Country superstar George Strait continues touring tradition with Dallas Backup and High End Systems

Pro-Light-News

Texas tradition: Strait tours with HES

It's a Texas tradition. Every spring, country superstar George Strait hits the road for his Country Music Festival Tour. And Texas-based Dallas Backup is once again supplying an all High End Systems lighting rig for the tour.
The weekend-only, family-oriented tour kicked off March 24 and runs to June 10 throughout the U.S. It's an all-day event that starts at noon and ends past 10 p.m.
Mainstage acts include Alan Jackson, Lonestar, Lee Ann Womack, Brad Paisley, Asleep at the Wheel and Sara Evans, with Strait closing the show. More acts play in "Straitland," an area that recreates a carnival midway atmosphere with games, food and drinks, autograph booths and contests for special backstage passes.
Production manager Paul Rogers and LD Stacey LaBarbera set the tone for the show with an automated lighting package that includes 48 High End Systems Studio Color 575s wash luminaires, 34 Studio Spot 575 projection luminaires and 20 Cyberlight Litho fixtures, supplemented with 120 PAR cans and other conventional gear. Two crews with two sets of steel and identical equipment packages leapfrog from show to show to make it happen.
Manning the Saturday shows are crew chief Randy Smith, and light techs Steve Gabaldon and Gerrad Kelly. Taking over on Sunday shows are crew chief John Beller and light techs Gary Elliott and Keith Allen. The three-person crew is assisted by 16 stagehands, who put up the show in 12 hours. Saturday's show goes up on Friday at 8 a.m., while Sunday's show goes up Saturday at 8 a.m.
Dallas Backup first put High End Systems fixtures on Strait's show in 1991, and they have continued the tradition with new HES products as time went on. But the company's relationship with Strait goes back further to 1982. Says Dallas Backup's Charles Belcher, "It's a rarity in this industry to be involved with an artist like this for going on 19 years now. He's more than a client -- it's a wonderful relationship we have with George and his management. We appreciate that and we count our blessings every day."