We caught up with the Eric Church tour in February and spoke with Butch Allen (lighting, set and production designer) and Rob Koenig (associate lighting designer, programmer and director) about the tour, which has exploded along with Eric’s popularity. Eric’s devoted fans in Salt Lake City got something extra when both band and crew got a bad case of the stomach flu. Instead of canceling the gig, Eric went on with the show solo, playing 19 songs with no fancy lights, video or stage production, just spotlights for a rare performance. He also told the crowd that they would get a free makeup show later in the tour.
Butch Allen
Lighting, Set & Production Designer
“I’ve been fortunate to have worked with Eric on a previous tour and even more fortunate that his ‘family’ of crew and management are the most hardworking, 100 percent, give every bit of heart, never say never, only one goal, dedicated skull f*$kin’ bunch of professionals I’ve had the pleasure to annoy endlessly. From the top down, this family is of one mind: support Eric, have each other’s backs, deny the doubters, and get the job done.”
Church’s conceptualized album, The Outsiders, inspired the tour’s visual concept.
“The tour’s visual concept required a very special environment. The stage itself is plain, bare, free of ornamentation. It kind of looks like we forgot to load in. Simple, that is, until the drum kit flies down from the rigging… but that’s another article. The basis of the stage form started with research into shapes of prison exteriors (that direction was taken from the album art). We found an English prison in the 1800s that shared a common shape with a modern supermax prison: A hexagonal/octagonal outer perimeter. That’s where the main performance area and surrounding runways were drawn from.
“The emotional heart of the design is more subtle. People in the side stage pits are isolated by ramps. The main down center stage audience pit is isolated by a barricade. The floor is isolated from the bowl by the dashers. In front of the stage and behind are individual areas. Pantographs drop down from the grid to form a cage that confines, lifts that look like metal spines rise up from the floor to form yet another barrier, giant 22-foot-tall towers across the back of the stage create yet another wall. But — insiders/outsiders — it doesn’t matter, all of us have been brought together by the music and Eric’s incredible energy, so that we can celebrate. Together. No boundaries can divide us. The album is a very inspiring piece, and Eric’s vision was very clear, so we moved from paper to reality without many alterations.”
Custom fabricated pantographs from Tait Towers descend from the lighting truss.
“Aaron Siebert and Robert Kubisen from Tait Towers were saddled with dealing with me on the front line. Tait is a team environment, and there are tons of folks in Lititz [PA] who contributed. We are grateful to all. The custom pantographs were an interesting R&D process that had a very successful outcome. Elegant in design, control and packaging, yet they appear like organic metal bayou snakes dropping from the trees as they embrace the stage during ‘Creepin.’ The lights at the bottom of the pantographs scan the audience with an unwavering eye as the pantographs stretch from the rig down to their full 30-foot extended length.
“Robert Roth and Christie Lites have been supplying lighting to the organization for years. They have provided great service and value. Robert, and Bobby Brachia, together with Christie Lites, built a complicated system in a very short amount of time. I had some crazy ideas I wanted to try for this show, and they made it happen. Christie has a great depth of equipment that was suited perfectly for this show. Rob and I had [Martin] MAC Viper AirFX, Mac Quantum, Philips Nitro, vintage light bulbs and Clay Paky Sharpy Wash/Spots in our ammo clip. Firepower, and then some.”
Regarding Eric’s video and content:
“Our video system was supplied by Screenworks. The video presentation is almost completely photographed and presented in B&W. Our director, Jay Cooper not only managed to keep over two hours of what is essentially 1950’s television fascinating, but also covered 360 degrees of performance space with a very modest camera package. Our engineer, Ron Larkin dealt with our wildly fluctuating key light angles and lighting levels with great delicacy. Jay and Bob made our only piece of content onsite using infrared cameras purchased at a bass pro shop… yeah, bass pro shop. A simple moment that has incredible impact and elicits a wide range of reactions from all that see it.”
It takes a team…
“It takes a team of people to get the stage ready for Eric every day, and it ain’t easy. From the tour manager, riggers, carpenters, electricians, truck drivers, our folks from Louis Messina, the tour office team, the band that accepted an unusual stage without their gear on it, our automated team, backline, Tait integrator and Sambo… you know, it takes a family to raise a show!”
“Rob Koenig has been programming Eric’s show for a while now and served as the associate designer on the show. I am lucky that Metallica’s schedule allowed for Rob to participate in this journey… He is amazing.”
Rob Koenig
Associate LD, Programmer & Lighting Director
Rob Koenig has been working with Butch Allen for close to 10 years now, on such tours as Paramore and The Black Keys. They’ve worked together with Eric Church since 2012, during which time they’ve established a shorthand form of communication.
“That’s not to say Butch can’t throw me some interesting curve balls. He does all of the concept creation and drawings for Eric’s tours. Butch is not only the lighting designer, he’s also the production and set designer. With all those responsibilities, he relies on me more heavily while we are in pre-production.
“We were allowed three weeks of pre-production on this tour — which was almost luxurious! Butch and I have done many tours where we have been given only one to five days before the first show. Having three weeks allowed us to make decisions on how each song should look and fine tune the overall tone of the show.
