Nick Whitehouse
Lighting Designer & Programmer
Nick Whitehouse (Fireplay CEO) notes that this was the first time that Fireplay had worked with Dan + Shay, (American country pop music duo/vocalists Dan Smyers an Shay Mooney), adding that they do a lot of work for their management company and so when their first arena tour became a reality they came to Fireplay to help them turn some ideas into a viable touring design. “The first steps was a large meeting with Dan + Shay, Pat Tracy (the creative director), management and business management where we all sat around a table and discussed the creative ideas that they wanted to see, the budget and routing. We brainstormed a lot of ideas, the guys got very involved in what they wanted to achieve on the tour and so we came up with a concept we all thought worked, from there we created some renders, drawing and sight line studies and started talking to vendors to make sure that the design and concepts would work in the parameters that we were given. Luckily a couple of vendors stepped in and really got behind the tour and allowed us to make everything we had designed work for the budget.”
Whitehouse programed the complete show as it left rehearsals and through the first few shows, then Jeff Mathews took over with any tweaks and additions needed while it was on the road. “The guys are constantly evaluating the show and trying to improve it so having Jeff out there who’s a really creative LD was fantastic and I knew it was in great hands!” The back LED wall and LED risers were something that carried over from their previous tour and festival run. “Pat Tracy is an amazing video director and also created the content and it was really apparent to me that we needed to embrace the content as much as possible as it really took their brand and carried it into the live show. Pat’s content was superb so I wanted to give it more of a canvas, we took the back LED screen and made it really wide so that the content would have a far greater impact!”
The B-Stage was a combination of what Dan, Shay and Pat had envisage, then Whitehouse put his spin on how to make that work in real life. “We took the idea and added some wow to it with the lift, how it was lit with the outlines and then the idea of the reveal with the LED screen and FX. This whole design and the way the show came together was a lesson in why close collaboration between artist, creative and crew is so essential to make something really amazing. For the size of the tour and budget this show is pretty unbelievable and that comes from us all working together in the best interests of the artists. I’m very proud of the teamwork and what we created together.”
Gallagher Staging provided the risers on stage and SGPS provided the B-Staging and automation. Fireplay have had a very long relationship with both vendors. “They managed to create the stage we asked for with really cool automation that exceeded the design specs, we were all very happy with the end result and the work experience together.” PRG not only provided lighting and video they also provided the audio so it was a full 360 deal. This enabled them to provide a really competitive package and one point of contact for all things gear on the tour. “They went above and beyond to support Fireplay and Dan + Shay on this tour and are the main reason we were able to create a show as spectacular as it was. They believed in us and the artist, and we worked closely to pick equipment and create a design that was not only very versatile and impressive but also efficient for touring. PRG’s crew are very impressive… this was a very enjoyable tour to work on- from artist to management, tour management and vendors.”
Jeff Mathews
Lighting Director & Programmer
This was the first time lighting director Jeff Mathews had worked with Nick Whitehouse. Mathews says they worked very well together collaborating on looks and the general visual flow of the show. “I’ve been with Dan + Shay for around seven years, designing and programming the majority of their previous tours, and as Nick mentioned, Fireplay has worked with their management quite a bit with other acts, so it was no surprise that they were brought in to help with these guys as they scaled to headlining arenas. Nick is a great programmer and collaborator, is very creative and detail oriented, and I hope we get to work together again at some point.”
“A lot of the show runs on timecode, all of the SFX are manually fired and there are a lot of hits that are manual, but the show overall is chasing LTC. A few Christmas songs were added on the road as they were released, a couple of them by me and one by my friend Kyle Lovan as he was filling in for me while my daughter was born! It was a great tour from top to bottom and I can’t wait to get back to it this year!”
Dan + Shay – The Arena Tour
Production Companies:
- Lighting & Video: PRG/Burton Tenenbein
- Set: Gallagher Staging/Chris Glatfelter
- Automation: SGPS/Justin Summers
- SFX: Pyrotecnico/Rocco Vitale
- Trucking: On Tour Logistics
Production Crew:
- Production & Lighting Design: Fireplay
- Lighting Designer & Programmer: Nick Whitehouse
- Lighting Director & Programmer: Jeff Mathews
- Lighting Crew Chief: Patrick Sieg
- Lighting Techs: Brian Monahan, J. Travis Edwards, Caleb Cable, Kenneth Sheahan
- Tour Manager: Mike Gonzales
- Production Manager: Morgan Burton
- Production Coordinator: Christian Daulton
- Video Director: Zac Leonard
- Video Crew Chief: Robert Seagert
- Video Content Creator: Pat Tracy
- Video Techs: Dwain Bennett, Phillip Johnson, Jason Lebel
- Automation Operator & Programmer: Robert Flood
- Automation Crew Chief: Conrad Stafford
- SFX Tech: David Yarbrough
- Stage Manager: Fred Yanda
- Rigger: Daniel Wright
- Carpenter: Issac Thacker
Gear
Lighting:
- 2 MA Lighting grandMA2 full size Console
- 56 Vari-Lite VL3000
- 54 Claypaky Sharpy
- 10 Claypaky Sharpy Wash
- 36 GLP JDC1 Strobe
- 48 GLP X4 Bar 20
- 8 GLP X4 Bar 10
- 2 MDG theONE Fogger
Video:
- PRG V12 LED Tile (12.0mm)
- WinVision Air LED Tile (9.375mm)
More photos of Dan + Shay – The Arena Tour by Steve Jennings (2021):
