If you ever needed proof that good things come in small packages…
For a six-week, 12-show run at Potawatomi Bingo Casino’s Northern Lights Theater earlier this year, Cheap Trick put on a show that was anything but standard. The front half of the show re-created their Dream Police album aurally as well as visually (think white, think low lying haze). Plenty of musicians were on stage to augment the band: professionals from the Milwaukee Symphony sat in as the “Bombastic Symphonic Philharmonic with the Rhythmic Noise Mind Choir,” which allowed the recreation of album’s orchestral arrangements. The second half of the show pulled from hits from the band’s long career.Add to that guitarist Rick Nielsen’s swapping guitars every song and singer Robin Zander looking dashing in white leather, “all” that had to be done was create a suitable visual backdrop.
“The fans that opening weekend were really responsive,” says Mark Grega, partner/lead FX designer of Strictly FX. “One woman, president of one of their fan clubs over there, came all the way from Tokyo and sat in the front row. Also, a lot of people from Chicago drove up to see them because it’s for their live show that they really earned their reputation as a great band.”
A Life-Sized Album Cover
“Butch [Allen, production designer] called me one day and said he was going to be in town the next day and to come up to Potawatomi,” laughs Strictly FX CEO Ted Maccabee. “It was a nifty show, and we were glad to be part of it.”
Grega was also pleased to be part of the team. “We’re all fans of the music. I love guitars and I love Rick [Nielson], and he’s got the largest collections of guitars in the world. It was exciting to work with him.”
It was done at a special venue. “It was perfect for what the band wanted to do, which is take a walk down memory lane with an iconic album,” Grega explains. The room had recently been redone and, while it seats only 250 people, the audience relaxed in new booths with leather upholstery supported by new carpeting and floors…and while Strictly enjoyed the aesthetics of it, the room caused caution as well as creativity.
“It wasn’t the standard concert facility with a concrete floor, and we wanted to be respectful of the venue,” Grega continued. “At one point we had wanted to make it snow in the room, but between the chemicals falling in $10 drinks and the residue it would leave on the furniture, we thought better and cut it.”
They did get creative with CO2 effects, using LSG Log Fog Generators. “We were able to create that nice, low sticky fog that ends up rolling off stage. The band had concerns but was very trusting, especially of Butch [Allen]. Also, during the shows, Rick [Nielsen] would shout out, ‘Hey! How does it look out there?’ to the audience.” The effects used to recreate that well-known album cover to life was so well-executed that the audience always roared its approval.
Confetti was used. In addition to creating special square confetti in the square black and white pattern so often associated with the band, for one night Strictly FX responded to a special request: When the club asked for Green Bay Packer’s green and yellow ones after they won the Super Bowl, they happily obliged.
Finally, they brought in some Reke lasers to do what they could in the modest-sized club. “We get good power out of them — their scanning ability isn’t as fast as our higher-end lasers, but they gave us the colors we wanted. And during the laser segments, Butch was very complementary with his lighting. We were in tune, and never competing — he let us have our moments.” One of the songs, “Gonna Raise Hell,” was a laser-saturated highlight.
A total of six Reke lasers were used for the show. “Reke are a small company we found during the last LDI, just walking down the aisles. They are a good vendor with good equipment and prompt shipping. We have our German [made] systems, our ‘Mercedes’ — but for this venue they were perfect, and added the extra layer we needed.”
Also their new Revolution Spinner for the 500-mW system was put in play, which allowed them to pan. “With this we were able to expand the coverage area and fill the corners of the venue.”
Allen says he had never worked with Cheap Trick before, but was grateful for this opportunity. “What a great band, great people — talk about some hands-on guys…They are very knowledgeable, and got very specific. There is nothing like it when the artists gets involved because they wrote the music and know exactly what they want to go where.”
Allen was thrilled personally as well as professionally. “One of the first concerts in my life was to see Cheap Trick, so it was a dream come true sitting there talking to the band. It was so cool!”
A Team for the Challenge
The creative process started off loose, as Allen, the band, and production manager Larry Morin visited the club. “We saw that the size of the club was going to cause some small challenges, but then again there was no load-in/load-out issues to deal with, as it was going to sit there for six weeks. That was a big advantage. Also, the staff at the theater itself was awesome. They were good at what they do and knew their house well. Plus, we had Accurate Staging, Upstaging, Nocturne, and Strictly FX involved — you could not have had a more professional group of people, professionals who are not afraid of any challenge.”
Recreating the album cover involved painting the floor white, and that was augmented by video supplied by Nocturne.
“Butch wanted to use our Vlite 28mm,” says Bob Brigham of Nocturne Productions. “For playback we used Hippotizers.” The show emphasis on white was an opportunity for Nocturne to début their new white face Vlite modules, which worked well as far as the band was concerned.
Allen used a grandMA to run the lights. “My partners in crime were programmers Cory Fitzgerald and Sean Cagney,” he says. He adds that he stepped out after the third week, but the band kept changing the second set and tweaking the show so much that Cagney deserves credit as co-designer. “The first half of the show was the Dream Police part, but the second half was always fluid. They would change five songs a week, and the tweaking was an ongoing process for the entire six-week run. You never stop working on a show like this. You’re always finding your moments.”
He adds that the Fitzgerald and Cagney also deserve credit for loading up all the cues just 48 hours before the first show.
Lighting-wise, they switched out the venue’s Mac 250s for Mac 700s and added in some strobes to fill in the holes.
He emphases again how good the venue’s theater crew was. “Head electrician Jackie Hutter and her team were just incredible. So was Jamie Cobb, the production stage manager.”
Theatrical and Creative
The best part for Allen? “I got to do it!” he laughs. “Nothing about this was your standard concert — it was a theatrical piece driven by the creativity of the band members. And [production manager] Larry Morin deserves a lot of credit — he was the organized calm behind it all.”
Brigham echoes that sentiment: “The band, their crew, and Butch were a blast to work with. So was [Cheap Trick manager] Dave Frey, who really had a creative vision for the concept and design of the show.”
“It was a pleasure dealing with Butch, the band, and everybody involved,” Grega adds. “We were just happy to be there.”
