Bryan Hartley Raises the Bar for TSO’s 2016 ‘Ghosts of Christmas Eve’ Tour
The first tour the Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO) did was only five shows long. They had just one band and used local production. But the word quickly spread. The next year, they brought in designer Bryan Hartley and a lighting package. They also started doing two shows a day on that second tour, some 17 years ago. Ever since, this gigantic live concert, which is a mixture of classical, rock and holiday music, has grown to selling out arenas every holiday season with what can best be described as a visual spectacle.
Paul O’Neill is the producer of the TSO tour. Every year he has encouraged production designer Bryan Hartley to raise the bar. Once you see the show, it becomes harder and harder to imagine how this can be done. But Bryan manages to do it, tour after tour. He comes up with ideas that even he questions the feasibility of. But through his entire career, he has associated himself with a team of individuals who rise to the occasion.
After talking with the designer, I get the impression that it’s not so much the company supplying the gear he chooses as the people working with the vendors that he trusts. Loyalty is big in this camp. For video needs, he turns to John Wiseman (PRG Nocturne), for Special Effects he has dealt forever with Doug Adams (Pyrotek). His staging is always looked after by Eric Pearce (SGPS) and his go-to guy for lighting is Burton Tenenbein (VER), but he adds “Susan Tesh over at VER is a doll. She has always looked after me.”
The entire show, soup to nuts, is designed by Hartley. “When I finally end a year’s worth of work, I enjoy going home, but immediately start dreaming up ideas for next year and getting the design on paper. I generally draw up my concepts then make about ten different renderings in Cinema 4D that show the lighting scenes and video imagery. It’s up to me to design the layout of the video walls, lighting rig, staging set and scenery as well as where all the pyro goes. It’s a drawn-out process, but by March I am ready to deliver my presentation.”
The Staging
The first thing to note is that there is little time for load in with two shows on most days, including a 3 p.m. matinee. The crew loads in at 5 a.m. and there is zero time for lots of little bits on any part of the production. SGPS has been a longtime vendor for this show, and this year’s stage is wide, with many different levels where performers can isolate themselves. As the audience walks in to the arena, the set is hidden behind a red wraparound Austrian Drape. This rises at the top of the show for the grand opening.
A giant stair structure resides just upstage of a 60-foot-wide apron. The stairs themselves rotate at times, revealing rows of Par 36 DWE bulbs à la heavy metal fashion, or laying flat like a ramp. The performers seem to occupy four different levels of staging at times, with custom slots for floor lights and pyro gags built around the platforms. “This is part of some scenery left over from a giant castle set I had a couple years back. The tour director/accountant Elliot Saltzman loves me whenever I can incorporate anything we already have into a new set,” Bryan tells us. The rolling stage is assembled at one of the arenas while the lights are set up at the other each morning.
Lining the front of the stage and rising up on several occasions are some lifts the performers are elevated on. “The cool thing about working with Eric Pearce is that he never stops tinkering with his ideas. I have used many elevators of his over the years, but the ones we have this year just look so cool as a structure when I light them, as opposed to some standard scissor lift.” Also new this year was a catwalk that lowered down from a FOH truss on high speed winches. The catwalk extended down to several feet over the stage, and musicians stepped from the rising lifts directly onto the rising catwalk to rise over the audience.
The Lighting
The drape reveals a light rig that looks like a solid 60-by-40-foot wall of lights at one even trim. That is until everything starts moving through a series of winches supplied by SGPS from a mother grid. Hartley explains, “O’Neill is an old heavy metal head. He wants to see those trusses dancing constantly, and we do our best to please him. Of course, I have to stop the movement at times just so it doesn’t look repetitive.”
In the center of the light rig is a giant square, turned into a diamond position with a point downstage center. It resembles one giant pod. This giant square lowers down into three different squares at times, often moving like a gyroscope. I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how the trusses don’t physically bump into each other when passing, but the guy driving the winches has his act down cold.
In the corners of each part of the rig is a large triangular structure loaded with lights. These four triangles augment the center diamond, moving as well. “We have over 400 fixtures in each show. Sh*t’s gotta roll in quick out here and snap together. SGPS built these custom frames for me. I like them so much I think I found a place for them to be used next year.”
Upstage of the set and dividing the large video wall into separate elements are several vertical trusses. They are lined with Ayrton MagicBlade™R fixtures. The front truss is lined with Ayrton MagicRing-R9 fixtures, a giant pancake light on steroids. He tops it off by lining the triangular pods with over 60 MagicDots. “I am a big fan of the Ayrton products that Morpheus Lights always shows me here at my home in Las Vegas. The MagicBlades look great from behind with the flat sheet of light. The MagicRings make a great key light for the big trim height I have, but where I really love them is on the floor. For years, we had big Syncrolites shooting beams from behind the band. But now everyone just loves that I can get the big fat beam — plus the various pixel effects from this fixture.”
Besides a handful of Martin MAC Vipers he uses for key lights, Bryan depends on 80 Robe Pointes for all his hard-edged beams. “I wanted something that could cut through hundreds of Rush pars and all the video elements. In the old days, Paul loved the look of ACL’s. Of course, they wouldn’t cut in this day and age, so we go for the Pointes. I did need some bright wash lights as well to make fans from the center pod. I went with the GLP impression X4s, and they have been great.”
