Production and Lighting Designer Louis Oliver and the Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches have built up a solid creative process over the years, which allows a large amount of creative freedom from the beginning of the design process. This is then honed with feedback from the band, as Oliver explains.
A Heavy Video Element
For the band’s latest North American outing supporting their album, Screen Violence, Oliver wanted to lean heavily into a video element for the production. To that end, he made use of 96 Triton Visual Technologies 5.9mm Black Widow panels mounted in touring frames. [Triton Visual Technologies was formerly known as Oracle LED Systems.]
He also redesigned the stage layout for the band, moving away from individual separate risers to one large split-level riser. All Access Staging & Productions provided the set and staging. “It is more grounded within the entire design and gives the band freedom to roam the stage,” Oliver says. “We designed the show over a period of about two months, working with All of It Now for video content. We programmed 24 songs, which allows the band to swap out songs when doing multiple nights in the same venue, although the set list is pretty much set in stone on a nightly basis.”
The designer notes that Felix Lighting has looked after the band’s U.S. touring since the beginning of the last album cycle and has been involved for the latest campaign. Felix appointed Global Trend Productions to handle the video screen rentals. “Nicole Barnes and her team at Felix have always been good to us,” Oliver says. “Patrick Scott, our production manager, looks after all our vendors.”
Avoiding Followspots
Lighting Director Greg Hill had three days of production rehearsals in Los Angeles. Due to travel restrictions and difficulties related to Covid, Oliver was unable to attend. “Louis has been using [Syncronorm GmbH’s] Depence2 as a visualization software recently,” explains Hill. “I was very impressed with the accuracy of the programming as soon as we started to run through rehearsals. There was very little to change, in fact. There were a few time coding alignments to make with both lighting and video. We had a pro grade video camera set up with both an audio and time code feed to record the rehearsal. This allowed for the alignments to be tweaked until they were in perfect sync.”
While 99% of the show is time coded, Hill notes that one thing that can never be programmed: inconsistencies. “We avoid using followspots on this show as they can be distracting to an artist,” he explains, “especially in a venue where they have a shallow position which can only be straight in the eyes of an artist, but would also, in the case of this design, bleed onto the video wall. Singer Lauren Mayberry is extremely mobile during the show and thus mostly I am tracking her movements across the stage with front light from the FOH truss. Louis has also set the show up in a way that allows for the intensities of each fixture type as well as the video level to be easily balanced show to show to suit the venue.”
Mixing Light Sources
Oliver specified the lighting fixtures for the tour design, and as the operator for the rig, Hill thought the choice and mixture of LED and lamp-based moving lights works well with the electronic synth style music of Chvrches. He explains some of those choices. “The [GLP] JDC1s have the speed to match the programming speed required with electronic beats,” Hill notes. “They are effectively a two-in-one fixture with a wash and strobe cell that can both be used at the same time if required. The [Robe] BMFLs add depth via backlight as well as dimmer effects that have a dimmer curve and soft textures that can only be achieved with a lamp-based moving light.”
Chvrches are embarking on their UK tour March 10-19, with festival dates to follow this summer.
Chvrches Screen Violence North American Tour 2021
Crew
Production Team:
- Lighting Designer/Programmer: Louis Oliver
- Lighting Director/Tech: Greg Hill
- Lighting Crew Chief & Stage Manager: Corinna “Blue” Johnston
- Video/LED Crew Chief: Kerry Higgins
- Tour Manager: Rebecca Travis
- Production Manager/Monitor Engineer: Patrick Scott
- Production Assistant/Merchandising Manager: Greer Burke-Anderson
Vendors:
- Lighting Company: Felix Lighting / Nicole Barnes
- Video/LED: Global Trend Productions / Isaac Campos
- Video Content Creator: All of It Now (AOIN)
- Set/Staging: All Access Staging & Productions
- Trucking: McCollisters
Gear
Lighting Control & Fixtures:
- 3 MA Lighting grandMA2 Lighting Console
- 28 GLP JDC1 Strobe
- 14 Robe BMFL Spot
- 4 MDG Hazers
Video/LED Gear:
- 1 Resolume Media Server
- 96 Triton Visual Technologies 5.9mm Black Widow Panels in Touring Frames
More Chvrches Screen Violence tour photos by Steve Jennings:
