Alain Corthout designs the lighting for Alejandro Fernández's tour with Elation

Mexican Alejandro Fernández tells 'From King to King' on his tour, that pays tribute to his father Vicente Fernández, with a careful show conceived by Alain Corthout, of Showplus, with lighting solutions Elation.

Corthout turned to a series of lighting solutions from Elation including the Pulser Bar L, the Pulse Panel FX and the KL CYC L, supplied by Procolor Mexico / Pro Rent USA.

The tour, which started in March and will continue until December, has sold out in Mexico, USA, Spain and Latin America. It is Corthout's sixth tour with Alejandro Fernández since they began collaborating on 2013. “I wanted two widescreen screens with very cinematic content and that curved away from the usual shapes.”, explains Corthout about the design concept. “I wanted to use transparency, so most of the lights are located behind the screens. The content has many black parts to create an interesting balance between the video content and the lighting that passes through the screens”. The designer was also in charge of programming.

The core of the Corthout team is made up of 36 strobe and visual effects bars Press Bar L of a meter, bordering a large horizontal LED screen with two continuous lines of light. On the ground there is an additional light line of Jolt Bars, from Elation's sister company, ADJ.

“I wanted to use the Pulse Bar as a blinder to get away from the typical LED blinders. It worked very well, even in large venues”, says the designer, who noted that Alejandro liked the look and form factor of the Pulser Bar as something fresh and different.

Added to the design 37 Luminarys KL CYC L. one meter long, placed as floor lights and standing in front of the musicians. «Brightness and beautiful color were very important for this tour”, dice Corthout. “The KL CYC L gave me the rich tones and front light I needed without overpowering the images”.

The KL CYC is a high CRI RGBMA color system LED spotlight designed for cyclorama applications., decorations and wallwashers. Available in one meter or half meter models, The low profile design of the spotlights also allows them to function as effective standing spotlights.

For a couple of shows in Las Vegas in September, Corthout added a circle of 8 Pulse Panel FX units in scenario B to create “something interesting and new”. El Pulse Panel FX, which can be used as a stroboscope, blinding, wash light or visual effect, can rotate continuously when the moment requires dynamic movement.

Full customization

Both the Pulse Panel FX and Pulse Bar L devices incorporate RGB LEDs of 1,5 W with CW LED strobes 5 W in multiple customizable zones and feature the same effects engine and control capabilities.

Although Corthout was able to maintain a coherent team in the United States and Mexico, notes that tours in Europe and Latin America posed challenges in terms of device replacement and programming differences. Even so, credits a responsive support team for helping the tour run smoothly. “The attendance has been incredible.”, recognize, and explains that when he and production director Javier Barba needed quick solutions, Barba always turned to Elation “because they have always fulfilled. Assistance has always been good and service has always been excellent”.

“Alain's expert programming brought the Elation teams to life and really enhanced the show”, concludes Abraham the Levite, director of ADJ Group Mexico. “The audience was involved and excited from start to finish.”.