Robert Fuller and Jake Roeber Take CHAUVET Professional on Pretty Lights' Tour

	A collection of 113 CHAUVET Professional fixtures provided the design team with the capabilities needed to create these immersive looks. Photo: Brittany Teuber

The electronic music project and live band Pretty, which released A Trip Thru Time Fantastic, its first album in 13 years, played the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Lighting designer Robert Fuller and his LD Jake Roeber created deeply layered looks that folded and opened with the seamless fluidity of the music being performed on-stage.

"Our looks reflect Pretty Lights' music, which is so layered and ever-evolving," says Roeber, who live-bounced the show. "There are so many sonic elements working together to create one cohesive sound; the lighting should emulate that to the best of its ability. Also, because these shows aren't just single 90-minute sets, we have plenty of time to explore what the rig and fixtures are capable of, sometimes stumbling upon happy accidents that end up becoming intentional moments."

A collection of 113 CHAUVET Professional fixtures provided the design team with the capabilities needed to create these immersive looks. Included in this mix were 70 STRIKE V tilting strobe-color washes, 10 COLORado PXL Curve 5 arrayable battens, and 33 COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens.

"The CHAUVET fixtures along with the rest of our lighting rig were supplied by OnServices, while Beware supplied our video element, and I can't say enough good things about both vendors," Fuller notes. "All of the Strike Vs are hung across 12 towers at variable heights ranging from 2' to 8'. We wanted a lot of flexibility and options on how we pixel-mapped the rig. This orientation allowed us to use the Strike V's and PXL curves as a continuation of the video surfaces."

Roeber draws on the color rendering capabilities of the COLORado PXL and STRIKE V fixtures when busking the show. "I try my best to match color to the tone and emotion of the song," he says. "Is it happy? Sad? Uplifting? Mysterious? Earthly? Otherworldly? I try to find a color or range of colors that can fit that. When the band goes in and out of jamming, we may or may not add or remove other colors in the mix; everything is left up to the moment. Just like the music, all the visuals are performed live. Nothing is pre-programmed or running from timecode -- 100% punt!"

In addition to color, geometry plays a key role in shaping the show. "The design naturally has pockets and angles and curves built right into it, so even when highlighting through the rig you end up with these natural slices that play together to make this massive spaceship- looking source of light that can move and bend at will," Roeber says. "Once you break it down into its elements, each of those is so powerful that it can stand on its own in a solo."

After three nights at The Capitol Theater, the Trip Thru Time Tour will move on to festivals and later venue shows, beginning with The Filmore in New Orleans November 6-8. "As the tour moves through different dates, we will change the rig," says Fuller. "We have three different configurations of this design. When initially conceptualizing this show with my design partner John Adamo, I aimed to have everything as mobile as possible. So, we have towers on wheels and pre-rig truss. Through our A, B, and C rigs, we can shorten our footprint. The Capitol Theatre was our C rig."

Fuller expresses thanks to his team Pedro Pradenas, Chris Sommerville, Peter Schmidt, Rich Cano, and Roy Bowling.