Vinny Shaw loves busking, especially when it involves fast-paced artists. The UK-based LD got precisely what he wanted this spring when he ran Fit For An Autopsy’s support show on Lamb of God’s 27-city North American tour, which ended 26 April at the Music Hall at Fenway.
Everything Shaw likes was there: a tight ionic deathcore band playing as fiercely as ever with intense breakdowns, beatdown vibes, heavy chugs, and loyal fans raising fists to hits like Warfare and Far From Heaven.
Although Shaw had the same Squeek Lights floor package throughout the tour, he had to work with different house rigs. This made him grateful that he had his familiar ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium Console with him at every venue.
“It was a different flown rig each night, and occasionally smaller stage space as well,” he said. “This required me to adjust the show to suit the alternative fixture models and counts. But truly, adapting daily to alternative rigs is made very easy with ChamSys, thanks to the simple patch clone/morphing, the Group Based Cues, and Grid FX. Even the simple ability to change the mode of a fixture from the main patch window helps make updates to the show fast.”
Of course, Shaw’s console did more than help him keep pace with ever-changing rigs and stages, it also made it easier for him to spread his creative wings and fly in a compelling show that began with a dark, moody walk on, and then erupted hard with a searing first song, followed later by menacing blackouts where only a single band member was lit.
“This is a complex show that can be seen on many levels,” Shaw explained. “FFAA songs are very dynamic with heavy riffs, fast passed sections and some clean vocal choruses,” Shaw explained. “I use open white spots, blinders or strobe FX to punch through darker saturated colors and punctuate key rhythmic sections, stabs and guitar solos. There are also some specific moments in the set where I like to isolate the drummer or singer for dramatic effect.”
There were many features about his ChamSys console that helped Shaw meet the challenges of running this powerful show, even as he dealt with the varied flown rigs. For starters, he said that Cloning/Morphing allowed him to patch easily, reducing time spent on the “boring part of the day.”
There were also Group Cues/FX that made it easier to adapt to different fixture mixes and head counts. Then there was the convenient size of the ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium console and its rugged flight case, something definitely appreciated by a British lighting designer crisscrossing the USA for 27 shows in under two months.
“This console is compact, given its power,” said Shaw. “Being able to fly with my own console and slot it in easily to FOH without needing much real estate is always an advantage. This let me put more focus on the creative fun stuff, which at the end of the day, is what a tour like this is all about.”
