Michael Bublé’s longtime show designer/LD Kurt Wagner and the crew followed a playbook of Covid precautions on tour and returned home safely. There were no positive Covid tests—not a single case of the virus within the camp of 116-plus crew, 17 trucks, nine buses plus 16 local string musicians per day. Production Manager Craig “Fin” Finley shared this victory with Designer Watch. “We’ve just finished 24 shows in America that were rescheduled a bunch of times from early 2020, starting Sept. 9 in Allentown, PA and ending Oct. 28 in Jacksonville, FL. We are all grateful to have made it back to work. To restart, we did our homework, listened to the science and the industry, and were very disciplined on the tour. Everyone on the tour had to buy into our plan and they did.”
Finley spells out the details of the rules of the road that he and the crew followed. For starters, patrons had to be vaxxed or negative tested to attend, and everyone on the tour was vaccinated—a tour must—and was still tested.
“We had an epidemiologist / consultant visit the start of the tour to speak to us and be available for questions, guidance and updates at any time,” Finley says, noting that “his guidance on the truths and myths of Covid and how we needed to focus our attention was critical.”
Finley adds that “we shared information with the tour party as often as needed about developments and changes in protocols, especially playing through hot spot markets and what we required in these markets.” In addition, “we masked everywhere, every day with proper masks: KN 95 or better. No one got to wear their cool bandana.”
Furthermore, “we didn’t go to four pubs on days off. We got a lot of takeout and ordered a hell of a lot of UberEats and drained the bus stock regularly. We sat on patios by ourselves or out behind the buses. No bus hopping!”
Also, “we placed high quality HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter) air units on stage, two each on the buses, and in every room backstage.”
And, “the venues followed our specifications for testing, masking, deep cleaning rooms, air filtration to the best of their abilities and often beyond.”
As for tour catering, things “worked out just fine. Lots of Plexiglas dividers and no self-serve. Dedicated meal times were needed so we didn’t jam up in catering. Locals and the house could not be in our catering and were wonderful in working with us on meal solutions and so on.”
Plus, “every person in the building masked all day, and if they didn’t have the proper masks we specified, we covered it from the tour supply,” Finley says.
“We specified rapid testing of all necessary locals every day and paid for that and the time all the locals waited to be tested,” budgeting for an hour earlier for everyone. “We carried a tester who PCR-tested the entire tour twice a week or more, with rapid tests if you were feeling off or if you asked,” Finley adds.
Guests, family, friends were given tickets only. No backstage access or opportunity to mingle with tour staff.
“In the rare cases where we had someone in, like a rep from sound and lighting companies, we rapid tested them, and they weren’t allowed in until we had the results,” Finley says. “We did the same with the local string section each day — we tested them in a tent outside or similar, then allowed in with a negative test,” he adds.
“Everyone local that interacted with us was tested as we were never 100% certain of their vaccinations. And you can be vaxxed and have Covid!”
Finley says this policy allowed them to finally “close the door” on the tour, which began in February 2019, ending with a count of 135 shows and 40 countries. “There was a big price tag for all of it,” Finley confirms. But the end result was what he aimed for. “We are all incredibly thankful and proud that we had not a single positive test. Not one. Our people felt protected and able to work and bought into what we needed to do to be safe. There’s a path forward that likely won’t be this complicated, but we believe we did it properly.”
Designing Dance Gavin Dance
“Fans came out strong,” says LD Justin Wade, about the Sept. 7-Oct. 20 tour for rock band Dance Gavin Dance, which had been rescheduled several times until it finally came to fruition. To set it apart, he designed it with a “twist.” Wade explains, “I wanted something different from the standard angles and tower looks typically seen in ground-based lighting rigs. I tried to focus on a layout that created set pieces out of lighting and gave the whole rig a more twisted and wonky aesthetic, while still giving me the flexibility to create a fluid show in the air.” His design allowed the tour to be scalable and spreadable or condensed to fit multiple sizes of stage, while still conveying a big look regardless of venue capacity. “It condensed down well when needed and I believe we managed to get the entire rig up at nearly every show,” he notes. The backdrop behind the band is the Afterburner album cover artwork, which the tour was promoting.
TSO Returns In-Person
Last year, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra performed its annual holiday production via livestream for the first time. This year, TSO returns to strike up the seasonal cheer in person with its identical and simultaneous East and West Coast U.S. runs. Longtime Creative Designer Bryan Hartley is traveling on the East Coast itinerary with Errol Reinart as crew chief and David “Gurn” Kaniski as Hartley’s “FOH guy.” For the West Coast route, Michael Keller is lighting director for Hartley’s design, with Tom Horton as Keller’s “FOH guy” and Jason “Attaboy” Stalter as crew chief. Hartley is pleased to be back on the road with his crew of choice. “I’m very happy to have all these guys on the TSO 2021 tour,” he said. “We had a great time in rehearsals!”
Lighting Chicano Batman
Los Angeles-based band Chicano Batman is currently touring around the U.S. without an LD. But for special hometown shows, they call on LD Ricardo Rojas to work his lighting magic onstage. Describing them as “rock with a bit of psychedelic, trippy sounds,” Rojas says the band has been bringing him in since 2017 with a carte blanche mandate. “They have full trust in me, and allow me full creative freedom,” he says. “I take that responsibility seriously, and try to push boundaries, to do something different and impactful within the confines of the budget.”
For their recent sold-out shows at The Shrine Expo Hall, Rojas counted on a circular truss to give him the flexibility he needed for “beamy, geometric shapes and washed out vibes,” he says. “This particular design was inspired by one of their new songs, ‘Dark Star.’ The song really resonated with me. Their music is dynamic, theatrical and thought provoking. My goal was for the design to reflect those qualities, and also to highlight the band’s incredible performances. I wanted to match their energy on stage with the design. I’m super proud of this one, one of my favorite projects I have ever worked on.”
His career inspiration was sparked with the Daft Punk Alive tour in 2007. “I saw that show and it completely changed my way of thinking. I didn’t realize lighting and video could transform a show. When that happened I was never the same. I knew I had to do this. Who are these people who do this? I had no idea, no friends in the industry. It was hard to get in but once I found my way,” he notes, “it was my calling.”
Reach Debi Moen at dmoen@plsn.com.