Hartley programs all his own cues and runs the “East” show on the tour. He then hands the disk over to Dan Cassar, who’s been his lighting director on the “West” show for the last 15 years. “I hardly have to spend any time with him,” he boasts. “Dan watches me while I program, and by the time we start the tour, he’s got it nailed.” Bryan owns all his own Hog 4 consoles and media servers that he uses on tour.
Before each tour starts, he spends about two weeks programming at home on an ESP previz system that TSO purchased years ago for him. Then he spends about three weeks in an arena in Omaha with both lighting systems and stages set up at different ends of the venue. Focus wise, “I keep it simple. While there are a couple hundred fixtures, there are not a lot of positions that aren’t generic. By the time we are set for sound check, I have perhaps an hour until doors. The fixtures are built into Tyler truss and the rigging and stage placement is identical every day. So I can update my focus in 15 minutes.”
“Lastly I have to give credit to my friend Burton Tenenbein. He has been looking after me for 15 years, dating back to Ed and Ted’s/Epic Lighting. When he moved over to VER, I went with him, and they have been great the last four years.”
The Effects
“When I first started working with these guys, I had been lighting KISS and knew my share of vendors. One of the first things I did was speak to Doug Adams over at Pyrotek and let him know that I had big plans for his company on this project,” states Hartley. It’s obvious from the amount of special effects on this show that Pyrotek plays a major role in everything from flames to sparks to fog to lasers.
Lining the width of the stage are Fire Screens, a strip of flame that raises up about five feet in height to make for one continuous line of flames. Above that are the usual blasts of propane seen at metal shows that go up 20 feet in the air. TSO makes great use of several five finger devices that shoot Isopar liquid flame in thin fans of flame or in chases. Upstage of the band is a gerb waterfall that is different than most, as Hartley explains. “About two years ago, Pyrotek figured out a way to make the sparks from the waterfall flames pan left to right as they fall out of the rafters. It gives a wave effect to the sparklers, and we love it; we’ve kept it in the show.”
New this year are the Sparkulars, a product manufactured by Sparktacular that was the talk of the LDI show floor last November. The stage deck was lined with several of these machines that spit sparks straight upward from one to five meters in the air. They look just like typical pyro gerbs, but the cool part is they are not hot and do not burn anyone. There are some amazing scenes during the performance where the guitarists will place their axes right in the middle of the pyro effect while playing, and nobody gets hurt. The gag looks amazingly gnarly to the fans and the coolest part is that these fixtures were all set identical, so the heights of the sparks matched perfectly on all the shots.
Pyrotek also provided the lasers on the tour. They had four 30-watt full color lasers that shined the usual beams of light up into the rafters, but lately they have added so much more. “I’ve been using lasers on this show for a long time, and a few years ago it was getting stagnant. I knew all of the effects I could use and was getting kind of bored with the beams,” explains the designer. “That’s when Pyrotek showed me these new low-powered lasers that are between 1-2 watts each. These can scan right into the audience’s eyes without risking any damage. So now I added another ten of those to the vertical trusses, and it fills out the whole arena with beams.”
The Video
Hartley notes that he has been working with John Wiseman as his video account manager “for forever.” This means that PRG Nocturne is once again providing the video elements on this show. According to Wiseman (senior VP at PRG Music Group), “I’ve known Bryan since back in the Joan Jett days, so that makes like 30 years we’ve been working together, wow!” He credits Hartley for always being “hungry for what is new, cutting edge and creative,” including his choice of the tools he can deploy for his artists. “He also has a knack for taking the old and making it new. Bryan thinks big, and isn’t afraid to investigate. That makes my job interesting and keeps me engaged. He also is a no-BS guy who is very supportive of the crews’ challenges. We have had an honest relationship since the get-go. Can’t ask for more than that. On TSO, the executive producers are seasoned, smart businessmen and facilitate the next level. They plan a tour in February to launch in October. That seems to be a luxury these days. The PM’s, Jimmy P [Pettinato] and Jeff B [Boguski], are top notch. End-to-end, it’s all pros out there.”
Behind the set are five large, separated video walls made up of 18mm panels from Roe Creative Display. There are also more of the same tiles lining the aforementioned catwalk truss that flies in. Across the fascias of the set risers are more video elements made up of Nocturne’s own V-18 LED product. The video elements are fed content from two Catalyst media servers. There is no I-mag on the show. Bryan Hartley comes up with most of the ideas for the video content for the show while programming, and then sources out to Nick Militello whatever needs to be built. They have collected an extensive amount of content over the years.
Wrapping Up
Each year there is a themed story the cast presents during the show, followed by some classic TSO arrangements that the fans would love to see every year if they had a chance. The production is undaunted by the tasks that the designer comes up with. For instance, new this year was a large structure out behind the FOH mix position. At the end of the show, a giant pyramid built by SGPS and made up of Nocturne V9 classic tiles rises up in the air. The sides of the pyramid open hydraulically to reveal a giant ball of flames. Risers surround it with musicians coming out to play next to it.
