Fleetwood Mac’s 2013 Live tour, marking the 35th anniversary of the release of Rumours, combined the talents of original band members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie — the “Fleetwood” and “Mac” namesakes for the band’s formation in 1967 — with those of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, who joined the band in 1975.
Although Live was the first major trek since the band’s 2009 Unleashed tour, the individual band members have been busy on solo projects ranging from shows in support of well-received 2011 albums from both Lindsey Buckingham (Seeds We Sow) and Stevie Nicks (In Your Dreams) to the Aug. 2012 debut of Mick Fleetwood’s restaurant on Maui.
The “Live” tour ranked 17th on Billboard’s Top 25 Tours of 2013 with just under $70 million in gross ticket sales for 21 mostly-sold-out shows.
Paul “Arlo” Guthrie (Toss Film & Design Inc.)
Production Designer
“I wanted to bring something new to this Fleetwood Mac tour, having worked with them over the years, to make the show look more contemporary. We locked in the final stage design two weeks before we loaded into Sony Studios in Culver City. We then rehearsed for two weeks while things appeared and then evolved. As usual, they were all long days. I am thankful for all the support from my crew and production during that time. We had used some sort of video (mainly projection) for the last 10 years, so I wanted to move to an LED wall to showcase some new content and give the stage some presence.
“Lightborne took my vague video direction and turned it into great content that caters to the different songs and different styles between Stevie and Lindsey. It was fun to showcase their great work on the large scale LED wall every night. I provided a quarter of the simpler contentm and we use I-Mag on the wall towards the end of the show. Jerry McReynolds, our video director, did a great job of respecting the best way to present the artists and handling the different sources and outputs while remaining calm and focused!
“I also used Martin LC Panels inside some overhead set pieces as soft box light sources. This gave us the ability to add a soft lighting tone to the stage and provide a dynamic effect at the same time. A lot of songs feature slow moving textural content so the lighting units subtly provide some shifting with the music. We also cover the upstage LED wall with a sheer drape in four songs to transform that into a large upstage soft source.
“There was a great mix of repeat offenders and newbies for the tour. The new members (video director Jerry McReynolds, lighting crew chief Bob Fry and lighting tech Matt LeRoux) helped balance us old and crusty incumbents! They provided some good outside influence on an organization that has been through a lot of things together.
“We had among the best in production companies on the tour — PRG (lighting), Chaos Visual (video), All Access (staging and production) and SGPS (rigging). All great service all around. This tour needs a lot of support and, as usual, we got it from these guys. It’s always fun to get the old gang back together!”
Rich Locklin
Lighting Director
“I’ve worked with Arlo for some time. In 2012, I found myself in between projects and was able to cover for Arlo on one of his shows while he was out with Stevie Nicks. I had a blast covering and running his design — it was really refreshing. I knew he had Fleetwood Mac and another tour going out at the same time and really wanted to assist. Thankfully he asked if I’d run Fleetwood Mac for him.
“Arlo did all preprogramming, programmed at rehearsals and started the first week of the tour. I was on another tour in Asia during that period. The timing worked out so that I flew back to Chicago from New Zealand when Fleetwood Mac was playing there (my home town arena), and that’s where I jumped onboard.
“Arlo and I are both grandMA2 guys. His lighting design was fantastic and really captured the energy of the band with lighting and server content. The show and artists are particular and must be handled with care. Arlo is able to strike the perfect balance of intimate lighting to draw you in and live impact to kick you in the head when the time is right. The console was laid out in a straightforward fashion so it was easy for me to step in and run it, however it took a few shows to get the subtleties. As the tour moved from the U.S. to Europe, there were some elements that were pared down in order to travel effectively. Arlo came to Dublin rehearsals and we updated the show to reflect the changes. I loved every minute of the tour — a real pleasure to run a Toss Film & Design show!”
Crew
Production Designer/Programmer: Paul “Arlo” Guthrie (Toss Film & Design Inc.)
Lighting Director: Rich Locklin
Lighting Crew Chief: Bob Fry
Lighting Techs: Ryan Textor, Anthony Ciampa, Matt Le Roux
Video Content: Toss Film & Design, Lightborne
Video Director: Jerry McReynolds
Rigger: Russel Glen
Production Managers: Bobby Herr, Bill Leabody
Tour Manager: Marty Hom
Road Manager: Allan Tate
Stage Managers: Bjorn Melchert, Anthony Aquilato
Lighting Co: PRG
Video Co: Chaos Visual Productions
Video Crew: Gerald McReynolds, Jon Huntington, David Jacobs, Sixx Williams, Brandon Oosterhof, Joseph Bradley
Staging: All Access Staging
Trucking: Stage Call
Rigging: SGPS/ShowRig
Gear:
Lighting:
2 grandMA2 consoles
36 GLP impression X4s
36 Sharpy Washes
26 Best Boy 4000s
24 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spots
6 Vari*Lite VL3500 Washes
2 Vari*Lite VL3000 truss spots
Video:
435 WinVision 12mm tiles (29×15 tiles; 53’3”x27’6” WxH)
2 Everbrighten signal processors
2 Folsom ImagePro image processors
3 Barco 26K projectors
5 Barco 22K projectors
3 Sony HD cameras
3 Sony BRC700 robocams
4 Lipstick cams
