“Better to illuminate than merely to shine,” sings Jack White in the song, “Shedding My Velvet.” That may have been just one of the many cues Production Designer Matthieu Larivée with Luz Studio culled from discussions with White that became the design concept for the Supply Chain Issues tour. The Luz team does this brilliantly, using hues of blue and white exclusively in both the video and lighting brush strokes.
The tour stops at a variety of venue sizes from arenas and theaters to amphitheaters—with lighting, video, and audio supplied by Solotech. As such, the design had to be modular and scalable. With more than 100 songs in White’s repertoire, a set list that is nonexistent and his penchant for morphing each of those songs on a moment’s notice, the band needed to be in close proximity to one another for improvisation and communication purposes.
Subliminal Extravagance
On every live project, White likes to create a theme color to distinguish between his musical projects. For his group White Stripes, the theme was red. For the Raconteurs, it was green. This tour, like all his solo projects, is blue. “In doing this for him, we all get into the current incarnation of his world. For a moment, for two hours, you are drawn into this space. There’s no doubt, it’s Jack’s world when you see the blue scheme,” says Larivée.
The first step in the design process “was to define the space,” explains Larivée. “The design had to present a rock show experience for large audiences and small audiences, as well as give Jack the intimacy he needs onstage and to feel the energy of the crowd. Additionally, his name is Jack White III, and he likes when design elements are grouped by three.”
With lighting direction under the helm of Michelle Sarrat, and David Leonard shaping the video content, the production design is a grand experiment in subliminal extravagance. The two perform a live dance with the artist each night as band and crew anticipate an ever-changing setlist of songs, each of which vary in tempo and interpretation from their original rendering. No timecode here for these improv performances.
Says Leonard, “I think of Matt’s direction to us on how to handle his design is much like a riverboat captain negotiating his journey over a diverse and ever-changing waterway. There are constant moments of ‘what’s around the next bend?’ We are to keep the boat floating and off the banks, but it is entirely up to our discretion how we follow Jack’s lead.”
Adds Sarrat, “I’m excited as always to be working with the Luz team. Matt comes up with a beautiful design and we program it together. It’s really a creative experience; very collaborative—not just receiving direction. We never get a set list, so we remain constantly on standby with our busk pages to punt and improvise to adapt to Jack’s flow in the moment.”
Because of the lack of a setlist, Larivée created a system of “blocs” to make it easy for everyone to work together on the fly. “Jack does not play the song the same way. He can start with the James Bond theme riff and switch to Lazaretto. So, it becomes too reactive to follow up what he is doing. On top of lighting, there’s video content, live cameras, and automation. If those three departments are improvising based on the song, it will not look cohesive. Therefore, we have our own visual show flow. We created aesthetic blocs.”
He continues, “We start the show with no video screen, and we cannot use certain types of lights. Everyone can improvise within those parameters, and it remains cohesive visually. Then, Michelle and David Leonard talk to each other, and they say, ‘shall we move to the next bloc?’ In each bloc, video content and lighting pages are programmed together. The video content is also improvising as it is rendering live. It’s volumetric lighting within the screen. Automation is also set in each bloc.”
Carrying two MA Lighting grandMA2 full-size consoles, Sarrat says, “We do have 12 loosely programmed fan favorite songs that can be played no matter what bloc we’re in, they each have a unique look, some actual cues, and different accent buttons than the regular busk pages.”
Larivée says all the show crew is involved and on headsets. There’s one LD, one video content director, one video camera director, one Austrian [curtain] op and one lighting automation op, all following this show flow. “We can feel like they are part of the band because they have a direction, much of which comes from Michelle as she is most familiar with Jack’s songs and styles.”
Lighting a Stage on a Stage
“The scenic design concept is a stage on a stage,” says Larivée. “We are defining the space with scenic elements such as the curtain and performance stage. To light these elements, I needed some graphic lighting fixtures. The Ayrton MagicBlades on the side towers fit that need precisely. They can be narrow and create a linear line with the versatility to create a wide stage wash. The endless pan and tilt feature gives me the look I want to support part of the more modern sound of Jack White, with the whammy bar and bending tones.”
