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The Jonas Brothers “Happiness Begins” Tour

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JONAS BROTHERS © Steve Jennings

Lighting Co

  • Solotech

Venue

  • Various (Tour)

Crew

  • Show Producer: Baz Halpin/Silent House
  • Production & Lighting Design: Silent House
  • Lighting Designer: Alex Reardon/Silent House
  • Lighting Programmer: Eric Marchwinski/Earlybird Visual
  • Lighting Director: Joey Troup
  • Creative Director/Musical Director: Chase Foster
  • Lighting Crew: Harry O’Neill (U.S. Crew Chief), Anthony Michon (EU/UK Crew Chief), Mark Singelis, Martin Rondeau, Yolanda Do, Kevin Chan, J.S. Tardif (Techs), Lee Moro (Acct. Rep)
  • Tour Manager: Dave Licursi
  • Production Manager: Joel Forman
  • Production Assistant: Alicia Harnois
  • Stage Managers: Brad Stonner, Brian Bassham
  • Video Content: J.T. Rooney/Silent Partner
  • Video Director: Rob McShane
  • Video Engineer: Alex Castaneda
  • Video Programmer: Zach Peletz (Earlybird Visual)
  • Video Co: Solotech
  • Video Crew: Grant Draper (Video Op/US), Michael Hankowsky (Video Op/EU/UK), Pascale Boileau (Crew Chief), Martin Provost, Jonathan Gagnon-Roy, Toma Levert (Techs)
  • Pyro: Pyrotek/Nate King, Gregg Pearson
  • Staging & Automation: Tait
  • Automation Crew: Aaron Levy, Robert Moore, Brian Rohde
  • Carpenters: Kurt Jenks, Tracy Van Egmond, Kevin Levasseur, Gary Doerr
  • Riggers: Jerry Ritter, John Kehoe, James Brazil
  • Trucking: Upstaging (US), McGuiness (EU/UK)

Gear

Lighting:

  • 4          grandMA2 Full, LX main & backup, VX main & backup
  • 1          grandMA2 Light & Dimmer Beach
  • 119     Ayrton Khamsins
  • 105     TMB Solaris Flare Q+LR’s
  • 66       GLP Impression X4 Bar 20’s
  • 96       Ayrton MagicBlade-FX units
  • 18       TMB Solaris Flares
  • 15       Vari-Lite VL4000 BeamWashes
  • 16       TMB Solaris Mozart FLRs
  • 16       Tait Stage LED’s
  • 24       Martin Sceptron 10s
  • 6          Robe RoboSpot Control Stations
  • 3          Robe BMFL Followspots
  • 6          Robe BMFL Followspot LTs
  • 2          MDG TheOne hazers
  • 2          High End F100 foggers

Video:

  • Saco S9 LED
  • Disguise GX2
  • Barco HD30 Projectors
  • Grass Valley Cameras & Switcher

Production Insights by Steve Jennings:

PLSN spoke with lighting director Joey Troup about his experience out with the Jonas Brothers “Happiness Begins” tour that has continued into 2020. He mentions being in production rehearsals from July 15 through August 6, 2019, where he had quite a bit of time with the creative production team. “My experience is shared, I’m sure, by everyone they work with — I was inspired by their methodical planning and artistic workflow. Alex Reardon (lighting designer) has the amazing skill of verbalizing his vision in a way that you’re able to see it as well. Eric Marchwinski (lighting programmer) is the most ruthlessly efficient programmer I’ve ever seen in my life. Baz Halpin (show producer) cultivates a workplace that laughs a lot while maintaining a diligent and unwavering work ethic. My job description in this time was that of a sponge. I’d stay up on the all-nighters with Eric while he crafted the show, come in with the Solotech lighting crew in the morning to communicate any issues, desires, or changes from the creatives, and absorb as much as I could about the inner workings of the show I was soon to be responsible for maintaining.”

Troup says the Jonas Brothers show is about 99 percent timecoded, with the exception of a few manual advances for “hold” moments at the ends of songs, and the nailing of final hits to three “trashcan” rock ‘n’ roll endings. “The song cue lists themselves are even stitched one into the next, so it can sometimes be many songs before any of my input is required. The setlist has been very consistent, over the course of the tour, I’ve only had to provide looks for six additional songs, two of which never saw the stage. The largest aspect of my job on this project is calling spotlights. We have from 8-10 spotlight operators each show, most of them without the luxury of covering just one target for the night.”

Two fixtures immediately stand out to Troup as workhorses on this show are the Ayrton Khamsin and the Solaris Flare LR. “It seems there’s nothing the Khamsin cannot do. We utilize it as key light, our primary aerial effect, and its optical features allow for a lot of dazzling and creative ways to enhance the music. In conjunction, the Flare LR’s are used extensively. Catch them showcasing amazing color gradients, flame-dancing pixel tricks. Eric even made fireworks out of them. With unrivaled brightness and color vibrance, the Flare LR is a beautiful complement to the Khamsin. Thank you to the Jonas Brothers. Thank you to Baz, Alex, and Eric, for trusting me to maintain their meticulously crafted vision. Thank you to Lee Moro from Solotech and the entire Solotech team out here on the frontlines that have kept this ship in the air.”

 

More Jonas Brothers “Happiness Begins” tour photos by Steve Jennings: