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Chauvet fixtures in action at RodeoHouston

This year’s edition of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also known as RodeoHouston, saw a total of 2.48 million guests turning out at NRG Stadium for the occasion, over half of them (1.36 million) paying to attend the live concerts it offered by stars ranging from Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley, to The Chainsmokers and New Kids On The Block. Then there were also 2.8 million carnival riders, and some 215,000 Barbeque contest guests at the three-week event.

To light this massive and diverse affair, the LD Systems production services team used a rig that featured hundreds of Chauvet Professional fixtures, from the Colorado 3 Solo units that highlighted the rodeo announcer’s booth, to the 66 Strike 1 blinders that filled the stadium concert venue with audience lighting.

“Having to program twenty different acts in twenty straight days presents a lot of challenges”, says LD Systems’ Nate Brittain, the lighting and technical director of RodeoHouston. “One of them is to keep the looks fresh and unique for the show each day. So, having a versatile toolkit of fixtures is critical. Output is also important here because it is a stadium, so our throws are further than normal.”

“Also, there are seemingly acres of video wall all over the place creating a lot of light pollution”, he adds. “IMAG throughout the stadium and all over the rodeo site as a whole is also critical for this event, so we always focus on these issues when choosing fixtures.”Arranging those fixtures and selecting the optimal output levels for each of the many applications throughout RodeoHouston was also important to the success of the event. At the large concert area, this meant ensuring that the rig was flexible enough to meet the needs of different visiting LDs.

“This show actually runs more like an awards show”, continues Brittain. “The designers worked with us during programming to create the looks for each song. We tried to layer into the design as many options and features from various fixture types as possible to be versatile.” The Strike 1 fixtures were positioned all over the rig above the stage to work as audience blinders for the seating bowl. At “The Hide Out”, which served as a Honky Tonk dance hall during the event, the LD Systems team used a collection of Colorado 1 Solo, Colorado 3 Solo, Ovation E-260WW IP, Ovation Reve 3 IP and Strike Array 2 fixtures to create a wide range of looks in this area.

“The Hide Out was similar to the main concert stadium in terms of needing a flexible rig”, says Brittain. “There was a different performer in there every night as well. The Hide Out was also used for a few other events during the BBQ Cook-off before the rodeo began. The lighting rig needed to be able to serve all of those needs throughout the entire time it’s in use. I think our goal with the lighting design is to be sort of an upscale dance hall. We had a lot more technology than you would usually find in one, but it still has the look and feel that you would expect.”

Among the many signature looks at RodeoHouston is the illuminated border around the announcers booth. The design team created this with forty Epix Strip tour linear fixtures that displayed video content, in addition to outputting light. Brittain’s crew included Perimeter Programmer Lance Williamson, LX Techs Wade Henry, William Diven, Fred Deci, John Utsey and Will Anglin, and Hide Out Lighting Programmer Kelly Conery, as well as Grounds LX Team Sheridan Murray, and Deanna Williams.

(Photos: Ryan Paulin)

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