Muse uses video to blur the genre line.
If you took equal parts electronica, heavy metallica, music classica and rock progressiva, you might come up with something like the English rock band Muse. Combine their varied music influences with a penchant for telling stories of apocalypse, outer space, politics and religion, and you have a production landscape rife with design possibilities and themes. For their current world tour, the design duties landed on the shoulders of Oli Metcalfe, who has been designing and directing lighting for Muse since 2000 after they opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the Californication tour, and on media director Tom Kirk.
LD Metcalfe conceived and designed the lighting, stage and set, including the large tubes upstage of the band. The inspiration comes from a blend of input from the band and his own concepts.
“The band has an input, and like to make known their opinions when it suits them,” Metcalfe explains. “But I generally get a free reign to come up with what I think will be best for their show, such as the tubes we have on stage. The idea was to invoke the feeling of some kind of massive machine working away in the background.”
Other machines working on stage include a massive number of automated lights driven by a Flying Pig Systems Wholehog III console. A total of 46 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures and 12 MAC 700 Profiles make up the bulk of the light-ing system. The rig is punctuated with Martin Atomic 3000 strobes, audience blinders and a handful of Altman 2000-watt Fresnels.
“I spec’d the Martin MAC 700 Profile for this tour,” says Metcalfe. “It’s the second time I’ve used them, and I prefer them over the 2000 Profile because of color temperature and the fact that the gobos are ten times better. Normally I spec mainly High End products, but I’m finding them increasingly hard to find in the U.S. This is not the case in Europe, so I have the luxury of using the Studio Command 1200 and the x.Spot Xtreme. I enjoy using the 2000 Wash with the 700 Profile, and I think they’re a good combination together.”
As with many tours today, video plays a big role in the production. Along with a 60-foot backdrop of fiber optic drape, several LED video screens provide rich content behind the frenzy of the band. What goes into the content and onto the screens is dictated by the design team of Metcalfe and Kirk.
“Tom and I come up with all the concepts for the video side of the show,” says Metcalfe. “Tom’s always been the band’s representative when it comes to their video.”
But it’s mostly Kirk who oversees the bulk of the content creation. In addition to creating content himself using such video tools as Flame, Final Cut and Motion, he also provides supervision and direction for other developers.
“I’m involved from the infant stages of video content that are run through our stage LED screens,” says Kirk. “I both create visuals for tracks and, more recently, oversee other artists providing content. Oli and I deliberate over how content should be displayed in preproduction, with input from the band, and over the course of the tour, we develop and evolve how the content looks and is displayed.”
During the show, Kirk directs the video, cutting live cameras for both I-Mag and the LED screens on stage. He uses a mix of conventional video mixing tools and some more cutting-edge effects.
“I run software called Jitter on my Mac both live and interspersed with cameras. It contains prebuilt patches that alter the outputted picture in varied ways. Imagine some of the crazier Photoshop effects that are available, but actually moving and affecting the image live. On top of that, I can feed a camera shot into the program and have it actually altered by whatever the band are playing live. I can take a direct audio feed of, say, Matt Bellamy’s guitar, and that will affect the jitter image in accordance with strength and tone of the notes.
“I have a Catalyst feed of the visuals that I can play with and feed back into live cameras, as well as the Jitter effects,” Kirk continues. “Its fun to play with, and it adds quite an abstract and arty look if used right. These effects can be mixed with a clean image as well as keyed in with visuals from the Catalyst.”
In addition to pedestal cameras, he also uses lipstick cameras or mini-cams to accommodate the band.
“Depending on the size of the production, budget and location, the camera packages are pretty varied,” Kirk says. “I push for as many cameras as I can get, as any director probably would. The band generally doesn’t like cameramen on stage, so the mini-cams really come into their own there. I really like the CCTV vibe that they can produce if manipulated right.”
Like many bands, they have archived a lot of video content over the years. Rather than discard it or re-run it in its origi-nal form, Kirk likes to retool it.
“Over the years, we have collated a lot of original video material. Older video material can be adjusted and recalibrated in Catalyst or Motion to make it practically unidentifiable from its previous use — though as a rule we much prefer to make and procure original material from new artists on a constant basis to make the show fresh and varied, not just for the audience enjoyment, but also for ourselves. We don’t use static images so much, since the show is so fast paced and frenetic, and when we have such a powerful video kit, it’s best to use it to its maximum.”
Kirk’s appreciation for the live show environment is still growing — as is his catalog of trick and techniques. The glue that holds it all together and pushes him forward is his relationship with the band and crew.
“I’ve been working with the band for many years now, as has Oli, so we’re all on the same wavelength now and are able to trust each others’ input and abilities to a high level. Directing and cutting the show is a great buzz, and I’m learning new techniques all the time. I’ve got a great working relationship with Oli and the band when it comes to the visual production — especially Matt, who has some great ideas and concepts for the visual look of the show. Having edited live DVDs, films and videos for Muse, I take that experience and try and make it happen in the live environment.”
As for Metcalfe, he’s happiest when all his lights are in good working order. For that, he relies on his suppliers and crew.
“I use Upstaging for all my work in the U.S. They’re a great company offering good equipment and fantastic preproduction facilities. John Bahnick has always looked after me and given Muse a great service with top crew and equipment.”
Tripping through Black Holes and Revelations is no small feat, but Metcalfe and Kirk are seasoned veterans of the Muse production landscape. Together, they are pushing the boundaries of the production universe.
CREW
Lighting Company — Upstaging, Inc.
Account Rep — John Bahnick
Lighting Designer — Oli Metcalfe
Media Director — Tom Kirk
Lighting Crew Chief — Jeff Hubbell
Lighting Technicians — Todd Turner, Glen Claytor
Production Manager — Paul English
Tour Manager — Dominic “Dom” Anderson
GEAR
16 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes
46 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures
12 Martin MAC 700 Profiles
7 Altman 2000L Fresnels
8 Eight-Light Moles
2 PixelRange PixelLine 1044 Batten LEDs
8 High End Systems Color Pro FX
1 Main Light Systems 60’ Fiber Optic Drape
1 High End Systems Catalyst 3.3 Pro Media Server
10 Clear Com Intercom
2 Reel EFX DF-50 Hazers
1 ETC 48 Sensor Touring Rack
2 CAE AC Distro Rack
4 DMX DataSplitter
Flying Pig Systems Wholehog III console
