Fresh off the back of their Unstable LP release, Los Angeles-based quartet, Tetrarch joined Atreyu’s 29-date Baptize tour as the support act. With their regular lighting designer, Killian ‘Redbeard’ Holt busy on another tour, Ryan Pervola assumed LD duties for 11 shows.
“I was happy to light Tetrarch,” said Pervola. “They really give you a chance to stretch your wings as a LD. You get to turn up the intensity, which makes everything more fun. Their blend of ’90s nu-metal mixed with modern metal core and insanely melodic and catchy hooks make for some incredible music.”
Things got even better for Pervola, when the tour stopped at the Roxian, a historic 1,400-capacity vaudeville theatre turned into a rollicking live music hall outside Pittsburgh. There, in the cavernous venue, he was reunited with two familiar friends: CHAUVET Professional Maverick MK2 Wash and Rogue R3 Wash fixtures, which were part of the house rig.
“I’ve used the Maverick and Rogue on many other gigs in the past,” he said. “I personally love both, since they’re super reliable and when used together have great colour mixing and temperature consistency between them. When you get to a new venue and find fixtures like them waiting, it’s always a very nice surprise.”
Pervola wasted no time in unleashing the full fury of his fixtures, which were flown on three rows of truss. Using them at high levels of intensity, he saturated the stage in bold colours, while also rattling eyeballs by directing fast moving crossing patterns of light in every conceivable direction.
“Tetrarch loves to keep everything simple, but aggressive, which suits my style,” he said. “With most songs, I used just two colours each and had lots of strobes and chases. Throughout the show, I changed things up, using the Mavericks to create very aggressive shapes full of jagged, yet symmetrical, positions that accented the band’s aggressive and heavy sound. It really helped sell the looks of the set.
“I also used the Mavericks to create specials for Diamond (lead guitarist Diamond Rowe) when she ripped into one of her legendary solos,” continued Pervola. “This was the first time I ever used a wash fixture to work in effect as a beam, but the Mavericks had the zoom and intensity to make this happen.”
Meeting with Tetrarch, Pervola learned that they wanted to be lit fully throughout their shows. With this in mind, he constantly kept the front wash light from the Rogues completely on the band. Then he’d use a contrast colour from the Mavericks to add an extra layer of character.
Although colour dominated many of the show’s look, Pervola changed things up for the last song of the setlist, “Oddity.” For that tune, he called up a variety of whites, added some heavy strobing and pulses, then silhouetted the band during the heavy breakdowns. “That look was absolutely killer, my favourite,” he said. “It stole the show. The crowd would go crazy during that song.”