Internationally acclaimed a capella group Pentatonix, famous for reworking popular chart hits in their own unique style, are currently undergoing a world tour. Production Designer for the tour is Sooner Routhier of SRae Productions who turned to Elation Professional’s ACL 360i beam effect light to create the look she wanted.
“Because Pentatonix is an a capella group, we had to make sure there was some sort of scenic and lighting,” Sooner explained of her design and the ACL 360i’s role in it. “We use the fixtures as a lighting backdrop for effects and lighting scenic. We use every feature in the light to help with the poppy effects programming for songs like the Daft Punk and Bieber medleys. At the same time, we can make them soft and use them in a simple beamy look that just sits for the softer, slower moves.”
Pentatonix is a two-time Grammy winning American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, that covers popular songs and performs original material through a blend of vocal harmonies. The unique vocal group has been a hit on YouTube with a Daft Punk medley nearing 200 million views, and on reality TV, winning the third season of American talent show The Sing-Off.
Working in pairs on vertical ladders from an upstage position, 72 fixtures in total, the ACL 360i’s 4° beam belies its small size (13ft high and 11.5lbs) with its continuous 360° rotation. The ACL 360i fixtures are being supplied for the tour by Christie Lites.
Sooner, whose design credits include the likes of Imagine Dragons, Kiss and Mötley Crüe, and who won a Parnelli Award in 2015 for Lighting Designer of the Year, praised LD Ian Haslauer for his work on the Pentatonix tour. “He does an incredible job focusing the acl 360i fixtures every day,” she said. “Ian is a perfectionist like I am and I’m very lucky to have him on board for this project.”
Having recently completed the European leg of their mammoth tour, Pentatonix are set to play dates in Japan, Australia and New Zealand next month. A US tour will get underway in October.