American R&B singer Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, who works under the stage name H.E.R., is on the road with a new design. LD Charles Ford, working under his company Vue Show Design in Chicago, designed, and is directing the Back of My Mind Tour 2022. It’s a continuation of her 2021 tour but with a redesign of the lighting, he says. The rectangle rig of lighting—a distinctive look in the show—continues, however. “It was an idea from her that she allowed me to run with. She really likes the band being [lit from] above the video wall so that remained the same from the last run.”
Mason Ford, Charles’ younger brother, programmed and serves as lighting director. The two last worked together “a very long time ago,” the LD says. “When we were kids, we worked together all of the time. This is the first time our schedules finally aligned. It will for sure become a habit of ours going forward; it’s so great working with him.”
Chesney’s Here and Now
Production/Lighting Designer Mike Swinford was on hand to kick off Kenny Chesney’s Here and Now 2022 tour April 23 in Tampa, FL with Programmer Mark Butts, and Lighting Director Phil Ealy. The stage spans 220 feet and the rig consists of all LED lighting fixtures to reduce power consumption. Swinford says Chesney takes an interest in production. In further efforts to reduce its touring footprint, the production was made to fit into 19 trucks, down from the 24 trucks it would normally use on tours years earlier. Dates are set through Aug. 27, 2022, with a mix of stadiums and amphitheaters.
Jack White’s Supply Chain
Former White Stripes frontman Jack White embarked on his first solo tour in four years with the Supply Chain Issues Tour beginning in his hometown of Detroit April 8-9. Matthieu Larivée of Luz Studio says his design firm designed the creative direction, production, lighting, and video content. He describes the show concept as “a stage on a stage.” The challenge, he adds, was having no set list, and designing two different productions for the theatre and arena setups. Under Lighting Director Michelle Sarrat, the tour runs through August across North America and Europe.
Metal on the Road
LD Eric Price is doing double-duty as lighting director for Mastodon and Opeth on their co-headlining U.S. tour. “The original rig was designed by Mike Howe for the first leg last fall,” Price says. “I’m taking over and reprogramming [another console] and then I’m running both bands.” When asked what was different in the design of these bands, compared to other bands he normally works with, he says, “My normal gigs have a lot more ‘crowd sing-along’ parts. The biggest change is the song lengths. Opeth plays some really long songs, many clocking in around 10 minutes. A major part of the design revolves around the video content. It’s a nice, full rig with video and lasers.”
Nicolas Riot will be designing, and programming Mastodon for their European festival runs. Riot is happy to report that he’s “finally back on tour” wrapping up a 10-week UK run with RuPaul’s Drag Race, designed by LD Celine Royer. Prior to Mastodon, he’s headed to Madrid to work for a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician, Leiva, in a co-design with Pierre Claude. “It feels good to be busy again,” he says.
The Trinity of Terror tour features three bands: Ice Nine Kills, Motionless in White, and Black Veil Brides. Ryan Pervola, the lighting director for Ice Nine Kills, is carrying out a design for LD Alex Mungal. Lighting Director Emil Kaschak is running the show for Motionless in White, which Mungal also designed. Jon Eddy’s design for Black Veil Brides is carried out by Lighting Director Rodger Pugh. Although “terror” is in the title, Pervola says it’s fun, not frightening, and they’re having a great time on the road together.
LD Abner Torres is at the console for Queensrÿche, who open for Judas Priest’s 50 Heavy Metal Years. See feature article on Judas Priest’s tour in this issue, page 26.
Shucher Goes Full Circle
Michael Shucher was relaxing on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He had retired last year after his role as crew chief/head rigger on the Brothers Osborne tour. And then he got a phone call from the past. It was Tracy Lawrence’s manager asking if he wanted to return to the road as the country artist’s lighting director. “I did not hesitate and said absolutely! Over 30 years ago it was my very first gig that started my career,” he says.
Lawrence is currently playing a co-billing with artist Clay Walker and sharing the same band, which was created from half of each of their own bands, Shucher explains. “Because they are on stage together and tag in and out for this two-hour plus show, I decided to do it Opry style, simply, with very little whiz-bang and making sure the band is lit well from the downstage,” the LD notes.
Over the years, Shucher has worked with other artists including Montgomery Gentry, Alison Krauss, Jake Owen, and more. The only thing that has changed, he says, is the technology. “Thirty years ago, Tracy Lawrence was cutting No. 1 hits. My brother, Herb, was his drummer at the time, which is how Tracy and I first met, and we just hit it off and became fast friends,” he remembers. “Tracy saw a talent in me I did not see in myself. We have remained very close friends ever since, and I will be forever grateful for him for giving me the opportunity to have this wonderful career I have had for the last 30 years and to be able to retire from where I started. I mean, wow, who gets to do that? It is unheard of. Meanwhile, it feels great to be back where it all started. Like putting on an old pair of comfortable boots!”
Share your design news with Co-Editor Debi Moen at dmoen@plsn.com
