Co-headlining their first joint U.S. tour, singer-songwriters Gavin DeGraw and David Cook lit up venues from coast to coast with a complement of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures. DeGraw and Cook visited 22 cities together; DeGraw performed songs from his fourth album, “Sweeter,” and Cook, an “American Idol” winner, supported his most recent album, “This Loud Morning.”
Lighting designer / director Scott Warner, who also served as the programmer and operator for the tour bands, was tasked with making a limited lighting rig look different for DeGraw and Cook and the various acts that joined them at venues nationwide.
To accomplish that he created a three-level wall of truss at the back of the stage to give the illusion of three layers of light. He framed the bands with nine Clay Paky Sharpys mounted on the light wall’s top level.
“The Sharpys are so bright that they did a nice job of framing,” Warner says. “They’re fantastic and so easy to move around. I had never used Clay Paky lights before, but loved the name – it was so cool I just had to try them. The bands loved the Sharpys, too – everyone commented on them during sound checks. They called the Sharpys ‘lasers.’ In fact, they’re so super bright that I had to watch where I aimed them so I didn’t burn a hole in the back of an amplifier!”
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, adds, “It’s great to see our Sharpys do so well in the touring market. Mr. Warner certainly makes good use of the lights and we look forward to more applications like this one.”
A.C.T Lighting is the North American distributor for Clay Paky.