“There are a few times during the show where I use timecode to sync up all the quick video/lighting and other cues. But for the better part of the show I just hit all the cues on time,” Hartley says.
The crews that come out on this tour work hard, with only five of the dates being single show dates and, per Hartley, “these single show days just drag on. Everyone on the crew gets a bonus at the end and extra pay for every day when we play two shows.” This ensures that the majority of the crew are repeat offenders every year. As John Wiseman points out, “The only ones who don’t fight to come back are guys who find it tough to be away from their children this time of year. Past that, they like the tour, people and, of course, the extra money is always a bonus!”
Trans-Siberian Orchestra 2016 ‘Ghosts of Christmas Eve’ Tour
Crew
East Tour:
Producer: Paul O’Neill
Lighting Designer: Bryan Hartley
Lighting Co: VER/Burton Tenenbein, Susan Tesh
Lighting Crew: Jorge “Soline” Velazques (Crew Chief), John Bailey, Ryan Lecomte, Terry Smith, Glenn Rupert, Chris Lanning, Blake Rogers, Thomas Poje, Brian Bukovinsky, Armondo Figueroa Jr.
Video Co: PRG Nocturne/John Wiseman
Video Crew: Kenny Ackerman (Crew Chief), Adam Finer, Joe Bradly, Claudya Alain, Oscar Canales, Tommy Cesano, Tyler Munson (Media Servers), Nick Militello (Video Content)
Staging/Rigging: SGPS ShowRig/Eric Pearce
SGPS/ShowRig Crew: John Lunio (Grid Crew Chief), Jordan Matson (Stage Crew Chief), Tim Fincannon, Kyle Wolfson, Steve Davidson, Shane Bandy, Will Gurski, Brian Benauer
Riggers: Ken Mitchell (Head Rigger), Jerry Ritter, Bill Rengstl, Ryan Tillman
Carpenters: Scott Nordvold (Head Carpenter), Teddy Comerford, Eric Bolenbaugh, Ben Ullmann
Pyro/Lasers: Pyrotek Special Effects/Doug Adams
Pyro Crew: Nigel Deslippe, Al Domanski, Crew Chiefs; Kevin Hughes, Shooter; Nick Zangari, Robert Chase, Alex Kingry, Justin Dimitri
Laser Crew: Jason McEachern (Crew Chief), Jason Bridges
Tour Management: Elliot Saltzman, Director of Touring & Production; Jimmy Pettinato, Production Manager; Matt Kuney, Production Coordinator; Dave Licursi, Road Manager; Russ Martin, Assistant Road Manager; Steve Roman, Stage Manager; Steve Levy Mazin, Production Assistant
West Tour:
Lighting Director: Dan Cassar
Lighting Crew: Mel Dorough (Crew Chief), Jeremy Knight, Will Anglin, Bart Buckalew, Travis Braudaway, Paul Mundrick, Angelo Viacava, Austin Schussler, Tony Cerasulo, Travis Slater
Video Crew: Chad McClymond (Crew Chief), Curtis Miller (Media Servers), Chris West, Johnny Hayes, John Bedell, Jeff Juse, Pia Eeriekainen
SGPS/ShowRig Crew: Edward Lee Oyler (Crew Chief), Zach Purcival, (Crew Chief – Stage), Colin Nevins, James Ford, Morgan Burton, Tony Dorman, Jeremy Sorensen, Frank Fucile
Riggers: Bobby Carrell (Head Rigger), Willy Williams, Jeremy Caldwell
Carpenters: Scott Wienclaw (Head Carpenter), Sam Serrata, David Medrano, Paul Brackett
Pyro: James Christofides (Crew Chief), Gregg Pearson (Shooter), Mark Jones, Darren D’Amour, Amy Stein, Paul Cusato
Lasers: Brian Van Trigt (Laser Crew Chief), Antoine Cholette
Tour Management: David Comeau, Tour Manager; Jeff Boguski, Production Manager; John “JD” Diacich, Production Coordinator; Paul Spriggs, Road Manager; Paul Serio, Assistant Road Manager; Josh Smith, Stage Manager; Kevin Stoell, Production Assistant
Gear*
- 4 High End Systems Hog 4 consoles
- 80 Robe Pointes
- 131 Martin RUSH Pars
- 8 Martin MAC Vipers
- 48 GLP impression X4 S
- 32 GLP impression X4s
- 28 Ayrton MagicRing R9
- 64 Ayrton MagicDot R
- 48 Ayrton MagicBlade R
- 12 Claypaky K10 B-Eyes
- 68 Solaris Flares
- 13 Martin JEM ZR 44 foggers
- 10 Snow Machines
- 2 Robe Cyclones
- 15 Reel EFX Fans
- 4 Reel EFX DF-50 hazers
- 2 MDG TheOne smoke machines
- 744 ROE Hybrid 18mm tiles for upstage walls and catwalk
- 266 V-9 Classic for FOH Pyramid
- 24 V-18 LED for stage fascia
- 2 Catalyst media servers
*Gear list is for each of the tours (East and West)
