American electro-pop artist Ari Staprans Leff, who performs under the stage name Lauv, is currently on his All 4 Nothing Tour with dates running into December in the U.S. Designers Parker Genoway and Cory FitzGerald of Silent House, and Lighting Programmer/Director Will Flavin, spoke with PLSN about the lighting and video of the production, supplied by LMG.
‘Tangible, Creative, Interactive’
Genoway, who has been a personal fan of Lauv for years, jumped at the opportunity to support his latest tour alongside FitzGerald. Production & Tour Director Stu Berk was proactive in getting Silent House and Lauv’s team into the same room months prior to the tour to kick off what turned out to be an “awesome” collaboration, Genoway notes.
FitzGerald agrees. “We had been chatting with the Lauv team off and on to make things work since pre-pandemic times but finally were able to make this work as things started ‘turning back on.’ While the creative and even the music had evolved, we were keen to keep the conversations going and ultimately led to this collaboration.”
Claiming “tons of ideas” were thrown around in the early stages, Genoway notes that “Ari (Lauv) inspired us to create something that was tangible, playful, and interactive. He wanted to have a playground that he could run around and perform within. A first concept leaned less on video but with the interest in creating various different worlds throughout the show, it made the most sense to create a screens-heavy shape for him to live within. Ultimately, it provided a blank canvas for Blink-Inc. to create stunning visuals and creatively tie in I-Mag. The shape of the LED structure stemmed from the idea that most shows play with horizontal space, and we wanted to force ourselves to play within a more vertical canvas. We also raked the floor to ensure all fans could see the surface. It was a delicate balance of finding something that visually catered to the audience but was also safe and practical for Lauv to run around on. We also believed that although the bulk of the design was LED, it should be able to disappear when not being used. To do that, we covered the product in a reflective black finish that really allowed the wall to vanish.” The upstage center LED screen measured17’-8” W x 19’-8” H; the LED floor measured 18’ W x 24’ D.
FitzGerald says from the first conversations they always knew they wanted to create a “world” for him to be in, which changed through lighting and content. “But this space was unique. We landed with this design after realizing just how flexible and configurable it could be. He felt at home, and we were able to adjust the feeling around that and create continually changing spaces around him and his worlds.”
What made this design slightly tricky was how critical spacing and rigging was to the overall look. “The linear nature of it required precision,” says Genoway. LMG worked with Gallagher Staging & Productions to create custom raked decks for the LED floor and raked ramps for the gear on the sides. “All of these puzzle pieces needed to be set up quickly and seamlessly while retaining the spacing between elements. Stu Berk kept a tight watch over all of it and made sure that everyone was on the same page.”
FitzGerald—who had been working with Genoway first as a programmer and LD, then as a design partner— says their collaboration is a great fit. “We can build new ideas and let each other go off and bring back new inspirations that we work into the show, pivoting as needed with supply chain and gear issues, then with creative plans changing, even new albums and songs due to the time adjustments. Parker was able to take the ball and run with it when I was shuffling schedules and working together online to make sure we got it where we needed it.”
“Cory and I have collaborated on many projects,” adds Genoway. “What’s super exciting for me is that I have admired Cory’s work for years and now I get to benefit from all the wisdom he’s garnered from his countless projects he’s done. We get to bounce ideas off one another and can cover each other when one of us is tied up on another project. Between the two of us, we can do a fair amount of blue-sky dreaming and also lots of practical decision making.”
Pixel Mapping the Fixtures
Genoway knew they needed a linear lighting fixture, and the Robe Tetras stood out for being bright, with great color, and had the bonus of the flower feature. “Early on we discussed the possibility of pixel mapping the fixtures surrounding the screen. Through disguise, we were able to sample the content to create organic and complex looks that we could not have achieved with a traditional programming approach.” In addition, they needed a workhorse light with punch, and that brought them to the Robe Esprite. “The Esprites gave us that nice wide, washy color to paint the haze and could also punctuate with a tight beam as well. Utilizing the FollowMe tracking system, we were also able to light Lauv from the front, the back, and sides. We wanted to limit the amount of bleed on the screens to keeping a very carefully managed system for lighting Lauv as he ran around. It was essential, and the Esprites did just that. Overall, we were very happy with the various Robe products used on this tour.”
Using moving lights as key light spots has become “essential” to live shows, says FitzGerald. “The control of color, angle, texture, strobing, and cue-ability that they give is a genie that can’t be put back in the bottle. Creating key light moments that can be incredibly dynamic and base camera shots and I-Mag takes around is a huge storytelling device.”
Genoway notes that although this may sound cliché, what made this tour so special was the people. “We were able to collaborate with professionals who were excited to create something special. The FOH programming riser at rehearsals was a blast. So much creativity, so many laughs, and all-around amazing energy. One standout was Will Flavin. He was so fun to work with and constantly brought great ideas with speed. I always appreciate when a programmer is willing to try something out without shooting it down, and Will was willing to try anything. Ultimately it made for a super tight show, transitions and all.”
