Summoning the spirit of the Roxy Theatre’s rich past, Julien Reux of ReuxLight Design, created a series of unique looks for Wallows four-date virtual tour at the Roxy Theatre with help of 20 CHAUVET Professional STRIKE 1 fixtures – supplied by the Envizion Group.
Reux, who has been designing for Wallows since the alt rock band’s first tour Nothing Happens in 2019, described how his creative process kicked off. “When management told me that they were going to shoot at, The Roxy, I knew that I wanted to bring back an old school feel to the space,” he said. “Recreating the live concert par can tungsten vibe from the 80s and 90s was a crucial to my plans for lighting the band.”
Wallows played one-hour concerts at The Roxy on four different nights. Reux gave each show its own look by configuring the single source 230W warm white blinders differently for each performance. Arranging the fixtures in a straight horizontal line for one show, having them form a semi-circle for another, and vertically orienting them in diagonal patterns for two others, he created an air of spontaneity that meshed nicely with the band’s lively sound. This spirit was supported by the healthy blend of specific cues and busking by Lighting Operator, Landon Fleischman.
“Wallows is not shy about having the show as vibrant and colourful as possible,” said Reux. “I did not want to rely solely on monochromatic key lighting, but instead was looking to combine saturation and warm accent lighting to create dynamic moments. With the different orientations of the Strike 1s, I was able to utilise the small stage for more side angles. One of my favourite points in the show was when we had all the lights go off except for the STRIKE 1s, which were left on to silhouette the band.”
Cole Karaba, the band’s tour manager and FOH Engineer, and Will Chandler of Envizion Group were instrumental in helping Reux. “This show was actually designed to fit both live and broadcast settings,” Reux said. “The Strike 1s were worked into the new show file for filming because of their LED frequency settings. I liked how the red shift attributes provide an extra punch for a big audience. Of course, in this situation, they also gave me big looks in a club setting. Plus, they really create the warm tungsten feel of the club’s original era.”