FutureTech Featuring Elation - Vintage Vibes, Modern Tech: SŌl I Blinders & Nathaniel Rateliff Tour

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All right, welcome back to
Geezers of Gear Future Tech.

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I'm Chris, and as always, I'm
joined by Lacey.

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Today we're diving into the
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night

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Sweat South of Here tour, and
honestly, this one's a treat for

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anyone who loves a bit of
vintage soul on stage.

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Hey, everyone.
Yeah, Chris, this tour was all

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about that old school vibe, but
with some really clever modern

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twist.
Jeremy Roth, the lighting

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designer, went for this super
soulful, almost understated

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look.
It's not your typical arena show

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with lasers and wild chases
everywhere.

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Exactly.
Roth's approach was all about

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emotion through simplicity.
He leaned into static looks,

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limited colour palettes, and
these really gradual intensity

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builds.
It's almost like he wanted the

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audience to feel the music
before they even noticed the

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lights changing.
I mean, it's a bit of a

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throwback, isn't it?
Reminds me of the days when less

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was more and you let the band
and the mood do the heavy

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lifting.
Totally.

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And you could feel it backstage
too.

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There was this one moment during
Survivor.

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I was standing with the crew and
everyone was just waiting for

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that big shift.
The whole show had been these

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warm gentle looks.
And then suddenly, BAM, the soul

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eye blinders hit full intensity,
cold, white, right on the horns.

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It was like, whoa, OK, now we're
awake.

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Even the crew was grinning like,
did you see that?

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That's the power of holding
back, right?

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You keep things subtle, and then
when you finally let loose, it's

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so much more impactful.
Roth's use of those slow builds

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and static positions, Honestly,
it's a master class in

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restraint.
The soul eye blinders were at

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the heart of it all, but we'll
get to those in a second.

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Yeah, and I love that he didn't
just stick to one look.

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He'd shift from these warm
tungsteny vibes to deep Blues or

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even the occasional pop of teal
or UV.

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It kept the show feeling fresh,
but still really cohesive.

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It's like you don't need a
million colors to make a

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statement, you just need the
right ones at the right time.

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Roth's design here is a perfect
example of that philosophy in

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lighting.
So Roth picked the elation Soul

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blinders for their throwback
look.

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Fresnel lens, high CRI, that
round bevel on the front, it's

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got that classic vibe.
But under the hood it's all

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modern tech.
I mean, 250 watts of R GB LAWLE

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D / 9000 lumens and a color
range from 1800 K to 8500 K

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That's wild.
That's.

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Yeah, and he said he could mix
really convincing tungsten in

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them, which is perfect for
Nathaniel's music.

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I'm not a gearhead, but even I
can tell when a light just feels

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right for the mood.
And these could do those warm

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vintage looks, but then suddenly
strobe you with cold white.

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It's like surprise.
It's.

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That's the thing, back in my
early days we had these big

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heavy tungsten blinders.
They were hot, they were power

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hungry and you had to replace
lamps all the time, but they had

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this beautiful slow dimming
curve.

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The Soul lie blinder nails that
with it's dim to warm emulation

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and delayed response curves.
It's not just on off, it's got

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that natural fade which is so
important for fader control.

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I might be biased but I think
this is the best of both worlds.

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Nostalgia and reliability, but
without the headaches.

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And the mounting options?
Brown Note Productions actually

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built a custom system for the
tour so the souls could frame

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the video walls perfectly.
I heard they were used for like

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90% of the show but usually at
just 5 or 10% intensity.

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That's wild to me.
So much punch, but you barely

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need to tap into it most of the
time.

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Yeah, and the R GB LAW array
means you're not just stuck with

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white or amber.
You've got a full spectrum plus

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CMY emulation, virtual gel
library and all sorts of

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effects.
And it's IP65 rated, so you can

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take it outdoors, rain or shine.
I mean, I remember when you'd be

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terrified to get your blinders
wet.

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Now it's just, yeah, throw it on
the truck.

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It's funny because even though
it's all this new tech, the

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audience just sees that classic
warm glow.

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Unless of course you hit them
with a strobe at the end of

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Survivor, then they definitely
notice.

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And that's the magic, isn't it?
You get all the reliability and

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flexibility of modern fixtures,
but you can still deliver those

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nostalgic moments.
It's a bit like what we saw with

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the Rebel profile a few episodes
back.

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Rugged, modern, but still gives
you that classic feel when you

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want it.
So let's talk about how Brown

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Note Productions made all this
work.

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They've been with Nathaniel
since the early days, and for

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this tour they actually bought
the saw blinders just for Roth's

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design.
That's some serious commitment

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to the creative vision.
Absolutely, and they didn't just

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buy the gear, they engineered
custom mounting so the soles

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could be perfectly spaced around
the video walls.

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That's not always easy,
especially when you're playing

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everything from big arenas to
smaller venues.

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The rig had to be scalable, and
the Souls modular design made

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that possible.
You can use them as single

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cells, 2 or 4 cell blinders, or
link a bunch together for

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effects panels.
It's almost like building with

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Lego, but for lighting
designers.

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And it's not just about the
looks either.

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The flexibility meant they could
adapt the show for different

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venues without losing the vibe.
I heard on the Taking Back

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Sunday tour, Eric Price used the
soles for these surprise color

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blasts.
Like you'd get this Moody, warm

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look and then suddenly bam,
saturated color out of nowhere.

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It really keeps the audience on
their toes.

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Yeah, and the integration with
video was clever too.

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The Souls frame, the screen, so
you got this picture frame

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effect that tied the whole stage
together.

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And with all the mounting
options, Bowens adapters, yokes,

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interconnects, you can get
really creative.

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It's not just a blinder, it's a
design tool.

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I mean, we've seen a lot of
modularity in recent gear, but

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it's great to see it in lighting
too.

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And the best part?
They're roadworthy, Roth said.

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They didn't have to replace a
single unit the whole tour.

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That's saying something,
especially with how much they

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were used.
Even for the scaled down fall

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leg, the soles are sticking
around.

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They're just that essential to
the show's energy.

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It's a great example of how the
right gear, the right team and a

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bit of creative thinking can
make a tour really stand out.

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Whether you're after vintage
vibes or modern flexibility, the

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Elation's Soul Eye blinder seems
to tick all the boxes.

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All right, that's all for this
week's episode, Lacey.

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Always a pleasure chatting gear
and gigs with you.

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You too, Chris.
Thanks everyone for listening.

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We'll be back soon with more
stories from the road and the

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latest in live event tech.
See you next time.

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Cheers everyone, take care.
Future tech is here.

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Come on.
We make the specs so clear.

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Oh, la, la with music to your
ears.

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Hey, hey.
Yeah.

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Let's go.
New gear vibes, new tech jive

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gear hits unite.
We keep it live.

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Oh yeah, the lunar ski.