Elation EVLED 20 LED Panels Take Center Stage on OneRepublic Tour

	OneRepublic Native tour. Photo: Jess Mercer

Elation Professional's EVLED 20 LED panel takes center stage on Colorado rock quintet OneRepublic's long running Native tour, forming a focal point of the show's unique diamond-shaped set look. Production and lighting designer on the show is Chris Lisle, who created the tour's signature diamond-shaped look together with Scott Scovill, owner of video content and equipment services provider Moo TV (www.mootv.com), who also serves as tour vendor for the EVLED panels.

"Scott and I had both used the EVLED 20 panels on several other tours and worked together with the band to come up with the overall look for this show," Lisle states. "With the uniqueness of the design, we needed a product that could mount easily into custom frames and need little maintenance. The EVLED panels are very dependable and look great."

The EVLED panels, a medium resolution 20mm semi-transparent screen that carries an IP65 rating, are located upstage behind the band and remain static during the show. Lisle explains: "The overall look of the show is comprised of diamonds and the center focus is three diamond-shaped video panels made up of Elation EVLED 20s that slightly overlap each other. There are a few tiles of each screen strategically removed to create a unique look. To the sides of these three diamonds are two carts with a few more panels angled inwards."

OneRepublic's Native tour kicked off in early 2013 and, not surprisingly, has played in a number of different venues from large to small along the way. Consequently the number of EVLED screens used on each show has also varied. When all five screens are in use, nearly 120 EVLED 20 panels are in use. To complement the band's diverse music, Lisle runs a variety of custom video elements across them, much of which was made by Moo Creative with heavy input from the band. He also intermixes a bit of IMAG at different parts of the show.

When looking for the right video panel for the project, major factors taken into consideration by Lisle and his team included budget and travel space/logistics, but he also carefully looked for a product that would give him the punch that was needed. "This show is very light heavy so we needed a video product that could hold its own with all of the big looks," he says. The EVLED 20 emits a luminous intensity of 4000 nits, bright enough for use in high ambient lighting situations like light-heavy rigs or outdoor settings.

The EVLED 20 panels were a good compromise between resolution and transparency, says MooTV president and founder Scovill, referring to the panel's transparent (35%) properties. "The transparency coupled with the non-conventional shape of the screens helps them disappear when they are not on. As importantly, the EVLED panels have been rock solid for us. Everyone appreciates a solid product that just works every day. On the rare occasion that it may be needed, Elation support has been outstanding as well."

The Native tour, which runs through the end of 2014, has had several legs both in the US and Europe with other spot dates around the world. The latest US leg wrapped up on September 1 and Native continues with a European fall leg kicking off October 19th in Ireland. Lisle sends out a huge thanks to the Moo TV crew and touring production staff/team, which, he says, "do a great job of getting this show up each night and make it look amazing!"

The crew includes: video director Charles Signaigo; lighting vendor (US) Bandit Lites; lighting director AJ Pen; and lighting programmer Scott Chmielewski.

See Elation Professional at PLASA Focus: Orlando, February 17 - 18, 2015.