Lighting Co
Gemini Light Sound & Video
Venue
Various (Tour)
Crew
- Lighting Designer, Programmer & Director: Rob Bedford
- Lighting Crew Chief: Keith Wailes
- Lighting Techs: Adam Nunley, Austin Tower
- Video Co: Gemini LSV/Jason Cain
- Video Crew Chief: Wes Jacobs
- Video Tech: Daniel Olson
- Tour Manager: Yvette Uhlmann
- Production Manager: Mark Woodcock
- Production Assistant: Katelin Johnson
- Stage Manager: Eric “Shakes” Grzybowski
- Rigger: Buddy Wambles
- Trucking Co: 46 Logistics
Gear
Lighting:
- 2 grandMA2 Full 3.6.1.1 consoles
- 3 grandMA2 NPUs
- 12 Robe BMFL WashBeams
- 24 Robe MegaPointes
- 12 Martin MAC Viper Wash DX’s
- 16 Martin MAC Quantum Washes
- 32 Elation Dartz 360’s
- 38 GLP JDC1 units
- 38 Elation CuePix WW2 blinders
- 4 Radiance Base Hazers
Video:
- 80 Martin VDO Fatron 1000mm
- 4 NovaStar NovaPro HD (Main LED Wall Processing)
- 112 Elation EPT6IP panels
- 2 Martin P3-050 System Controllers (for Fatron LED processing)
- 2 Custom Resolume media servers (Built by DWP Live)
Designer Insights by Steve Jennings:
Rob Bedford, LD, Lighting Programmer, Lighting Director for Bush
“For the Bush & Live tour design, we needed something that was going to work for two bands that were sharing a rig yet had to produce two completely different shows. It also needed to be modular and have the ability to be easily configured to accommodate a wide range of venue sizes.
“We played everything from sheds, amphitheaters, Stageline stages and even a couple of indoor theaters. A lot of thought went into the different ways we could strip elements away without impacting the original vision of the show too much.
“The video element, with combination of the solid LED sections and the Fatrons, was intended to create the illusion of having an almost solid wall encompassing the upstage area.
“There were also talks of having a lot of tungsten light everywhere and placing Cuepix all over which really created that look for us. The idea was also to keep the fixture types pretty basic (Spot, Beam, Wash, Strobe, Blinder) and not overcomplicate the design, since our preproduction time was limited and a lot of initial programming was done in previz.”
The bands asked Bedford and LD Graham Hicks from Live to work together on coming up with the design.
“We bounced a few ideas back and forth and this is where we landed. The bands were sent a few renders with a couple of key looks for the show and they loved it. A couple of fixture swaps happened and we removed one section of truss from the originally submitted design to accommodate truck space and the range of venues. Other than those things it was all pretty easy from the beginning.”
Gemini Lighting is the lighting company for the tour. Bedford says the company was great to work with along with the people working for them.
“Last year was my first time working with them on the Revolution 3 tour with Bush, Stone Temple Pilots and The Cult. The run was flawless, and I was looking forward to working with them again.
“When this tour was announced, they were the first ones I called when I was starting the design. Account rep Jason Cain is a wealth of knowledge and made the entire process from conception to deployment a breeze.
“In the end, gear is gear and you can get it from anywhere. I’m a people person and enjoy having a hard working crew that also enjoy what they’re doing. Jason and Gemini operate under the same mentality which makes every tour more enjoyable.”
Bedford came in knowing what fixtures he wanted, with just a couple of revisions.
“Originally I wanted Robe Spikie fixtures for all the Torms around the stage… we ended up using Elation Dartz 360s. This was a big point of contention at one point because I had never used the light and I was about to throw 16 of them in the rig.
“I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the capabilities of the light. It was able to convey exactly what I had envisioned with the originally intended fixture. The Fatrons on the video side were also new to myself and Gemini, so we were both figuring out the multitude of ways we could program them and ended up with a really cool result using them as a secondary video source and pushing them from our media servers.”
This tour and design were both really fun, Bedford adds.
“I never thought I’d be working with the band that was the first concert my parents dropped me off at solo. It’s made the experience that much more enjoyable because so many of the songs and lyrics played little parts in my life growing up. I walk away at the end of every show with a smile. The experience working with Bush and Gemini Lighting & Video is great, and I’m really looking forward to what else we can accomplish together in the coming years.”
More Bush & Live “Altimate” 2019 tour photos by Steve Jennings:
