A really good thing about touring with a band like Lettuce is that you never quite know what to expect. The band weave influences from jazz and funk into their own distinctive sound and while on tour they pulled in sounds from all sorts of directions which provided their Fall Tour Lighting Designer, Tucker Wilde with an incredible opportunity in the process.
LD, Wilde valued the creative challenge of keeping up with the band’s free-wheeling style and appreciated the opportunity to work with some great house rigs at prime live music venues. Wilde first encountered the CHAUVET Professional Rogue R3 Spot fixtures when Lettuce played a show at Omaha’s Slowdown club. “I really enjoyed walking into a room with some new fixtures to try.” Wilde said: “We have a great touring floor package, but I really rely on festival or house rigs for flown spots and profile fixtures. This was the first time I have had an opportunity to use the Rogue R3 Spot, and I really enjoyed them.”
Wilde made full use of the 6 CHAUVET Rogue R3 Spot units that were flown on centre stage truss at the club, he relied on the 300W LED fixture’s static and rotating gobos, along with its split colours, to serve up a variety of different looks. “Per my general style, I really like to punt shows and build colour and FX cues with the band as I learn the music.” he said: “The power and versatility of the R3 had a great impact on my show.”
“I was also pleasantly surprised with the strength of the R3,” continued Wilde. “I could tell immediately that its vivid focus and colours were going to work well with my tour package. It filled the gap perfectly for me, as I rely on houses or festivals for spot fixtures above the band. I liked the gobo wheel, and a prism is always a nice feature to discover.”
Colour played a key role in the shows, it helped Wilde change the mood of each light show. He used the colour-rendering capabilities of the 6 CHAUVET Rogue R2 Wash fixtures that were in the house rig and CHAUVET Rogue R2 Wash units to wash the stage in a variety of hues, sometimes monochromatically, which evoked different associations for his client’s music. Wilde said: “The look or feel of Lettuce can be summed up in one word, ‘vibey,’ which means colour and intensity are paramount. The guys prefer a darker stage, are super engaged and like to feel like they’re really a part of the audience. As an LD it is a rewarding challenge for me, and maintaining a darker stage opens up different opportunities to introduce light for a visual effect to match that of the music.”
