Chris Werner Design is making spirits bright at Saks Fifth Avenue’s “Theater of Dreams” holiday display in Manhattan. As lighting/media designer, Chris Werner worked with Dan Efros, associate designer and content creator, on the 10-
story tall pixel-mapped light show set on the facade of Saks’ flagship Fifth Avenue store. The display entertains passersby every 10 minutes with digital animation magic until Jan. 2, 2019.
Garth, Seger & Groban
On Dec. 2, CBS aired the “Garth: Live at Notre Dame” special, the first-ever concert at the university’s Indiana stadium. LD Robert Peterson was the TV lighting director for the Oct. 20 event, with LD Dave Butzler handling Brooks’ concert lighting, as usual. Peterson is also celebrating 42 years working with Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, whose farewell “Travelin’ Man” tour resumed in late November and continues into 2019. Chris Stuba returns to run Seger, turning over his Brian Wilson tour to lighting director Chaz Martin. Peterson also found time to lend his lighting touch to a PBS shoot of Josh Groban’s Bridges tour at Madison Square Garden.
Applying Treatment
Designers Willie Williams, Sam Pattinson and their team at London’s Treatment Studio are finishing the European leg of U2’s tour, including new content for the tour leg’s final (and filmed) show, staged Nov. 13 in Berlin. They also designed and programmed all the content in Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, in partnership with Elton’s in-house creative team leads Tony King and David Furnish. Work wrapped on the Louis Vuitton “Time Capsule” exhibition in Toronto, and they’re now in early-stage tour talk with Michael Buble and Shawn Mendes.
The Tribe Stays Busy
Bruce Rodgers and Tribe Inc. just wrapped their latest Dierks Bentley “Mountain High” tour, Miranda Lambert’s “Bandwagon” tour, and Tribe’s 12th consecutive year designing the 52nd CMA Awards. Tribe’s designs for Romeo Santos, Chris Stapleton, and Cirque Du Soleil’s Volta and his co-design with Daniel Slezinger and Tyler Shapard for the Twenty One Pilots tour run into 2019-2020. For the new year, Rodgers is also designing a Cirque du Soleil Show, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on HBO and his next Super Bowl LIII (53) Halftime Show design in Atlanta.
Ed’s New Developments
LD Ed Warren debuted the Mumford & Sons show with a new “in the round” concept, where the stage spans the whole width of the arena. It was a year in the making, a co-design with his “old buddy” Phil Kaikoura. Warren’s other long-term project in its infancy is a collaboration with his wife, who launches a new bundle of love into the family in April 2019.
Welcome to the Team
Mandylights’ Richard Neville welcomes designer Steve Bewley to the full-time U.K. team. Bewley’s current tours include 5 Seconds of Summer, Dizzee Rascal and Nothing But Thieves. The team is currently contributing 16 massive light artworks across seven sites in Europe for stunning Christmas displays, while also supporting singer/songwriter Taio Cruz in Australia.
Elsewhere, Cathie Berbena Lloyd joins Sightline Design Group as operations manager for the creative group including Stan Crocker, Seth Robinson and Bobby Grey.
Quick Cues
LDs Andy Cass and Cassady Miller-Halloran are pasteurizing a plot for String Cheese Incident’s 2019 tour. “It’s the band’s 25th anniversary, so we’re going big,” Cass says.
LD “Gigi” Pedron says she’s enjoying time off after two years touring the world with Queens of the Stone Age.
Jason Rothberg is on the road as designer for the solo acoustic tour of Jim James, frontman for My Morning Jacket.
It’s been a full calendar for LDs at JDI Productions. LD Megan Alksninis kicked off the year touring with Motionless in White, then New Found Glory, finishing up with Atreyu. LD Pete Therrien is globe-trotting with Flogging Molly. LD Cody James spent his summer with British metal band Asking Alexandria and the first half of Quicksand’s U.S. tour. He returns to Killswitch Engage for a U.S. run into December.
LD Carl Burnett is looking after Jessie J’s U.K. /European leg. LD Alex Reardon’s original design was programmed/operated by Richard Cullen for the China tour, then scaled down for the U.S. with Josh Spodick operating. Burnett takes over from Spodick.
LD Lenny Douglas is out with Underoath’s Erase Me tour as co-designer, programmer and board-op.
LD David Hare’s “last big push of the year” includes Stevie Wonder for the “House Full of Toys” show in Los Angeles, then a trek across Texas for his annual lighting designs for Six Flags’ “Holiday in the Park” and Sea World San Antonio’s “Christmas Celebration.” Next up: Williamsburg, VA for his Xmas projection mapping show.
LD Eric Price, out with Thrice, finishes 2018 with Taking Back Sunday’s holiday shows at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey.
Marilyn Manson’s lighting director Nico Riot ends the year with holiday gigs with MM and Rob Zombie in Reno, and New Year’s Eve at the L.A. Forum with MM, RZ and OzzFest.
Looking Forward to the New Year
“We had a hell of a couple of weeks,” the Los Angeles-based LD Kieran Healy told us in late November. “We were under mandatory evacuation last Thursday, and at 2:30 a.m., we made a run for it out of our canyon. I was working on American Idol L.A. auditions at the time, so we moved into a hotel close by. We spent days not knowing if we would have a home to go back to as the Woolsey fire raged through our neighborhood. Luckily our house survived, but the fire burned as close as 10 feet. Unfortunately, others were not so lucky. After the auditions I got a call that my father was dying, so I raced over to Ireland, and he passed away two hours after I got there. Hopefully we can move back into our home when I get back. Here’s to 2019!”
Ring in the New Year by sending your news of your 2019 plans to Debi Moen. Reach her at debi@plsn.com.