Larivée placed the Robe MegaPointe, one of his favorite fixtures, on the side towers. The compact and quick acting unit is able to produce a bright beam whether narrow or wide that features a gobo set as well. “It’s the perfect versatile fixture for me and can hold its own against our video wall,” he says. “The Robe BMFL WashBeam is also one of my favorite fixtures for washes.” These populate the three moving pods which are automated by the TAIT Navigator automation controller and TAIT’s ½-ton Nav-Hoist motors creating wide ambient washes and arrays of three beams for other song dynamics.
On the floor, the GLP JDC1 hybrid strobe—a “go to” fixture for Larivée—creates a band wash and silhouette looks. “I just use them as a wash and the tube for strobe matters.” They also use Robe Spiiders to light up the set and GLP impression x4 Bar 20s to merge the video screen with the rig.
Larivée further defines White’s space with an Austrian curtain downstage and a 40’ LED screen, using ROE Visual CB5 panels with ROE’s Air Frame wind bracing frames, which creates the back wall of his “stage on a stage” concept. “Part of the experience of a Jack White concert,” he says, “is to see him interacting with the band, to feel the fear or joy of the band when they don’t know what’s going on. Also, I want to control what the audience is watching. In order to capture that, you need video. We are using a lot of Notch VFX to embed the live camera into different set extensions and graphic world. That way, it doesn’t look like watching a DVD.”
Adds Video Director Leonard, “Luz Studio created something they call the reflection box. It puts you inside a box and then everything around it reflects the surfaces of what you do inside of it. Also, there is a camera inside of it that can be moved side to side to spin yourself inside of the box. Luz came up with a lot of great concepts and different things to do with it. So now we have a huge plethora of effects to choose from at any time.”
Larivée uses the curved Austrian curtain truss to define the edges of the performance stage and merge the screen with all the other scenic elements. “When we are playing with the curtain all the way open, we leave a 5’ belly as a border to set this theater vibe. The idea of the curtain was to create a theatrical moment at the top of the show. When Jack hits the stage, we don’t know what he’s playing, he’s testing the audience. We used a Super-Vel product from Sew What?. This is a see-through product that allowed us to create shadows and play with lighting and the band until we find out just what the first song will be. Then, the curtain goes down to a 12’ trim and we play within a club vibe. Even the lighting tracks.”
He points out, “A restore cue brings everything to full trim and we can always come back to that club vibe for quiet moments. All the automation allows us to create moments in the show. We have automated truss, pods, and curtain moves. Even the performance stage is mobile.” For opening acts, the performance stage plays 10’ upstage of the fire curtain line. “Once the Austrian is flown out, we move the performance stage closer to the audience by bringing it all the way to the downstage edge. Jack is now performing at a 2’ height next to the audience. The entire stage moves are created by staging company All Access; a crazy piece of automation that is only 4’x4’x1’.”
All Access Staging and Production, Vice President Robert Achlimbari explains, “All Access supplied the band riser rental decks with a customized split level rolling support structure that incorporated a mobilator. The mobilator is a proprietary design we developed and have refined over the years. In this instance the 4’ x 4’ unit is controlled via show control. In addition to the staging, we also supplied the Austrian drape system with custom corner units. Both the Austrian drape system and the mobilator are controlled via Creative Conners’ show control.”
AI-Created Visuals
Of the video content and components, Larivée notes, “We designed everything in 3D and used Notch for this one because it had to be live. All the volumetric fixtures are rendered live, just like real fixtures. There’s been a nice improvement from the software since 2018. The challenge with 3D graphics is the lighting. It often looks like a video game and does not merge well with the stage lights. This is our craft; our DNA, and we want to make sure it looks like one show and not a stage with graphics. I am really proud of the R&D done on this show to enable all the control in real time. In the warehouse scene, we have added some virtual GLP x4 Bars on all the pillars. A spinoff of a lighting installation that took place in a warehouse, we can have live control of the virtual x4 Bar cells.”