“When we left rehearsals, we had 24 songs done, but Eric loves to change it up and throw us a surprise or two. Programming is a never-ending process. Eric has a huge catalog of music, and enjoys playing every note of it, so part of what I do is to get new songs built, when time allows. There were many changes made in pre-production, most quite subtle but very meaningful. Butch envisioned this entire production, and the creation of it was very dialed-in by the time the trucks were arriving into Nashville.”
Koenig’s musical background helps inform his visual approach.
“I don’t like to over-think the look of the show beforehand very often. So many artists play so wildly different when they hit the stage in front of an audience, from what they put down on the record, and I would hate to miss out on that. When I sit behind the console, I just let the ideas flow. It’s not dissimilar of how I would play in a band or with another musician. I don’t sit around and think, ‘this big look should break down to this look and transition here’… I just let it happen organically as I listen to the music.
“The first song we programmed was ‘The Outsiders,’ which helped us set the tone for how the rest of the show should come together. Butch helped progress the show and create wildly different looks in ‘Devil, Devil,’ ‘Dark Side’ and ‘That’s Damn Rock & Roll,’ to name a few, and it transformed the vibe in the room. Butch is great at either guiding my direction or leaving me alone to create the look. We think in color very similarly, so that is certainly an advantage.
“Butch did a fantastic job on fixture selection and placement. The [Martin] MAC Viper AirFX is a fantastic fixture with an incredibly quick zoom and nice even color. The Philips SL Nitro 510C’s have a unique look to them. With a wide beam dispersion, they fill the room with light. Reminds me of having molefays with color mags. The strobe function is strong, but not blinding, which I think is perfect for this show. I do also enjoy how well the Sharpy Wash 330 complements the Sharpy Vector in the show.
“Working with Christie Lites and Robert Roth on this tour is a good repeat experience. Robert still has a great passion for what we do after all these years. The crew chiefs we have had (JT McDonald and Marc ‘Chainsaw’ Wurcher) have been top notch, and the crew are always pro.”
It all starts from the top…
“Eric is a fantastic person to work for. He loves to collaborate with us and is a one of a kind, in every way. Christie Lites and Tait have sent some fantastic crew our way to work with on this show. Everyone from the top down is now part of the ‘Church’ family. The core of the crew always greet everyone who is new to the camp with open arms, usually followed by a shot of Jack Daniels! It’s an absolute pleasure to be around these guys, and it is great to see a crew who have their artists’ back like these people do, knowing without a doubt, that Eric has theirs.
“I would like to bring up a particular element that we have in the show. The truss spots, which are a 360° spot chair, which have a very unique twist to them. There are two lights in each chair, one Martin MAC Quantum and one MAC Viper AirFX. Butch designed this into the show, and it provides us a variety of looks to choose from while the show is happening. Using the tight crisp ‘spotlight’ look from the Vipers, and having a large aperture LED head with rich color, proved to be incredibly useful for the show.
“Eric deserves every bit of the attention that he is garnering right now. It’s been a very long time since we have seen an ‘outlaw’ in country. He has no problem swimming upstream. He really enjoys the process of designing a show, without micromanaging it. He gives all of us room to breathe and explore what the show should look like, and always has a keen eye.”
Eric Church “The Outsiders” Tour
Crew
Lighting, Set & Production Designer: Butch Allen
Associate LD/Programmer/Lighting Director: Rob Koenig
Lighting Co: Christie Lites/Robert Roth
Crew Chiefs: Marc “Chainsaw” Wurcher (2015), JT McDonald (2014)
Lighting Techs: Brandon Leedham, Andrew Williamson, Todd Erickson, Bill Settle (2015), Lloyd Hurt (2014)
Video Co: Screenworks/Danny O’Brien, Randy Mayer
Video Director: Jay Cooper
Video Engineer/Remote Camera Operator: Bob Larkin
FOH Camera Operator/LED Tech: Russ Spann
Handheld Camera Operator/LED Techs: Chris Jones, Cory Mascari
Camera Operators: Jameson “Pork chop” Hyatt, Shane Huebner
Production Manager: Marc Earp
Tour Manager: Todd Bunch
Stage Manager: “Sambo” Coats
Staging & Automation: Tait Towers/Aaron Siebert
Automation: Sean Mullarky, Mike Rock, Clate Stewart
Riggers: Lance Stoner, Daniel Hayes, Kyle McDonnell
Trucking: Stage Call
Gear
Lighting:
2 grandMA2 lighting consoles
61 Martin MAC Viper AirFX fixtures
8 Martin MAC Quantums
46 Clay Paky Sharpys
25 Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330s
37 Philips Showline SL Nitro 510C fixtures
95 40W vintage light bulbs
1 60W vintage light bulb
6 Reel EFX DF-50 hazers
6 Jem ZR44 fog machines
Video:
1 Screenworks D7 7mm video wall
1 Ross Systems Carbonite C2 2 ME switcher
5 Sony HSC-100R Cameras
3 Sony BRC-H700 remote control cameras
Various small lipstick cameras across the set.
For more Eric Church tour photos by Steve Jennings, go to:
http://www.prolightingspace.com/photo/albums/eric-church-photos-by-steve-jennings
