Patrick Dierson is gravitating more to production design these days, he told PLSN. Most recently, he was production designer for DirecTV’s Super Bowl Fan Festival Jan. 28-30 in the Phoenix area. “I continue to handle discipline specific duties in lighting and visuals on certain projects as well, but production design seems to be what most productions are turning to me for,” he said.
Dierson said he has always enjoyed the “broader scope of work that production design entails and the leadership role that it demands. After focusing on lighting and visual disciplines independently and so intricately for years, it’s nice to be forced into dealing with entire productions as opposed to just one segment.”
He enjoys the challenge. ”The social aspects of having to interact with all the various departments as well as dealing with things on the producer’s level more in depth is vastly more interesting. It comes with a massive array of challenges, most of which tend to be political in nature. I’ve recently been referred to on several productions as the ‘production politician.’ This role seems to come about most heavily in festival production where I’ll need to make sure that upwards of 40 artists need to be accommodated and meant to feel as though they are getting more than the attention that they deserve. That is never an easy task when you’ve got 40 people who are all insistent that their performance time slot is the headline. The reality of dealing with that is sticky indeed and, at the end of the day, I am only as good as the people around me so team building has become a forte. I cherish my coworkers in these situations above all.”
Bennett Designs Maroon 5
Production designer Leroy Bennett designed the lighting, visuals and stage design for Maroon 5’s V world tour. Loren Barton is video programmer and Jason Baeri the lighting programmer, with Brian Jenkins serving as the lighting director.
Wanting something completely different, the band’s album artwork with a distinctive V was the basis of the design inspiration, including the trussing and set. The 19 Plexiglas columns upstage were the result of the inverted “V” concept. For more details, read the “Production Profile” feature planned for PLSN’s May issue.
Cory Says OK GO!
LD Cory FitzGerald shared a bit of his design news for OK Go’s tour. “We’ve taken their show to a whole new level, using some of the concepts they’ve worked with in the past, such live camera fx and video feedback, and taken all of it to the next step,” he said. “There are a lot of new lighting elements in the show as well. We tried to create a totally unique look with each song and make the show an epic experience for the rooms it will be playing. Much like their legendary music videos, the band is very involved in how the show will look and technically work, which really shows during each performance as they truly interact with their performance environment.”
Lighting Director Alex Picard is carrying out FitzGerald’s design on the road. The tour started March 20 in California, visits Canada and returns to the U.S. April 2-May 2, 2015.
Designing Canada’s Summer Games
Vancouver, BC-based Robert Sondergaard is the production designer for the Opening & Closing Ceremonies at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games Aug. 7-16. The venue is the new Nexen Stage at Shell Place, which opens this summer in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
“The roof structure is pretty cool, and we plan to incorporate it into our shows,” Sondergaard said. The unusual canopy takes on a swooping, wing-like shape, designed to mimic the undulating northern lights or aurora borealis.
“We are quite excited to be producing one of the first shows in the venue,” Sondergaard added. ”Aerosmith is doing a concert prior to our show, but are the first show to be designed specifically for this venue. It should be a big project for us.”
Visit the new venue at plsn.me/ShellPlace.
Hardiman Returns to Ride
LD Dan Hardiman is coming out of a seven-month sabbatical after 12 months of intense touring. His re-entry into the touring world comes with Ride, a U.K. band that has reunited after 20 years. Hardiman will travel with the band for their performance at Coachella April 10 and in/out of the U.S. for the rest of the year. Describing his sabbatical, Hardiman told PLSN about his top activities: “Life; walked the dog a lot; visited parents in France; worked in a local wine bar; helped some friends restore a pub; and just enjoyed reality for a bit.”
Normandale’s “Dangerous Games”
Production designer Paul Normandale just started working on tours for Oli Muirs and The Chemical Brothers, and is already designing the One Direction arena tour for autumn. He also production-designed for the Lord of the Dance — Michael Flatley — whose new world tour, Dangerous Games, goes out with lighting director Glen Johnson.
Although Normandale was quiet on details, the show will feature new technology including holographs, dancing robots, and other special effects to enhance the performances of acrobats and Irish dancers. Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games embarks on a 200-plus date tour across 15 countries over the next 18 months. In the U.K., the show will perform concurrently in London March 13-September 5 and on a U.K. tour April 2- July 4.
Quick Cues
LD Ken Mednick goes out in April with singer/songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov and his band, “who I’m particularly fond of,” he said. “We’re not carrying production; house systems only. After that, my dance card is open.”
LD Jon Pollak details his busy 2015 already with Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan & Elvis Costello with The Imposters, Michael McDonald, A Belgian modern dance company “and as many IndyCar races as I can fit in!”
Programmer Scott Barnes just began prepping the next Marvel film, Captain America: Civil War, taking place in Atlanta. He’s also begun adding live TV to his slate of film jobs, he said.
Email your summer touring plans to Debi Moen at dmoen@plsn.com.
