Production designer Alex Skowron recently wrapped up the latest leg on his tour with the classic rock star John Fogerty. The singer amassed a wealth of hits while leading Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late 1960s and 70’s before embarking on a solo career that has spanned the last 30 years.
PLSN: What’s it like to work with an American Icon who sings about everyday life?
Alex Skowron: John is a very down to earth guy and one of the nicest fellows you could ever know. It’s an awesome opportunity lighting the classic songs that shaped early rock n roll.
How long have you been involved with lighting Fogerty?
I’m entering my fifth year. John has a pretty good routine of scheduling. We embark on a huge Canadian arena run every fall/winter, and then we pick up more dates in the spring. Summer time we play festivals, whether in Europe or here in America. This last year we did a summer tour that was half arenas and half sheds.
Which do you prefer to play?
Any time you can control the environment, it makes for a better show. So it always seems to look better indoors.
I notice a lot of modern technology hanging up there and loads of video.
I tell you what; John would be just as comfortable playing a gymnasium with the house lights on. He really just wants to play music. But he and his management know they have to back the music with a production worthy of his status. Lighting-wise, I have been using the [Martin MAC] Vipers as my main choice of fixture. They can do it all without claiming to be a hybrid fixture. For wash lights, I have been using the Clay Paky B-Eyes. Ayrton MagicPanels give me great beams. I’m still a fan of the Atomics when it comes to strobes.
What is your console of choice on this tour?
I run with the Martin M6 as my main console and use an M1 as my backup, tracking desk. My company, S&S Design Ltd., provides the front of house gear, from consoles to Catalyst media servers. Upstaging provides the lights for this artist.
You seem to have a lot of video elements.
Well, yes we do. That switches around each tour leg, depending on the size venues we play and budget allowed. I generally have a screen upstage center, usually a hi-def product from PRG Nocturne like their 7mm or 9mm walls. We refer to this as the Main screen. The one where you will see close ups of fingers picking and head shots. But we mix media in there quite a bit, as we have dedicated I-Mag screens off to the sides. Then we have secondary video above the front truss, behind or sometimes in front of the band risers. We have been using the V-18 and V-28 product from Nocturne for those elements.
Who directs the video, and on what gear?
George Elizondo does a great job. He actually comes from a family of directors, which is pretty cool. He’s got one of those new Nocturne flypack systems with the Kayak switcher built in. He cuts between four live cameras, three lipsticks, a robo cam and the media I feed him from FOH.
How do you choose your content?
John came from the California 60’s,when the peace protest movement was in full mode, and he wrote songs about the times. Some of our footage is quite literal, reflecting those times. Then on other songs we come up with something to augment the lyrics but not distract from the artist. For the song “Proud Mary,” we made up some content of a spinning paddle wheel on a riverboat to simulate the “Big Wheel Turning.” Lightswitch out of Chicago built all the media content for us.
Any specific takes on the lighting?
At times we take that literally as well. For a song like “Green River,” I will use the obvious color. For “Fortunate Son,” which is all about America and the war efforts, I almost have to use red white and blue. But I basically keep to just two colors per look; maybe three.
Who does the programming for you?
I tend to do all the lighting programming. We had networked two consoles sharing the same show file where I had Lightswitch guys program the video on one console while I edited the light cues on the other. Sometimes we would switch around and one guy would work on my console while I worked on editing video cues. In the end, I ran it all off one [Martin] M6. This board is just the best for me. Simple, and it does everything.
Who’s handling the pyro out there?
Strictly FX looks after us. All the visual elements on tour are from the Chicago area. Lighting, video and pyro vendors.
Fogerty is gearing up for a month long residency in Las Vegas, where you will be working nightly on the same stage. How do you prepare for that run?
We’re spending the month of January at the Palazzo Theater in the Venetian Hotel and Resort. Management did not wish to bring in the same touring show. So we just spent the last week at PRG’s previz suite reworking the entire show for this particular Vegas run.
I can’t imagine you fitting the whole arena sized system into a smaller venue, or are you?
That would have been tough. Instead, management brought in Vegas show veterans Raj Kapoor and Mark Butts to redesign the lights and visual cues with a whole different system. I knew all the cues, of course, and we were able to keep the show on the Martin M6 console. My friend Ed Motts helped with lighting programming while I looked after the video. The show has much more of a Vegas flair to it for this residency.
What did that entail?
A decision was made to make use of all the lighting fixtures in house. Then we built a huge wall out of 217 Ayrton Magic Blades behind the band. These make quite a statement.
Are you cutting the video size down to a single upstage center wall?
Yes, we will be using a single upstage wall. This was one of the redesigns that Raj and Mark incorporated into these shows. In the center behind the band is an 18 by 16 foot (WxH) video wall. It breaks down into four portrait-style screens that are 4.5 feet wide and hang on SGPS Whirlygigs. These devices allow for the four screens to separate and spin around. Mounted to the back of the video wall are the rest of the Magic Blades, so when the video goes away, the entire back wall is solid lighting.
What other challenges are there to doing a residency in Vegas with this act?
We were fortunate to be able to preprogram the show in a previz suite, but one knows that this only gets us half way done. Once we see the actual cues with live lights, we will have to spend quite some time tweaking the show. As far as other obstacles, we’re playing during the typical Thursday through Sunday run, and we’ve already been told that there will be two separate corporate events using the room on our down days.
What’s it like going into a smaller venue with a show that you are used to being surrounded by 15,000 fans?
The room size never really bothers me. It is challenging, though. You really have to be clever to get big looks on a small stage. Done correctly, you can re-create an arena show in a theater setting and still keep the integrity of the show. On the flip side, you can really dig yourself a deep hole if you did not plan accordingly.
What else is in the works for S&S Design these days?
I [recently] finished up a theater run in Europe with the Australian group, the Janoskians. Prince rehearsals are in the works shortly, with a design I gave them, and then I expect John will be itching to hit the road again when the residency run is finished and he’s relaxed a bit.
John Fogerty 2015 Tour
Crew
Production Designer/LD: Alex Skowron
Tour Manager: Bob Fogerty
Production Manager: Charlie Bradshaw
Stage Manager: Brian Kountz
Asst. Stage Manager: Wayne Rochette Jr.
Lighting Co: Upstaging
Lighting Crew: Glen Claytor (Crew Chief), Cristina “Kandi” Sepulveda, Mick Stowe
Video Co: PRG Nocturne
Video Director: George Elizondo
Video Crew: Roy Fountain (Engineer), Will Stinson (Lead LED tech), Ramon Pastrana (LED tech)
Pyro Co: Strictly FX
Head Rigger: Michael Mitani
Gear
1 Martin M6 lighting console
1 Catalyst media server
10 Martin MAC Viper Profiles
10 Martin MAC Viper Wash fixtures
8 Martin MAC lll fixtures
9 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures
8 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles
16 Clay Pacy B-Eyes
12 Clay Paky Sharpys
23 Elation Rayzor Q7s
22 Elements Krypton KR10s
28 SGM Q-7s
24 Ayrton MagicPanels
27 Martin Atomic 3000 stobes
8 2K Fresnels
5 ETC Source Four Lekos
3 DF50 hazers w/fans
42 1-ton motors
48 HUD truss sections
For more 2015 John Fogerty tour photos, go to http://plsn.me/PLSN-2015-Fogerty
