FLORENCE, Italy – Sans drummer Stefano D'Orazio, Pooh has been performing as a reformed trio (plus three session musicians). LD Fabrizio "Fabi" Crico, who has lit the band, off and on, since 1978, has lately been providing 11 battens assembled in a kitesurfing wing shape and a large background LED screen that traces the band's history and shows various music clips while lighting tones the truss. In the theatres, the lighting design needed to adapt to different spaces, which meant redistributing the lights. The backdrop, a translucent sheet, reproducing the Arabesque of the disc cover, and it was partially illuminated by the wash lights. Crico opted for this strategy to keep it conspicuous during the shows.
The theme, a "return to nature and primordial things," was reinforced by scenery that purely theatrical: no LEDs or videos, and not even any graphic effects, just a careful blending of colors that immersed the artists and created an intimate and cozy atmosphere.
"We wanted to recreate the sets of the 1970s," said Crico, who co-designed the stage scenery with Red Canzian, using "a soft but emotionally intense atmosphere where the single light beams take on a meaning and particular poignancy in the roles they play. To do this, we used lighting equipment including the intelligent lighting technology with which the Pooh were born, in other words scanners, as well as the newcomers, namely wash and beam lights. However we used them in a very measured way, without indulging in breathtaking effects, but giving priority to slow, synchronized movements, evocative mixtures of colors and beams criss-crossing in the air."
The rig included Clay Paky Alpha Wash 700s, Alpha Beam 700s, Alpha Wash 300s and Golden Scan 4s. "I chose Golden Scans, both because they are a link with our past, and because scanners offer features that are still unmatched by today's moving heads, such as their speed and the thickness of the beam. I love to use them like followspots against the backlight, and I can assure you that they are impressive, even compared with the most modern lights.
"I highly appreciate the Alpha Wash 300s and 700s," Crico added. "They have wonderful colors, especially a very deep magenta, and an excellent range of fixed colors on the color wheel, like saturated red. With the Alpha Washes, you can reproduce the same color intensity and uniformity you get by using gelatin filters, and at the same time, there are many other creative solutions available that are inconceivable with fixed lights. I have already said everything there is to say about beam lights: they are truly revolutionary and will still be first choice for a long time in the future. I already had 46 purchased for the 2009 tour, and I am increasingly sure that I rightly recognized their enormous potential."
The Pooh's theatrical tour ran from late January to early April at various venues in Italy.
For more information, please www.claypaky.it.
