Old Dominion has emerged as one of the hottest bands in country music, a fact recently confirmed by a 2018 Academy of Country Music Award as Vocal Group of the Year. When the band’s second album, “Happy Endings,” debuted at Number One on Billboard’s Country Album Chart last summer, it was only natural that the band plan on hitting the road.

The 2018 “Happy Endings” tour kicked off February 1st and played dates in North America, the UK, Ireland and Australia through mid-March. Full service production company Morris Light & Sound of Nashville, Tennessee, supplied the lighting for the tour, a large rig that included Elation Professional Chorus Line 16 LED pixel bar luminaires used to line the mid-stage and upstage, as well as Cuepix Blinder WW2 white light LED blinders in the overhead truss and on the back wall. Lighting design was by Travis Shirley.

The Chorus Line 16 pixel bar houses sixteen 40W RGBW LEDs that allows for use on large stage performances and has enough punch to compete with high-lumen lighting and bright LED video screens. It is an ideal stage wash or foot light solution and features full pixel control for direct eye candy looks. David Haskell, President of Morris, commented, “The Chorus Line 16 has great performance with a good zoom function and the reliability is fantastic. The brightness of the LED is excellent and when viewed head on, it is aesthetically pleasing to look at.” The fixture also includes motorized zoom optics so it can be used to light set objects and cycs and a 220° tilt motor function lets designers position the unit dynamically during a show.

Audience lighting is an important element on many shows, especially country artists who often have a passion to connect with their audience. The Cuepix Blinder WW2 gives the classic look of the 2-lite but with a fraction of the power requirements and with powercon in and out, the fixtures can be placed throughout a lighting rig without having to run separate 120v cables. About the Cuepix Blinders, Haskell stated, “We’ve used Cuepix Blinders for years and over the course of multiple tours and countless productions we stay continually impressed by them.” The Cuepix Blinder WW2 houses two long-life 100W warm white 3,200K COB LEDs and gives a bright, high-density output that mimics the look of an incandescent source.

Old Dominion has announced more dates for their headlining 2018 tour. After time on the road with Kenny Chesney this summer, the band will go back out as headliners in October, November and December with dates in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland.

Photo credits to Mason Allen.

www.elationlighting.com