One other priority the team put in place was maintaining healthy working hours. “We all know it’s easy to pull wild hours, but we knew that we would be able to tap into our best work if we stayed healthy throughout the rehearsal process,” Genoway says. “That was possible because of ample previz time (thanks to Earlybird) and a comfortable amount of production rehearsal time at ShowBiz Studios.”
Programming with Flavin
Going into this tour, Lighting Programmer/Director Will Flavin had a fair amount of pre-production and rehearsal time, with roughly four days of previsualization and more than a week of rehearsal with the rig. “On the front end, we were able to get things structured as well as come up with a few different ways to integrate video into our system. This allowed us to avoid a crazy schedule when we had time with the rig,” Flavin says. They started with the band’s rough setlist going into and coming out of rehearsals. Throughout the tour, a few songs were added and moved around, depending on the city. They were able to get a base in for these added songs to then program later on the road. Lauv’s musical director, Rob Ernst, would inform them of any changes on the day of show.
Flavin had worked with Genoway on another project last year and was happy to come back and join them on this Lauv tour. “Parker always comes prepared and knows what he’s looking for ahead of time. Knowing what is expected from Parker makes my workflow much faster as we are able to get the structure of each song programmed quickly. Once I know Parker’s vision for the look I can later go through and continue to go through and add intimacy to the music.”
Flavin has used the Esprites on a few other projects, but this was a first using the Robe Tetras. “Going into this, we all thought the built in flower effect on the Tetras was going to be a bit gimmicky,” he admits. “I have to say when we found a place to use it subtly, it was a great addition to the tools we had. I was also pleased with the speed of the Esprites. This gave us a bit more versatility with some of the looks we could create.”
Flavin describes the production as “a video show with a side of lighting,” so it was important to come up with ways to tie lighting into the content from Blink-Inc.— one of which was merging the color information from the disguise VX4 media servers into the MA Lighting grandMA3 lighting console. This took a bit of time on the front end from the disguise side, but the programmer says it was “completely worth it,” adding they could program looks where the whole rig would change color with the content or have the option to make the Tetras be an extension of the LED wall.
‘LMG: A Fantastic Collaborator’
“The LMG team was a fantastic collaborator on the project,” says Genoway. “Craig Mitchell and his team were there with us every step of the way to provide solutions and alternatives when we hit roadblocks. It’s no surprise that touring in this season is very difficult. Limited gear, staffing shortages, and challenging logistics caused by a super-saturated touring market made it a huge challenge to make this show happen. We had to be flexible with what was available, but LMG was able to price out various packages and options to make sure we had a sufficient package.” FitzGerald agrees, saying, “LMG is always great about integrating things, so they work well with other departments and keep up with a busy touring schedule. They also helped a lot with the back and forth throughout with the post-pandemic issues we’ve all been seeing on gear and crew availabilities, making sure we had what we needed and when.”
FitzGerald concludes, “The people involved in this show made it what it was. From our incredibly creative and involved artist to the crew loading it in and out every day, this was a pleasure to work on and I look forward to many more!”
Production Team
Lighting Designers: Parker Genoway, Cory FitzGerald, Silent House
Lighting Programmer & Director: Will Flavin
Lighting Crew Chief: Brian Helming
Lighting Techs: Jessica Rushing, Colin Bishop
Video Director: Alex Castro, Tim O’Nell
Video/LED Crew Chief: Tim O’Nell
Video/LED Tech: Cameron Winters
d3 Programmer: Josh Boggs
d3 Programmer & Media Server Op: Alexy Castro
Robo Ops: Dallas Downin, Cameron Winters, Tim O’Nell
Production & Tour Manager: Stuart Berk
Stage Manager: Aaron Brooks
Carpenters: Cruz Zendejas, Dom Colella
Riggers: Yader Mena, Troy Roberts
Vendors
Lighting & Video: LMG /Rep. Craig Mitchell
Set/Staging: Gallagher Staging/Rep. Kyle Gallagher
Visuals Creation: Blink-Inc.
Trucking Company: Ozark Mountain Leasing
Gear
Lighting
2 MA Lighting grandMA3 full-size Console
2 MA Lighting grandMA3 NPU M
3 MA Lighting grandMA3 8 Port Node
74 Robe Tetra
25 Robe Esprite
12 Robe Pointe
12 Vari-Lite SL Nitro 510C
4 Master FX Mystic Hazer
2 F1000 Low Fog Machine
1 FollowMe Touring Rack
Video
2 disguise VX4 Media Servers with Notch
3 Panasonic Robo Cams
1 Blackmagic Design ATEM Switching Package
45 ROE Visual CB8 1,200 x 600 LED Panel, Wall
108 ROE Visual BM4 LED Panel, Floor
2 Brompton Technology LED Processing
