Halestorm and In This Moment are on tour (with New Years Day) for a true triple threat of rock ‘n’ roll with three powerful female voices leading their bands — Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, Maria Brink of In This Moment and Ashley Costello of New Years Day — on a tour bringing back more of that true rock flavor we need more of today. We spoke with the lighting designer/programmer/directors Craig Richter (Halestorm) and Justin Robichaud (In This Moment) about the tour and its visual designs.
Craig Richter
Lighting Designer, Programmer & Director
Craig Richter started working with Halestorm in the summer of 2017 when he got the call from tour/production manager Mike Mahar to do a summer festival run with the band. He had met the band a few times over the years at festivals and other gigs while out with other bands, and knew their reputation for putting on a killer show.
“I said, ‘Heck, yeah,’ and threw a little tower floor package together and put a show in the desk in about four days. After that tour, the band was stoked — they told me they finally felt like the lights were doing what they had envisioned in their heads, and as a LD, that’s all you can ask for. They asked if I would stay on with them for the upcoming album cycle. I agreed as long as we could put some money into production, as I’m over doing truss towers at this point. They held up their end of the deal, and we upped our fixture count by over a hundred fixtures and invested in custom set carts. Then the next thing I know, it’s September 2018, and we are starting a sold-out tour through the U.K. and then on to the rest of Europe.”
When Richter set out for this new design, he wanted to give the band a level of production that they have never toured with before as they were moving into larger venues and playing headline slots. This tour was going to be for the new Vicious album cycle, however the album was not out yet when the tour was going to start. “So the hard part was telling them I am going to spend more money than they have ever spent on production before on some set carts, and then on top of that, triple the weekly lighting budget before the money from tour starts rolling in, all while only being able to see my ideas off some renderings.
“The band was fully invested in this and knew it was something they wanted to do for a long time, so they pulled the trigger on it and I was lucky enough that they trusted me with this big step in their career.” The band gave him creative freedom to program the show as he thought it should look. “I wanted to build the lighting part of the show along with how the set list was going to build, this is one of the hardest parts to do with a band that plays everything live every night, with no tracks, or even a click.”
Halestorm was a Bandit Lites client before Richter started with the band, and he couldn’t be happier with that. Richter has been working with Bandit for about eight years now and says the level of service they bring is unparalleled. When they started talking with Bandit rep Brent Barrett about ramping up production, he was just as excited about it as they were. Barrett was able to source the gear they wanted as well as some special requested fixtures that had to be bought for the tour, all while fitting it into the budget.
“Our project manager, Matt King, is a rock star as well,” says Richter. “He helped with all the initial drawings, from the set carts concept, to local provided plots and everything in between, so when we were ready to start putting fixtures on the set carts, all the paperwork was done, with cabling figured out — it easily cut our prep time in half. Bandit’s first priority is helping you solve a problem as soon as possible in any way that they can. I never have to hesitate to pick up the phone and call for anything I might need anywhere in the world.”
Richter had toured with most of the fixtures they have currently. The Martin MAC Viper Profile and GLP impression X4S fixtures are a trusted favorite for him. He did, however, bring out a couple of fixtures he had not used before but wanted to try. “I had heard great things about the Chauvet Rogue FX-B fixtures, so I figured I would give them a try. I’m very happy with them — they’re brighter than I expected, and the ability to have tilt control over each cell really opens up the ability for some unique looks and effects that other similar fixtures just can’t do.
“The other fixture I was really excited about was the Robe Halo, I didn’t want to use them in a Par 64-like intended way, so we had some brackets made for them so we could mount a half coupler to them. They have a lot of great built-in effects and are fairly easy to program, but I was mainly blown away by the output they had. I was not expecting them to really put out that much light but be more eye candy, so it was a nice surprise to see the lumens they put out. I also feel like they help bring a little bit of the past into the show. Classic rock ‘n’ roll has been a big influence for Halestorm, so the Halos are a little tip of the hat to the old school Par can days, but with the new-age tech. They do a nice job of bringing a bit of that look and feel into the show.
