Los Angeles – December 4, 2007
The grandMA is in control on R. Kelly’s national Double Up tour, which kicked off this fall in Columbus, Ga. and continues until January 13. Production designer Patrick Dierson, of Artfag, selected the console to control all the automated elements of the big stage show, including lighting, video and scenery. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of the grandMA in North America.
Dierson, who thinks the tour is best work he’s ever done, helped create the show with R. Kelly. “It’s broken into four quarters,” Dierson explains, “each with a bit of a thematic flow. The first is rather hard hitting with R. Kelly making a big, over-the-top Mohammed Ali-style entrance in a boxing ring to the song, ‘The Champ.’ Then he goes into his top dance hits. The second quarter slows down with traditional smooth and sexy R&B. The third revolves around his collaboration with the other artists including T-pain, Fat Joe and Ciera.
“The fourth quarter starts with R. Kelly dressed like an orchestra conductor and carrying sheet music,” Dierson continues. “He goes to an enormous music stand and, with an illuminated baton, conducts a SMPTE-timecoded light show to two compositions by Beethoven. An MPC controls SMPTE and houses the samples which play back the Beethoven track while the timecode is fed to a front-of-house lighting position.”
Dierson notes that R. Kelly has always had problems getting the lighting of his shows to be exactly as he envisioned it. “Now, for the first time in his career, he has complete control. He was very involved in the lighting and sat with us throughout the programming sessions.”
The Beethoven segment leads to a big finale, which is “very much based around unifying the audience,” says Dierson. “It leads off with a song called ‘Happy People.’ It’s a big sing-along about peace and love, and R. Kelly invites members of the audience to come onstage and dance with him. The tour is a fun show whose entertainment value is top notch.”
The Double Up tour’s high production values required the grandMA to control all the lighting, the DL.2 projectors, video control and routing, Control Freak systems integration and M-box servers.
The grandMA also controls the Mainlight Soft Motion system, a DMX-controlled motor cabling system for soft goods like white drape. The cabling system is programmed so the drapes can be scalloped and extended down as surfaces for video projection, for example.
“The grandMA demonstrates convergence at its finest on this tour,” Dierson reports. “It’s controlling lighting, video and scenic elements at the same time it’s accepting SMPTE audio.”
"Patrick has been using the grandMA and has been part of our family since the beginning. I have seen his artistic growth expand at an exponential rate. When you combine this with his deep understanding of the grandMA, you would expect something really special. I look forward to seeing this show," commented A.C.T Lighting President and CEO Bob Gordon.
Chris Kuroda is lighting director for the Double Up tour. The lighting programmer was Justin Cheatham and the video programmer was Dirk Sanders.
About A.C.T Lighting
A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients. For more information call 818-707-0884 or visit www.actlighting.com.
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