A fog of uncertainty hangs in the air from continuing cancellations and rescheduled dates to 2022. Yet there are some signals of a return to normal. The recent launch of The Eagles (LD Steve Cohen), The Rolling Stones and Genesis tours (both by Woodroffe Bassett Design) offer a warm reassurance: “Ah, the big ones are out there. All will be well.” Designer Watch rose above the ground clouds to check with other shows in the works or on the road.
Designing for Megadeth
Jon Eddy, who has designed for Danzig, The Misfits, Deftones and the recent PsychoFest 2021, embarked on his first production design/lighting design for Megadeth. Their “Metal Tour of the Year” run also features Lamb of God and special guests Trivium and Hatebreed. Lighting director Ruben Laine kicked off the tour in Texas in August, with Dan Arnold taking over mid-tour to the Sept. 28 end date. The final three Canadian shows in October were just rescheduled to 2022.
“Working with Megadeth mastermind Dave Mustaine has been amazing,” says Eddy, who also programmed the lighting. “[I’m] straight up working with a legend in the metal world. I totally respect and appreciate that Dave is very involved with his show and understands how to communicate his ideas — not to mention that at the age 60, he still goes out and shreds his set every single night. I was able to take his vibes and put together this rig through my own interpretation/vision. I focused on creating an all-inclusive canvas from top to bottom that would work together cohesively with lights/video as one.” Stephen Steelman of Brigantine Films created the new content. “I love the 3D animation he’s been creating for us based on Vic Rattlehead, Megadeth’s illustrated mascot,” Eddy notes. “This show has taken teamwork to make the dream work, and it’s working real good.”
Strait to Vegas
George Strait’s longtime team is back together with production manager Paul Rogers and LD Stacey LaBarbera driving the crew. LaBarbera started working with the band in January 1990. “It feels great being back to live shows,” the LD says. “There’s a totally different design coming back into things in 2021.” Rogers was also happy to be back, saying, “I’m doing all I can do to outrun Father Time. As long as George wants to work, I’m going to do the same. We have shows booked through 2022.” The country star started up Aug. 13-14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for his “Strait to Vegas” residency, returning in December and into February 2022. Along with other stadium shows, Strait headlines both weekends of the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October.
Farm Aid In Person
After going virtual in 2020, Farm Aid returned in person this year. The 36th annual event took place Sept. 25 at Xfinity Theatre, a 30,000-capacity outdoor venue in Hartford, CT. Charlie Hernandez says he was again handling the production design with Jason Robinson, who is also serving as lighting designer. All artists were donating their performance and travel and performance expenses for the benefit event for farmers.
Santana, EW&F Return
LD Michael Ledesma started up Carlos Santana’s Las Vegas run at House of Blues with an updated design for this year. “An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live” already played its August and September run, with four weeks in November and December shows to come. In the meantime, his Blessings and Miracles tour began Sept. 11 and runs to Oct. 2 in the U.S. The LD says it’s the same design as 2019, with just a few changes. “I am so happy to be back to doing shows again,” Ledesma says.
In June 2022, Santana joins Earth, Wind & Fire for the “Miraculous Supernatural Tour.” EW&F is already on its own headlining tour starting in September with LD Jef Benjamin. “We have a fall tour with a new slimmed-down, lean-mean-lighting-machine design in place,” Benjamin says.
Silversun Pickups
LD Eric Cathcart resumed shows with Silversun Pickups in September, with lighting director Michelle Sarrat operating the bulk of the dates. “In November we are going out for a few weeks with the rig that we had when everything shut down in 2020,” says Cathcart, who will then return to the console.
Clapton’s September Songs
Eric Clapton embarked on an eight-city U.S. tour in September, his only dates in North America this year. His European dates were rescheduled to 2022 because of Covid restrictions. Dave Maxwell of Bright Red Design was again the LD.
Bayside, Senses Fail
LD Eric Price has two bands, punk rockers Bayside and post-hardcore band Senses Fail, kicking into action Aug. 28 to Oct. 5 in the U.S. Price is running both bands. “Lots of daily changes with the setup due to the varying sizes of stages,” he says. “Mobility and versatility were key in the design. The four pre-rigged lighting carts are on wheels and completely pre-rigged, so daily adjusts are easy and I am only carrying three cases for console, feeder and snake. Everything else rides on the carts.”
Cruise News
Cruise lines are ramping up their onboard entertainment, ready to return to ports of call. LD Rachel Mullen was asked back by Norwegian Creative Studios as lighting designer for their four musical shows on the Oceania Riviera cruise line, sailing from Istanbul to Venice. “The last show I did with Norwegian was from Singapore to Australia right at the start of the pandemic, and I flew home on March 18, 2020, just a few days before Australia closed down to non-residents,” she recalls. An onboard LD will operate the shows, with most designs running about six months.
Matt Guminski is another LD who recently returned to the ship in France. “Al Crawford of Arc3design brought me on board the Celebrity Apex to design seven shows for a space called Eden. It’s a bar/lounge area that’s turned into a performance space. On cruise ships, the rigs are specified for fixture types. You are given the fixtures and the space, and you design with what you are given,” he explains. Guminski was on the Mediterranean for seven weeks, two of which were in quarantine.
Yumi Matsutoya
LD Theo Cox, who divides his time between Australia and the U.K., flew to Tokyo to craft another touring production for Yumi Matsutoya. He says Japan’s “big name old school pop star” is performing only in her home country on this run, starting in September.
Emmys Honor Creative Arts
On Sept. 12, the Television Academy presented its Creative Arts Emmy Awards to honor artistic and technical achievement in television. Lighting designer Rob Sinclair and lighting director Brian Spett won for David Byrne’s HBO American Utopia for Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special. NBC’s Saturday Night Live show hosted by Adele won for Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Series. Taking home the honors were lighting designer Geoffrey Amoral and lighting directors Richard McGuinness, William McGuinness, Trevor Brown and Tim Stasse.
Back on the road? Toot your fog horn by sending Debi your news at dmoen@plsn.com.
