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‘Djembe! The Show’ makes U.S. debut beneath all Elation lighting rig

‘Djembe! The Show’ is a theatrical concert experience that mixes traditional West African beats with modern takes on contemporary music. It has toured Europe and made its limited U.S. debut at the Apollo Theater in Chicago with lighting design by Zach Blane, who used an all Elation LED lighting rig. Support was provided by Elation dealer ILC.

The Apollo Theater features a three-quarter thrust stage with the audience on three sides. The lighting rig included ellipsoidals, moving heads, Pars and battens with the mid-air projection canopy coming from Antari F-4 Fazers. Blane says that haze, and the “air lighting” it makes possible, played a very important role in the piece. “Because the audience wraps the stage, everyone had a different experience of the show depending on where they were sitting,” the designer explains.

“There were many hanging fixtures, encased in hemp baskets, like ones you would find in a small village in West Africa, throughout the space, that hung over the audience, with full LED/pixel map control that aided in the ‘air visual’ to keep it all one cohesive image.”

Placed strategically throughout the space were 15 Artiste DaVinci LED moving heads, which operated as concert lights as well as face light for the three sections of audience. Over the stage were 6 Fuze Wash Z350 single source Par moving heads outfitted with snoot attachments. “These gave bright color punching backlight for the band and performers,” Blane says.

Providing a full-color gobo option from all four corners of the space were 20 Colour 5 Profile LED ellipsoidal spots, which the designer says he used for filling in shadows and giving a soft texture throughout the stage and the air. Used to light a backdrop from above were 6 SixPar 300 Par lights while 6 Seven Batten 72 battens lit the backdrop from below.

The designer used Platinum Spot III moving heads, vertically, at the proscenium line to create what he calls a “false proscenium of lighting” to help focus the viewer and keep eyes on what is to be revealed. “These also functioned as ‘hype lights’ as they did effects onto the audience to make them feel a part of the show and pumped up,” he says. Finally, 6 ACL 360i single beam moving heads on the bandstands operated as uplights from the back, shooting past the performers.

Zach Blane thanks John Dunn and Jean Lariviere (Elation), Grant Simmon (ILC), Nykol Dedreu, Lane Marsh, Margaret Hartmann, and Daniel Friedman (Djembe) “for their help in making this rig a reality.”

(Photos: Liz Lauren)

www.elationlighting.com

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