Elite Multimedia Helps Find the Emotion in the Music for the Gary Allan Tour

	Photo: Eric Adkins

Fans of MCA Nashville recording artist Gary Allan have long been losing themselves inside his country music throughout his almost 20-year recording history. So when Allan set out on his latest nationwide tour, the production team wanted to make sure that the show behind the music matched the emotion onstage. To help make this vision a reality, lighting director and production manager Brandon Quisberg went back to trusted tour provider Elite Multimedia.

"This is my second year with the tour and this year we really wanted to move the audience with the music," says Quisberg. "While we wanted really big moments, we also wanted intimate and theatrical moments as well, and we needed the lighting to be a direct reflection of the emotion inside the lyrics to draw the audience in. Working with Elite Multimedia, they really listened to what we were trying to accomplish and they provided us with the perfect lighting package to create the show we wanted."

With the design concepts fully understood, Elite Multimedia began working with Quisberg and provided the tour with a full lighting package that included Clay Paky Mythos, Sharpy and A.leda Wash K5 luminaires, along with Showline SL NITRO 510 strobes, Martin Atomic 3000 strobes, Chauvet SlimPAR HEX 6 LED PAR fixtures, and a GrandMA console for control.

Quisberg says, "When we first started looking at the lighting, we wanted a profile that could cut through in arena and festival environments, but then also work well in a more intimate theatrical setting. For this, we decided on the Clay Paky Mythos because within its different gobos there are two different prisms that allow us to create a lot of effects that you can't do with other fixtures. Also, because we have a Clay Paky family of fixtures, we are able to color mix the saturation with great consistency. They accent each other very well between the LED and lamp sources, and we love the A.leda K5 pixel mapping abilities."

As the Gary Allan tour travels throughout the United States, they are playing numerous dates in a wide range of venues. While one night they might be headlining a sold-out outdoor festival with 30,000 audience members, the next they could be playing a 3500-seat casino. With a production mandate that each audience member experiences the same show, Quisberg relied heavily on Elite Multimedia to help make sure they had the right gear.

He explained further, "This is one of those tours where the venue will change from night-to-night, and when putting your design together you have to think smart. You have to put yourself in the mindset of how your load-in and hang will consistently change but you have to make sure you give the audience the same show. Elite Multimedia does a great job in helping with this because they work with everyone from House of Worship bands all the way up to stadium headlining artists, and there's not a need that they can't meet. Whether it's lighting, audio, or video, they have the right gear and a very broad knowledge of what will work in any type of live production environment."

Having worked with Elite Multimedia on several occasions, Quisberg is very familiar with the Nashville-based tour provider. Through this familiarity, he is able to find a sense of comfort that the tour will not only remain budget-conscious, but will also make an emotional connection with the fans in attendance.

"Working within your tour budget, Elite Multimedia will get you anything and everything you need," says Quisberg. "They really take the time to sit down with you and understand your vision to figure out the ideal package for your tour. They are also very conscious of tour challenges such as weight and truck space, and being a smaller tour these are things we really have to think about. We travel with one 68,000lb truck and because of the expertise of Elite Multimedia we are able to pack it front-to-back with everything we need to make the Gary Allan tour a personal experience for every audience member at the show."

While having the right gear in stock is an important aspect of a being a tour provider, having gear that works properly night-after-night is just as important. With a limited lighting crew, Quisberg is also quick to point out that the quality of gear provided is another reason he continues to work with Elite Multimedia.

He says, "On the road, we are a self-contained crew so it is important that the gear be well-maintained and operate efficiently before we head out. I take a lot of pride in gear not failing while on tour, and the lighting techs that are in house at Elite Multimedia do a fantastic job of making sure everything is ready to go when we hit the road."