Happy Endings concludes with Chauvet

[USA] Garbage have just concluded their 37-city Happy Endings tour with lighting design by Emmanuelle Gigi Pedron. “With Garbage, the music swings from gritty to cinematic in a heartbeat,” said Pedron. “I am busking the show, so I get to ride those mood swings in real time – it’s chaos and control, just like the band.”
Helping Pedron on this journey is an all Chauvet Professional rig supplied by Christie Lites. To accent the dramatic quality of the show, she follows a “lighting 101” principle of playing with intensity levels, moving starkly from bold brightness to more shadowy looks.
Pedron also uses a backdrop curtain made of aluminium chains to add to the kinetic feel of the show. “The backdrop moves nicely,” she said. “It moves with breeze from the fans and shimmers. I love how it catches light in unpredictable ways – the perfect mix of glam and grit, plus a little sparkle. It totally fits Garbage’s edgy, beautiful chaos.”
Also contributing to the artful backdrop are six Maverick Storm 1 Flex moving heads arranged on the deck behind the band. Pedron positioned six additional units of this fixture stage left and three stage right to wrap the stage and backdrop in texture and depth.
Speaking of the Storm 1 Flex, Pedron noted: “It’s a small fixture but super versatile – perfect for a touring setup. The colour mixing is great, really smooth, but I especially chose it for the abstract gobos. They add this beautiful, textural layer that feels almost cinematic without being too literal. They were also used to create silhouettes.”
Contributing to the looks that Pedron conjured up were 16 COLORado PXL Curves and six Maverick BeamWashes. She credits much of the show’s success to her crew, notably lighting tech Robert (Radar) Gilbreath, “super-skilled and extremely funny” along with Evan John Mcintosh and Billy Bush on backline, monitor engineer Paul Johnson, PA Katie Moran, PM Jason Trabue, and Levi Tecofsky.
Pedron’s husband David Gaume was the FOH and sound engineer. “It’s pretty special being on the road together,” she said. “You’re not homesick when home is right there on the road with you.”
The post Happy Endings concludes with Chauvet appeared first on LSi Online.