ADJ Fixtures Power Dynamic Floor Package for They Might Be Giants' The Big Tour When alternative rock band They Might Be Giants hit the road for their recent North American run, the production embraced a bold yet flexible lighting approach that could deliver impact, nostalgia, and variety. Central to that design was a compact but powerful floor package supplied by Eagle Production Co. and built around ADJ's Encore DBX full-color blinders alongside Jolt Bar FX multifunctional linear LED fixtures. The 19-date trek, titled The Big Tour, travelled across North America during September, October and November of last year, bringing the band's energy to theatres and concert halls across the continent. Featuring an eight-piece lineup, including a three-piece horn section, the show balanced tight musicianship with the playful theatricality that has defined They Might Be Giants for decades. With no opening act, the band performed two full sets each night, drawing heavily from across their extensive catalog. Fan favorites from their 1990 major label debut Flood sat alongside deeper cuts, while a rotating "spotlight" section in the first set showcased songs from a different album each night, ensuring every performance felt unique. To support this varied musical structure, the lighting design relied on a strong visual framework that could adapt quickly without overwhelming the stage. In total, 18 ADJ Encore DBX fixtures and 12 Jolt Bar FX units were used to create the tour's lighting floor package. The Encore DBX blinders were stacked in six columns of three, providing a classic concert look with modern versatility, while the Jolt Bars were mounted vertically to floor-standing pipes. Their placement created a distinctive visual rhythm: a single unit furthest from the central screen, then two units, then three closest to the screen, forming a diamond-shaped frame that visually anchored the performance and emphasized the band's center-stage presence. This configuration delivered punchy audience hits, textured background looks, and dynamic accents that worked equally well for bombastic horn-driven numbers and more intimate moments, the company says. Lighting for the tour was supplied by Eagle Production Co., a New Jersey-based vendor with a rapidly growing reputation in the live events industry. Founded in 2009 as an audio company, Eagle Productions has since evolved into a full-service production house, offering audio, video, lighting, rigging, and power solutions. In 2023, the company strategically refocused its business on dry hire, providing equipment rental and production support for other audiovisual production companies. Over the past two years, Eagle Productions has added more than 2,500 lighting fixtures to its inventory, bringing its total to nearly 4,500 lights, supported by one of the largest production prep spaces located close to New York. Eagle Productions was also an early adopter of the ADJ Encore DBX, initially purchasing 48 units upon release and quickly expanding its inventory in response to demand. "Everybody needs a good two-cell blinder," comments Shaya Adler, founder of Eagle Production Co. "and we wanted to invest in something bright and powerful as well as rugged and robust. We've been impressed by the direction that ADJ has been moving as a brand over recent years and when we first saw the Encore DBX, we thought it would be the perfect solution for a full color two cell blinder. It offers everything we were looking for with the great addition of the background LED glow effect. When they arrived, we were impressed by the build quality and they have proven to be popular with our clients, which is why we quickly put in another order, bringing our total inventory up to 112 fixtures." Powered by two 150W RGBAW color mixing LEDs, the Encore DBX delivers an output of up to 11,465 lumens, with independent dimming, color mixing, and strobe control for each cell. Variable white color temperature control from 2,700K to 6,500K, along with a dedicated Tungsten Control Mode, allows designers to recreate classic warm blinder looks or explore vibrant modern palettes. In addition, RGB LEDs embedded into the fixture's edges illuminate a textured background reflector, creating striking glow effects that add depth and visual interest behind the primary blinder output - well-suited for contemporary touring designs. Complementing the blinders, the Jolt Bar FX fixtures provided strobe effects, color washes, and animated eye candy from a single unit. Each fixture features a central strip of 112 5W cool white LEDs, flanked by 672 RGB color mixing LEDs, all arranged into independently controllable zones. With 16 white zones and 32 color zones, designers can create everything from intense white hits to flowing color chases and wide-angle washes, making the fixture an exceptionally flexible tool for touring applications. "Jolt Bars are just amazing," enthuses Adler. "Great bang for their buck. Everybody likes them. With the combination of white strobe and RGB color mixing LEDs they can be used to create a lot of different looks, which makes them ideal for smaller tours or even for one-off shows and events. They are just really good, robust, lightweight, all-round fixtures." For Eagle Productions, the tour further reinforced confidence in ADJ's current product lineup and long-term direction. "We're very proud of our ongoing relationship with ADJ as a whole and we plan to continue to expand on it," comments Adler. "The company's latest products are on a whole new level, combining good quality, with great features, for a fair price. I also personally really enjoy working with the ADJ team, Alfred [Gonzales, ADJ USA sales director] and Scott [Jolliffe of Healy Sales, ADJ's manufacturer's rep covering New Jersey], and all the others that I'm involved with are really good people." For more information on They Might Be Giants, visit www.theymightbegiants.com. 
|
