Recreating the velvety evocative sound of the late Luther Vandross, the 100-city Luther UK tour is drawing large enthusiastic crowds throughout the UK. Versatile R&B singer Harry Cambridge takes audiences on a dreamily romantic journey as he emulates the mellifluous vocals of the eight-time Grammy winner legend who touched millions of hearts before his untimely passing in 2005.
Supporting Cambridge’s heartfelt musical tribute is an immersive and colourful Ashely Horton-designed light show that features CHAUVET Professional Rogue R3 Spot fixtures, supplied by Music Mann.
Like the music of Vandross, which is beautifully recreated by Cambridge on the tour, Horton’s lighting design is smooth, engaging and very versatile. The latter quality was extremely important, given the spectrum of songs in Vandross’s back catalogue.
Horton’s decision to specify the Rogue R3 Spot was very much influenced by a desire for visual versatility. Thanks to a number of features such as a 300W LED engine, 13° – 37° zoom, and beautifully saturated colour mixing, the R3 Spot give him the tools to craft a number of visual moods for a wide variety of songs.
“We were looking for spot fixtures that had a lot to offer in terms of performance and versatility,” commented Horton. “The R3s fit perfectly for cost and flexibility. In the end, I was so impressed by the Rogue R3 that I decided to construct the entire show around it. The sheer brightness and versatility of this fixture provides incredible looks within the theatre venues we’re playing.”
Positioning the eight Rogue R3 Spots in his rig all on a single upstage row of truss, Horton is able to integrate the fixture’s varied palette of effects into each song to create a number of different supporting atmospheres. “The gobos, prisms and split colour features give us a cornucopia of different looks to play with,” he said. “Quick shifts of colour bursts are making it easy to transform the atmosphere completely from emotive to energetic — and everything in between.”
Given the gruelling demands of a 100-show tour, Horton also expressed approval with regard to the R3’s reliability. “We are over 40 shows into the tour, and the R3 Spots haven’t given us a single problem,” he commented. “It is a good feeling to have such confidence in a fixture that’s so integral to our vision of recreating the atmosphere of a Luther Vandross show.”
That atmosphere is very evident on the Luther UK tour. Although it’s been over 14 years since Luther Vandross passed away, the sounds and lighting on this tour are rekindling great memories for fans across the UK.