During the award ceremony season, I like to reflect upon who and what we are really doing this for. As much as I enjoy the giving and receiving of accolades between my colleagues, I don’t smash buttons for them. Even though my clients are the ones signing my paychecks, I’m not working for them. Even the artists are not my end clients. Ultimately, I know that I am working for the audience. The fans that enjoy our shows are the ones that feed, clothe, and house us. I took some time to reach out and ask if they have ever cared, or even noticed the many hours and concerted effort that we put into our craft. I reached out to a few fanatics and asked them how lighting has affected their concert going experience.
My Mom
My mom has been to enough of my shows that she has a solid grasp on what I do. She may not understand the difference between a Martin MAC Axiom and a Claypaky Mythos, but she can definitely tell me what she likes and what she doesn’t like. She knows when a followspot is where it needs to be and when she can’t see her favorite performer. I felt comfortable asking her if she has ever been less than excited about the lighting at any of my shows. In her usual honesty, she let me know that she does not like it when the lights blind her. She doesn’t understand why lights need to come out and hit the audience in the face. “It’s distracting” she says. Taking her advice, as I advance in my career, I make a special point to blind as few people as possible and only illuminate them when necessary, or impactful. I take the time to saturate or zoom out any beams that will spend time in the audience. Audience blinders are necessary to bathe the audience in warmth, but fifty MegaPointes blasting down the pupils of the triple platinum VIP section is audience abuse.
Ashley McFaul
Ashley has attended more Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac concerts than any other concertgoer that I am aware of. She is not only a mega fan but also a close friend of the crew. I assume that she may have missed a few rent payments to afford flights to some of the shows in more exotic locations. She is one of the few groupies that my wife is happy to know that I am hanging out with. Her input is well received because she has a keen eye and insightful critiques. After asking her if she notices lighting, she kindly responded “One of my favorite parts of a concert is the lighting.” She says that “lighting helps navigate the story being told; it sets the mood.” I pressed her further and she doubled down “lighting can make or break a show. If the visuals don’t flow smoothly with the music, the whole show can feel disjointed.”
Lighting-wise, I asked her about the most amazing concert she had ever attended. My ego remained unscathed when she mentioned it wasn’t one of my shows. Right to my face, she said Flaming Lips. “I saw The Flaming Lips at a House of Blues a few years ago and seeing such a high lighting/visual show in a smaller venue was almost too overwhelming.” Without a shred of consideration for my feelings, she continued by saying “The Flaming Lips have a modern psychotic vibe to the whole show, the lighting creates a trippy feeling. You felt fully immersed in the show.” Not one care was given to my fragile ego when she pointed out that “It’s such a unique show where every moment feels intentional.” Her gentle honesty is well received.
Adversely, I asked if the lighting has ever negatively affected her experience. She didn’t take long to answer. “During Tom Petty’s last tour, the lighting was interesting and sometimes confused me.” I’m pretty sure that she is referring to the use of Kinetic Winches by Glow Motion Technologies when she says, “there were multiple rows of glass balls that would rise and fall to the music, but the visual would feel out of sync with how many of them were moving together.” When the technology does not complement the music, it can be more distraction than spectacle.
Jamie Ryan
Jamie has shown up to several shows that I have directed. She always offers to trade trinkets for a set list. She asks politely before the show and waits patiently for me to bring her treasures. She would never offer unsolicited critique but for this article, I chose to ask her opinion. Shyly, she revealed that “When an artist that I like lacks good lighting, I find it so noticeable. It feels like an unfinished painting.” I pushed a little harder and asked if she had ever noticed things like tempo and color. She was able to voice that “Lighting helps visually create the mood the song is trying to invoke. When it all lines up, that’s the true magic.” I think that Jamie understands that lighting is a creative process, not simply an algorithm produced by a computer.
Sound or Lighting?
I asked all three of my interviewees whether they notice the sound quality or the lighting quality more. The overwhelming response is that they are relatively equal. Even though no one goes home humming the lights, or bragging about the amperage of the speakers, the quality of both plays equal roles in portraying the artist’s message. Ashley put it best when she said “when a show starts, it’s probably the sound I immediately notice. When it’s bad, I hope lighting will save the show. But I’ve noticed if one is bad, the other tends to be lacking as well.” I didn’t ask for any specifics, but she was more than happy to offer up an example. “Bon Jovi 2018 was one of those shows. All I remember is the sound was bad, and there was a spotlight that pretty much just followed Jon around the arena.” She left disappointed. Disappointed by the lack of quality, this experience changed her view of Bon Jovi enough to reconsider future concerts.
Full Respect
After Taylor Swift’s unusual generosity, one question has been nagging me. I wonder if audiences look more favorably upon their favorite artists when they know that celebrities treat their crew members with respect. People like my mom, Jamie, and Ashley will rarely have an opportunity to let an artist know that they didn’t buy a ticket to the show because they heard they treat their stagehands like dirt. I’m happy to report that it unanimously plays a major role in their ticket purchasing decision. Ashley was kind enough to confirm my suspicion that “Respecting the people that make the show go on is so important.” “Without behind-the-scenes crew members, the show wouldn’t go on.” Even in rock ‘n’ roll, Ashley agrees that “treating people like people should be simple, even for the biggest artists.” The least a performer can do is be respectful of those people. The least that we can do is respect the audiences that come out en masse to support us.
Reach Chris Lose at close@plsn.com
