“We’ve been working on this show for a long time… I think it’s gonna be my favorite tour that we’ve done.” Twenty One Pilots’ Josh Dun told a Chicago radio interviewer as the Grammy winning duo was about to kick off their 70+ date “The Clancy World Tour.” Based on the responses of critics and fans after the band’s first shows at Denver’s sold-out Ball Arena on August 15 and 16, there are a whole lot of people who are going to agree. More than performing a concert, the band is treating fans to a musical journey of epic proportions on this tour, as their 28-song set (taken mostly from their current album “Clancy”) defines the compelling narrative that they have been developing over the past decade.
Lighting and production designers Tyler Shapard and Dayne deHaven of District 5 got into the narrative spirit of this tour, creating a show that (like the music of their clients) was deep, multi-layered, and constantly evolving. “On this tour, as always, we set out to tell a story,” commented Shapard. “A huge part of telling that story is how the production is slowly revealed throughout the show. We never want to show the audience too much too quickly, and have the show feel stale.”
“This particular show is broken up into three main acts,” added deHaven. “Each act reveals a new part of the production and uses the existing pieces from the previous act in new ways so that every part of the show feels new and exciting. For example, we don’t move a single lighting fixture until the end of the third song. Instead, we use automation to move entire sections as one fixture. The production grows and shrinks for the entire show with the mid-stage video wall being a major factor that shows the growth from Act 1 to Act 2, and the content and video is the main shift from Act 2 to Act 3.”
A collection of 63 CHAUVET Professional STRIKE Array 2s supplied by Solotech helped Shapard and deHaven achieve the powerful looks they were after. Positioned throughout the rig in the show’s massive stage, which has a 61-foot downstage trim, the high output warm-white blinders serve as the design’s primary crowd light.
“We positioned them on almost every truss face and show,” Shapard said of the fixture. “Anyone who has ever been to a Twenty One Pilots show knows that the audience is the show! So, seeing the crowd is of utmost importance. We rely on the STRIKE units to light up the room with the soft warm glow that feels inviting, without being too harsh on the eyes.”
The stage on this tour is divided into two sections, an upstage one that measures 56’ wide, by 26’ deep, by 7’6” tall, for production; and a downstage one for the band that is 56’ wide, by 20’ deep, by 6’6” tall.
“Stage size is everything when it comes to designing a show like this,” said deHaven. “We needed to make sure we had enough space for the band to be comfortable, while also making room for all of the production elements, SFX, cameras, etc. The different heights were also important for access and movement during the show.”
Working closely with Mark Eshleman, the band’s creative director; Chris Schoenman, content creator; Chris Woltman, band manager; and Matt Doherty, production manager, as well as Dave Evans and Lee Moro of Solotech, the two District 5 designers created a show that flows in sync with the sound of Twenty One Pilots.
“I like to think our design helps fuel the energy of the music,” said deHaven. “We strove to highlight and accentuate the band’s performance without taking away or distracting from it. We go big when the music calls for it and stay small when it doesn’t. At the end of the day, it is all about the two gifted artists on stage. We are just the cherry on top that makes you feel the dynamics of the music they are playing.”
For more information, please visit www.chauvetprofessional.com
