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Brooks & Dunn Rock
Award-Winning Technical Director Brought In For Deuce's
Wild Tour
Dallas, TX:
As Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks start their engines for what is guaranteed
to be the high jinks on the highways Deuce's Wild Tour -- with three
pairs, no waiting -- the men who've toured with everyone from Dwight
Yoakam to a firebreathing contortionist to Toby Keith have once again
reached across some pretty interesting to fences to bring their live
show to a new level. Always known for their over-the-top theatrics, the
4-time Entertainers of the Year brought Marcia (pronounced mar-SEE-ah)
Kapustin (kahp-oo-stan) in to realign their visual presentation.
"The thing about Brooks & Dunn is that they've had major stage shows for
so many years, it's kind of a challenge," says the woman whose Kosher
Pixels has done content designing and related staging for Metallica,
Paul McCartney, Elton John and U2's Pop Mart Tour. "But they wanted a
whole new look, something that went in a whole other direction -- and I
think we got there."
Using a giant LED screen with high enough resolution to warrant shooting
on film, Kapustin and partner Marcus Lyall set about realizing visuals
that would bring an environmental overlay to what the music was -- going
so far as to using experimental techniques. As she says, "We used all
kinds of film stocks, 16 milimeter, 32 milimeter -- and shot anywhere
from 30 frames a second to 60 frames, even 120 frames a second. And for
one song, which has a sparkling look to it, we're shooting 1000 frames a
second, which is something Marcus is in the process of developing right
now."
Kapustin first met with the guys in February to discuss what the goals
for their visual presentation were. After brain storming with the woman
who designed last year's Aerosmith tour, in addition to serving as the
technical design programmer for the upcoming Rolling Stones tour, Ronnie
and Kix set her loose.
"When you get to work with someone like Marcia, you can't wait to see
where she takes things," says Dunn. "She totally got what we're about,
who we are. and she had some amazing ideas. You look at the people she's
worked with, the things she's done with them. Her instincts are uncanny.
You want to do what she suggests, because she's able to really get
inside the music and bring it out in new ways."
"Over all these years, Brooks & Dunn are really good musicians and
performers," Kapustin offers. "This isn't something done to cover up
what's not there, it's about bringing what IS there into focus and
letting it be as big as it really is. In this case, sometimes letting
them be as big as they are is the answer. because THIS is a very big act
when they're on the stage."
With Deuce's Wild slated to kick off this Friday, August 5 in Dallas, it
won't be much longer until everyone else can see what the B&D inside
circle has already enjoyed. Lean, clean, streamlined and ready to rock,
the men who release Hillbilly Deluxe on Aug.30 are loaded for bear --
and ready to hit the road running, LED screens poised for some amazing
new visuals. |