“The members of Halestorm are some of the nicest, as well as one of the hardest working bands I have seen,” Richter continues. “They know production plays a major role in the audience’s experience, and they always want to leave their fans wanting more. We are already working on full production designs for next year in anticipation of that becoming a reality. I’m really happy with the way this design came together. Tye Trussell and his team at Gallagher Staging made my vision for the lighting carts come to life exactly as I had it in my head. Everyone at Bandit help make it one of the most streamlined systems I have ever done. My lighting tech, Joey DiLeo, is fantastic and makes my job easy every day. It really was a team effort to make this whole thing come together, and I thank everyone who was a part of making it happen. I look forward to this band continuing to grow, and I know with the vendors and team we have in place anything is possible.”
Halestorm 2018 Crew and Gear:
Crew
Lighting Designer, Programmer & Director: Craig Richter
Lighting Co: Bandit Lites/Brent Barrett
Lighting Tech: Joey DiLeo
Tour & Production Manager:
Mike Mahar
Production Assistant: Detroit Haller
Stage Manager: Terry “T3” Styles
Staging: Gallagher Staging/Tye Trussell
Soft Goods: Sew What?
Gear
1 grandMA2 Full console w/8-port node
4 Martin MAC Viper Profiles
8 Claypaky B-Eye K20’s
8 Martin LED Atomic 3000s
12 Chauvet Rogue FX-B’s
16 GLP impression X4S
32 Ayrton Magic Dot-R’s
36 Robe Halos
8 Chauvet Nexus 4×4’s
5 Elation Color Chorus 48
4 Sun Strips
2 Base Haze hazers
More Halestorm 2018 Tour photos by Steve Jennings:
In This Moment
Justin Robichaud
Lighting Designer, Programmer & Director
This is Justin Robichaud’s first time out with In This Moment, the band co-headlining with Halestorm and performing along with opening act New Years Day. It’s also Robichaud’s first time lighting In This Moment’s lead vocalist Maria Brink. He credits her for both her impressive on-stage performance and sense of visual showmanship. “Her input helped us achieve the show we all wanted, and she really knows how to utilize the stage and specials we have,” Robichaud says. “We’re using bright and powerful fixtures to achieve a very wash heavy, theatrical type of rock show, without sacrificing the ability to go totally crazy for the climactic moments. Craig’s rig with Halestorm is equally impressive in a different way, and I think the contrast in how each of us tries to homogenize the aerial with our own floor is what makes the show run so interesting.
“Maria is definitely a key factor in all things visual, and the run of the show. We were able to hit it off right away and trust each other throughout the design process of the tour. Maria is actually the one who recorded all of the Cryo hits in the show — that’s how seriously she takes her show, and she only needed one take! Simply put, I try to make her visions realities in the show, and she puts her trust in me to make the visual alterations when necessary. The tour has been great as an experience overall, and watching all these bands, their crews and everyone else involved work together has been a pleasure. Craig was always willing to work with me to keep things as smooth as possible for all parties involved… can’t sing these folks praises enough!”
In This Moment Crew and Gear
Crew
Lighting Designer, Programmer & Director: Justin Robichaud
Lighting Co: Christie Lites/Cory Wilson
Lighting Tech: Joey Dillard
Tour Manager: Katie Van Vrancken
Production Manager: Brian Hardswick
Stage Manager: Adam Campbell
Stage Carpenter: Forrest Carufel
Staging Co: Gallagher Staging/James McKinney
Soft Goods: Sew What
Gear
1 grandMA2 Light console
30 Elation ACL 360i’s (w/40° frost lenses)
6 GLP X4 Bar 20’s
12 GLP JDC1 Strobes
8 Martin MAC III AirFX
3 Martin MAC Quantum Profiles
3 Martin Jem ZR44 foggers
2 Chauvet Hurricane 1800 FLX
2 Martin JEM Glaciators
2 LSG MKII low smoke generators
4 DF-50 hazers
4 ReelEFX cryo jets
More In This Moment 2018 tour photos by Steve Jennings:
