Some people get themselves stuck in a rut. Erykah Badu is not one of them. Her music bridges multiple genres, she sports an astonishing array of couture and hair styles and she’s not afraid to change the name of her tour or the look of the set two weeks into the tour. The 2008 tour, in support of her most recent album, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), started off as the New Amerykah tour, but became known as the Vortex Tour to reflect, as Badu reportedly put it, “a swirling cloud of energy that sucks everything into its orbit.”
Likewise, the touring set changed dramatically from video panels to a mirrored look used previously for Badu’s 2005 Sugarwater Festival tour with Queen Latifah and Jill Scott, according to Martin “Yoda” Thomas, production manager and lighting designer. Thomas has worked with Badu on previous tours, including 2003’s Worldwide Underground tour, 2005’s Sugarwater Festival tour, 2006’s Block Party tour with Dave Chappelle and a variety of other performances, including show dates in Indonesia, Russia and Israel in 2007 and 2008. He and the rest of the crew seemed to have little trouble taking the enormous changes to the set’s look, and the lighting requirements, in stride.
Before…
Martin “Yoda” Thomas notes that the initial design included 18 Martin Professional LC-2140 LED panels on 50 feet of traveler track, five 25-foot tall towers that supported Coemar and MAC 700 fixtures and a Martin Maxedia video server, programmed by Eric Kennedy from New Mexico Event Technology.
…and After
This equipment was either swapped out or reconfigured for use with a 40 foot wide by 16 foot tall wall of lightweight MirrorLite panels from Rose Brand, and supplied by Badu Production, two weeks into the tour, as Ms. Badu had a creative change of heart (somewhat brought on and enhanced by her pregnancy) and felt that her show should “look nothing like a Britney Spears concert,” according to Thomas.
A Mirrored Awning
The MirrorLite wall was a holdover from the 2005 Sugarwater Festival tour, reconfigured to create an awning over the band members on the upstage risers.
The View from Above
The effect was dramatic, as the actions of the drummer, percussion player, guitarist and bassist were captured in a never-before seen top view.
CREW
Production Manager/Lighting Director: Martin “Yoda” Thomas
Tour Manager: Michael Knight, Sr.
Lighting Crew Chief: Dylan Haines
Lighting Tech: William Couzens
Stage Manager: Anthony Moore
Monitor Engineer: Kenneth Nash
Production Assistant: Adiclere Hunter
Lighting Supplier: Creative Stage Lighting
GEAR
Lighting Console: Martin Maxxyz console with 2 playback modules and Wing extension
24 Coemar Infinity XL Washes
7 Vari*Lite VL3500 wash fixtures (all on floor)
14 Martin MAC 700 Profile Spots
8 MR-16 Striplights with hanging clamps (six foot)
20 Rose Brand MirrorLite Panels w/ hanging apparatus
16 Source Four 19º 750-watt Ellipsoidals
10pcs Black Box Truss (10’ x 18,” for five towers)
3pcs Black Box Truss (5’ x 18,” for three towers)
15pcs Black Box Truss (10’ x 12,” for tower cross bars)
5pcs Black Box Truss (10’ x 12,” upstage curtain truss)
1 48x 2.4K Dimmer Rack
2 DMX Opto-Splitters
5 Active 1 ton motorpoints
5 Active 1/2 ton motorpoints
2 Active block & fall cable picks
1 DF 50 atmospheric hazer w/ fans
2 Active followspots on show call w/ operators
1 50’ x 25’ Black Velour curtain
1 50’x 25’ Opening Act Black
