“Every Night is a Friday Night” with Eric Paslay and Elite Multimedia

Tour manager Steve Bryan and lighting designer Mike Marcario solidify a new relationship with the Nashville-based touring vendor

Having already created hit songs for Jake Owen, Rascal Flatts, and the Eli Young Band, Eric Paslay has become an artist in his own right, having embarked on his first headlining tour “Make Every Night a Friday Night”. With performances scheduled throughout the United States, tour manager Steve Bryan and lighting designer Mike Marcario wanted to give fans of the soulful Texan a truly unique concert experience. To do so, they would have to rely upon a tour provider who could offer the best lighting gear and support to make it happen, and they found that relationship in Elite Multimedia.

“With this tour we really wanted to bring some excitement to the show with our first full lighting rig,” began Bryan. “As an artist, Eric is pretty open to the design elements we present to him, so we wanted the fans to truly experience the essence of every song. With the lighting package provided by Elite Multimedia we were able to do just that while giving the audience the very best concert experience possible.”

“Coming from a musician background, when I’m creating a lighting design, it all starts with the music,” added Marcario. “I like to spend time listening to every song before I start thinking about what lights to use so that I can really identify the right fixtures to capture the right emotions. When Elite Multimedia was confirmed as the tour provider, I was sent the list of the lighting gear and I knew it would be a wonderfully, versatile rig with the ability to give us some really big looks.”

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During the initial design discussions for “Make Every Night a Friday Night” as well as summer Fair and Festival season, Bryan took a look at the various tour providers available, but it was the interest already shown in them by Elite Multimedia that allowed him make his decision, which Marcario was pleased to hear.

Bryan continued, “This is our first full tour with Elite Multimedia and they really identified us early on as an artist they would like to work with to create a lasting relationship. They took the initiative to really show us what they could do so when we were gearing up for this inaugural tour, we had a great sense of trust in Elite Multimedia that if we ever needed them they would be there.”

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“I had worked with Elite Multimedia on a previous gig and it was a great experience,” agreed Marcario. “They have great gear, wonderful people in the shop, and they always take care of me. Out on the road, their techs are phenomenal and knowledgeable so I was really excited to hear that Elite Multimedia would be the Eric Paslay tour lighting provider.”

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In the lighting rig for “Make Every Night a Friday Night”, Elite Multimedia provided two custom articulating set carts with variable heights, Martin Atomic 3000 DMX Strobes, Clay Paky Sharpy’s, Martin MAC Wash luminaires, Chauvet Epix Strips, an Arkos media master video server, and an Elation Hedgehog lighting control console.

Marcario explained further, “With this rig, we have the two set carts along with two pipes connected to a drum riser so that we can move the lighting instruments around to get the most looks out of them dependent on the venue we are playing. I have three Sharpy’s per cart to give us the big aerial looks in the air on and on the ground. I’m then using the Atomic Strobes because I love how they can punch through almost any light out there to add great accents onstage. Next, when you aren’t guaranteed a lot of lighting instruments in the air you have to rely on your floor rig and the MAC 101’s give me fast movement and great color saturation. Lastly, this is the first time I’ve used the Chauvet Epix Strips but I was really impressed with how bright they could be and how they really tied the whole rig together.”

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The Eric Paslay “Make Every Night a Friday Night” tour has been a complete success exciting audiences at festivals, fairs and clubs. With more shows now being planned for the fall season and many lined up for this summer, Marcario and Bryan are quick to agree that the relationship with Elite Multimedia has been one of the contributing factors to that     success.

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“I love the Customer Service of Elite Multimedia and how they are willing to go above and beyond the line of duty to make things work,” admitted Marcario. “Everyone I’ve worked with from the shop to the front office has truly been a caring person and whenever we need something, they are here to help us. As a turn-key provider who can offer you great lighting, video and audio gear, Elite Multimedia simply makes you as comfortable as possible and makes your production happen.”

“I love the scalability of Elite Multimedia,” concluded Bryan. “We are currently a first-album artist putting together our first lighting rig, but at the same time they are also providing for the Luke Bryan arena and stadium tour. There is no concern with starting a relationship with Elite Multimedia because we know as our needs grow, they will be able to fully support us. We established a relationship early on with Elite Multimedia and we are very excited to continue growing with them by our side.”

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Based in Nashville, TN, Elite Multimedia is a privately-owned, leading supplier of the most up-to-date audio, video and lighting technologies today. With a combined 85 years of industry experience, our team of dedicated professionals knows how to pair the right technology with your vision whether partnering with you in a rental, systems installation, or sales relationship. Through an unconditional desire to make your production or project a complete success, our passion and knowledge to innovate knows no bounds.