He adds, “Additionally, through the R&D done on this one, we have used AI (Artificial Intelligence) for the first time to create visuals. Jack was super open about it because it reflects his world, but the outcome is analog and not disturbing. It’s like a fractal loop, it loops while not over-staging the performance but still creates a nice mood. My colleague, Dave Pawsey, is doing a master’s thesis with this technology, and he bought it to the table. It’s really fascinating. He used this technique to get some diversity into our show for a certain type of music.”
Larivée says the tour vendor, Solotech, offers a global service but with the personal attention of a small company. “As a French Canadian, I’ve known Solotech for over 20 years and I know what they can do. Jack is touring the world and he does it by short [itinerary] legs. They do have that worldwide solution; they are big enough to have the gear, but they have account reps who understand the kind of production that we are dealing with and are creative in finding ways to help and support. The fact that it is a one-stop shop helps because the road crew helps each other on the road. It’s not lighting, video, and audio. They are all there on the road for the same show. Nowadays, within a post-Covid but not yet over Covid world, that kind of value is essential and really stands out.”
Jack White Supply Chain Issues Tour
Production Team
- Creative Direction, Production, Lighting, & Video Content: Luz Studio
- Tour Manager: Lalo Medina
- Production Manager: Adam “Cutty” Richards
- Vice Tour Manager: Blossom Wright
- Production Supervisor: Nina Tomayko
- Stage Manager/Rigger: Chad Brouillette
- Stage Manager/Backline Tech: Paddy Thomas
- Lighting Director: Michelle Sarrat
- Lighting Crew Chief: Kevin Chan
- Video Content Director: David Leonard
- Camera Director: Tyler Chappel
- Video Engineer: Megan Brandenburger
- LED/Server Tech: Olivier Tremblay
- Stage Automation: Nicholas Berg
- Lighting Automation: Sebastien Valin-Lemay
- Lighting Techs: Eric Cere, Chris Baldwin & Louis Brodeur
- Auxiliary Lighting Helper: Vincent Cadieux
- Lead Truck Driver: Sylvain Lagacé
- Luz Studio Team
Creative Director, Production and Lighting Design: Matthieu Larivée - Creative Producer: Marie-Christine Dufort
- Video Content Director: Dave Pawsey
- Interactive Designer/Server Programmer: Philippe Marquis-Descoteaux
- Lighting/Production Design Assistant: David Rondeau
- Notch Designer: Simon Rouhier
- 2D/3D Motion Designers: Maxime Lortie, Sébastien Deschênes, Maxime Rouleau-Villeneuve, Camille Joubert, Émilie Fortier &Jeanne Joly
Vendors
- Lighting, Video & Audio: Solotech
- Staging & Automation: All Access Staging and Productions
- Automation & Hoists: TAIT
- Soft Goods, Austrian Curtain: Sew What?
- Trucking: Truck’N Roll
Gear
Lighting
- 2 MA Lighting grandMA2 full-size Console
- 4 MA Lighting grandMA NPU
- 82 Ayrton MagicBlade FX
- 63 Robe BMFL WashBeam
- 18 Robe Spiider
- 36 Robe Robin MegaPointe
- 3 Robe BMFL FollowSpot
- 1 Robe RoboSpot Controller
- 28 GLP JDC1 Hybrid Strobe
- 12 GLP impression X4 Bar 20
- 5 TMB Solaris Mozart Original
- 1 Martin VDO Sceptron 10 1m
- 1 ETC Source Four Mini LED Ellipsoidal
- 2 MDG theONE Atmospheric Generator
Video
- 2 disguise gx 2c Media Server
- 1 Ross Video Switcher System
- 105 ROE Visual CB5 5.7mm 600mm x 1,200mm Panel with Air Frame
- 21 ROE Visual CB5 5.7mm 600mm x 600mm Panel with Air Frame
- 3 Marshall POV Cam
- 1 Panasonic Robot Cam
- 1 Handheld Cam
Scenic & Automation
- TAIT Navigator Automation Controller
- TAIT ½-Ton Nav-Hoists
- Creative Conners Show Controller
- All Access Band Riser Rental Decks
- All Access Split Level Rolling Support Structure
- All Access Mobilator
- Sew What? Super Vel Austrian Curtain
