Lighting Company
PRG North America
Venue
Various (Tour)
Production Team:
- Lighting & Production Designer: Jonny Kingsbury/Cour Design
- Lighting Director: Travis Stiwalt
- Lighting Programmer: Dane Kick
- Tour & Production Manager: Billy Reed
- PRG Account Rep: Anthony “Looch” Ciampa
- Video Co: 4Wall Entertainment
- 4Wall Account Rep: Mark Ganuza
- Video Content: Jonny Kingsbury
- Soft Goods: Sew What? / Rent What?
- Sew What? Account Rep: Marilyn Moss
- Staging Co: Stretch Shapes / Michael Yakel
Gear
- 1 MA Lighting grandMA2 Console
- 4 Claypaky SharBar
- 6 Claypaky Mythos 2
- 6 Chroma-Q Color Force II 72
- 2 Robe Robin 600 LEDWash
- 1 Epson PRO L1405 8,000 Lumen Laser Projector
- 1 Ultratec Radiance Hazers
Designer Insights by Steve Jennings:
Jonny Kingsbury
Lighting & Production Designer
Lighting and Production Designer Jonny Kingsbury says the inspiration for this tour design came from the Ashe music video Not Mad Anymore, noting there’s an arch and an old Hollywood movie theme throughout the video that inspired this design. “I chose to make the arch the central focus of the stage and felt like her fans would really resonate with this imagery. I love projection mapping—it’s like an old Hollywood practical effect.”
Kingsbury says Ashe was very involved in the process. “I would consider the design a pure collaboration between her and I. We started this back in December and spent a couple months going back and forth via phone calls and texts. That’s definitely the way I prefer to work; I appreciate when an artist is passionate about the stage design and puts in the extra effort to stay involved. I love this show, Ashe is such a special artist, and her energy on-stage is really something I hope everyone gets to experience at some point.”
Travis Stiwalt
Lighting Director
“For this tour, we had to be prepared to meet some radically differing stage sizes across America, Canada, and Europe. Occasionally the riser has to shrink down from 8’ x 8’ to a 4’ x 8’, during which we were limited on set pieces, only using our arch for projection and having to forego the steps up to the riser. Generally on these days the projector would move from its typical position at the downstage point of the riser to the downstage edge to maximize freedom of movement for Ashe and the band.”
Stiwalt had used Claypaky Mythos 1 and 2 prior to this on other tours and events, and was always very happy with them, saying they’re a beautifully full featured fixture. “For Europe, we replaced the Claypaky SharBars with Robe Tetra2, which added more than double the existing RGB pixels of the SharBars, and gave us the flexibility to add in the Robe flower effects which are a wonderful addition to the show, in both mine and Ashe’s opinion.”
Stiwalt more often than not has found himself bringing down the downstage wash, both carried and house, to limit the amount of washout he gets with the projection. “It really depends largely on the content that’s being presented. I try to make these adjustments on a per-song basis as the show progresses. As always, it’s a pleasure to work with Cour Design. Their aesthetic choices are spot-on, and they do a fantastic job of bringing the clients’ desires into reality. It’s been a joy to see the crowds on this tour, especially after the last few years of being limited on touring. I think the fans are as ready to be back as bands and crew are!”
More photos by Steve Jennings:
