomas Lights Bayside's Errors Tour with CHAUVET Professional Gear

	"In this show, I'm finding that adding a tertiary color set to the stage incorporates an otherwise missing layer of depth," Thomas says. Photo: Shane Ouellette

Lighting designer Jack Thomas set out to leave visual fingerprints on each song in the punk rock band Bayside's current Errors Tour, covering North America. "I programmed this show with Bayside to be very precise with cue-to-cue transitions so each moment of every song has its own specific fingerprint," Thomas explains. "Doing so keeps the energy fresh and exciting." Calling forth a variety of lush color blends, atmospherics, unique light angles, and a touch of geometric patterns courtesy of this CHAUVET Professional EPIX Bars, he reflects the distinct personality of each song.

Helping him achieve his vision is a collection of Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWashes, which, like the EPIX fixtures, were supplied by JDI Productions. "Cody Johnson and the team at JDI were extremely helpful," Thomas says. "It is important for me on this tour to have the right mix of fixtures in a rig that is easy to travel with."

Thomas frames his Rogue fixtures across the stage in groups of three. "We have three beam washes each on the floor, stage left and right, as well as three on each riser behind decorative bandstand stage elements," he says. "These are flanked by four pipes with two EPIX Bars stacked vertically on each."

The designer leans heavily on color changes to reflect the nuanced personalities of each song, often going beyond the customary no-more-than-two-colors-at-a-time rule. "In this show, I'm finding that adding a tertiary color set to the stage incorporates an otherwise missing layer of depth," he says. "It can be used to convey action and motion separation from the static looks."

The color mixing capabilities of his Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWashes, with their seven RGBW LEDs, have been essential to Thomas, helping him create compelling color combos and covering the stage with monochromatic palettes. His ever-changing light angles are aided by the Rogue units' wide zoom range of 3.9- to 55.3-degrees; he also creates evocative effects with the fixture's outer ring of LEDs.

Dramatic downlighting and layered looks of beams and washes give Thomas' design an added depth, as do his silhouettes and gobo effects. Also, he says, "To me, dark space is all about contrast. Light is boring without dark space. Cutting through and separating the two gives more dynamic looks overall."

Thomas taps deeply into his array of techniques on this tour, since Bayside is appearing two nights at each venue with a different program for each, something done to cover the vast catalog the band has assembled over the past 25 years. The tour runs through the end of June, then takes a hiatus before starting up in September.