It’s easy to get lost in the redwood forest in and around the Cooks Valley Campgrounds, especially if you journey to this beautiful piece of paradise located 794-feet above sea level, when the annual Northern Nights Music Festival takes place. 

Ok, maybe you won’t be ‘lost’ in the literal sense of the word, i.e. not knowing where you are, but you’ll be so absorbed by the sensory experience that this festival has to offer that the question of your exact whereabouts won’t really matter much during its three-day run.

Such is the magic of Northern Nights, which features things like tent camping on the Eel River, yoga in the woods, and the chance to catch some sleep in rows of hammocks strung along stunning rows of giant redwoods.

Adding to the atmosphere this year was a new lighting rig designed by Brian Willison that featured 160 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. Included in this mix are 22 Maverick Force S Spots, 12 Maverick Storm 2 BeamWashes, 32 Color Strike M motorised strobe-washes, 14 Rogue R1 FXB units, 62 COLORado 1QS RGBW wash lights, six Rogue R1 Washes and 12 COLORado PXL 16 motorised battens. 

The color rendering prowess and intense output of these fixtures were used to create a variety of deeply evocative looks that contributed to the transformative vibe of Northern Nights. When designing the rig, Willison strove to create a harmonious balance between the lights and the 31.3ft by 18.8ft video wall.

“Our colors follow the video wall color,” said Willison. “The seamlessness of colors between video and lighting to me is one of my favourite parts of the rig. This was by far my favourite rig ever to design.

“I went really pixel heavy with this one, because my programmer Jason (Magellan) Hager is excellent at creating super unique looks and effects. I just love the outline of all the truss with pixels. Having multiple layers of vertical pixels and horizontal pixels created a really nice depth on the rig.”

Looking back on how this rig came about, Willison said that he originally was going with a “fairly basic/generic festival rig that would fulfil most of the rider requirements. The kind of rig that could fit with a single video wall on one semi.

“That is usually my limitations for what I can design,” Willison explained. “But this year we had an artist add a complex floor package in the final weeks before the show that forced us to get a second truck from LA. That allowed me to pre-rig most of the truss, which in turn allowed me to redesign the rig not only to accommodate that artist’s needs for their set, but to beef up the rig for the entire festival weekend!”

Since acts on Northern Nights mainstage were primarily EDM artists, Willison emphasised strobes and pixels in his rig design to allow “flash and trash when needed.” At the same time, he notes that the Maverick Force S Spot and Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash were used to provide more dynamic looks for big moments. Finally, he noted that the addition of the COLORado 1QS “just topped everything off!”

Headliners at the festival brought their own LDs: Lorcan Clarke for BACKLIST, Hunter Girard for DIPLO, and Alex Vanroon for LSDream. The other acts were lit by Hager. Other members of the production team that contributed to the festival’s success were master electrician Carter Adams, lighting technicans Ben James, Ollie Hudson, Michael Combs, Adam Smith, Shad Mayer and Travis Davenport, and stage manager-James Spektrum.

Working with his team, Willison successfully negotiated the path between the limitations of budget and the aspirations of creative vision. “Even though I knew we had more space on the truck, I still had to stay within the festival budget,” he said. “Beyond staying within budget, it is a matter of trying to fill all the space on stage with light, which I think was accomplished pretty well.” 

Pretty well? Those who got lost in the magic of Northern Nights this summer under a full California moon, would want to amend that to say: “Extraordinarily well!”

Article pulled from ET Now: Entertainment Technology News on the Web