It wouldn’t be a holiday without the heavy metal and production spectacle of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and LD Bryan Hartley is back with this year’s winter tour, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve.” Hartley has been designing the production and lighting for 17 years, since the beginning of TSO, he says. “I decided not to build a traditional custom set and instead, I designed the video as the set. Then I can change to whatever set look I want.” The identical East and West Coast legs run through Dec. 30 in the US and Canada.
But TSO is not just for wintertime only. A “big one” for Hartley was having both TSO bands perform simultaneously on two stages for 80,000 fans at Wacken Open Air Festival, Germany’s biggest heavy metal summer festival. “I had two massive stages side by side. The moment was when both TSO bands performed together. I had brought in our own set for both stages, plus a huge amount of lights in addition to their rig. We brought some very big video with us; I wanted a bit of an EDM feel with all the video. We also brought a massive pyro and laser show.”
No pyro or lasers are needed for “A Charlie Brown Christmas Tour.” LD Martin Thomas is shining holiday lights on jazz pianist David Benoit and his band featuring the music of Vince Guaraldi, which has become a holiday classic over the years as the soundtrack of the animated “Peanuts” TV special. “I’m stepping it back to basics,” Thomas says. “The design is all conventional, no moving lights.” The tour starts in New York just after Thanksgiving and tours the U.S. until Dec. 21.
During tour breaks with Mötley Crüe, LDMatt Mills is designing a Christmas production for Gateway Church, a mega house of worship in Dallas. Meanwhile, Mötley Crüe finishes out the tour on New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles.
LD Chris Lisle has designed saxophonist Dave Koz’s 18th Annual Christmas tour, with Erik Parker directing on the road. Guest musicians joining Koz onstage are the Righteous Brothers’ Bill Medley, Jonathan Butler and Candy Dulfer.
In related news, Lisle reports his recent Touring Career Workshop (TCW) in Nashville set an attendance record of more than 300. He and co-founder Erik Parker brought together lighting designers such as LD Sooner Routhier, lighting company figureheads such as Bandit Lites’ Michael Strickland and more to share their tips to thriving, work-wise, in this industry. The workshop is Lisle’s way of giving back to the industry. “We are so excited how this year’s event turned out,” says Lisle. ”When this idea came to fruition five years ago, we never imagined how big it would be or the impact it would have.”
LD Bud Horowitz returns to the holiday road for his seventh year to light the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s annual “Christmas Rocks!” tour through New Year’s in the U.S. and Canada. Most recently, Horowitz’s road was through the desert sands of Egypt, where he lit Yanni in two performances for a TV special in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Yanni has made it his mission to perform at historic sites, such as the Forbidden City in China, the Acropolis in Greece, the Taj Mahal in India and other locations not usually serving as concert production venues.
Reinventions on the Road
Speaking of the Pyramids, the Grateful Dead performed three shows in the shadow of the Sphinx in 1978. Now performing as Dead & Company (page 34), LD Chris Ragan is out with this new incarnation, which includes John Mayer. “People follow this band. It’s crazy how many young folks are coming out. John Mayer brings a bit of a younger crowd, but it’s really about the continuation of the music. I met a 20-year-old college student in the airport this morning who had seen nine shows on the tour already. The spirit of the Dead tour is there, but now the kids use planes instead of Volkswagen buses to get around!”
LD Marc Brickman designed David Gilmour’s new solo tour, which promotes his new CD, Rattle That Lock. Reports of the recent Royal Albert Hall performances describe a design bearing all resemblances to Brickman’s designs of Pink Floyd’s iconic shows in the past — including the circular projection screen — minus Nick Mason and Roger Waters. The tour finishes 2015 in South America, and hits North American shores in March 2016.
LD Tim Routledge is designing Jeff Lynne’s ELO shows, a reinvention of the Electric Light Orchestra. A tour may follow.
LDDurham Marenghi has been appointed the official lighting designer for the Rio 2016 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Brazil. His team will include Brazil-based associate LD Joyce Hammond, U.K. programmer Andy Voller, TV lighting director Nick Collier, lighting team manager Jennie Marenghi, followspot coordinator Chris Henry and a host of Brazilian programmers, spot operators and technicians.
How Did You Get That Gig?
There’s always a backstory as to how an LD gets the gig and usually, never enough space to share it. LD David “Gurn” Kaniski, featured in this issue (“On the Road,” page 12) gives us a bit more of that story with Rise Against.
“Ben Marks was the original LD for Rise Against. Last summer I reached out to PM Jon Dunleavey, looking for something to do because Offspring’s tour canceled. Marks was committed to something else, so I got thrown into Rise Against festival-style. Gear was already in place. They had video within some big letters that was falling apart and the MAC blew a video card on my first gig. So I did a workaround. I just punted, and listened to the music. I thought, ‘This is not going to be good,’ but afterward in the dressing room, the band said, ‘That was great!’ However, they already committed to someone doing the European tour. But for this last leg, which started in July, their lighting director bailed so they called me. They gave me a list of gear, the show was already designed, so I went to the lighting company expecting to see something prepped. The gear was in cases in the truck. So I crawled on the cases, identifying what I needed to put together in Chicago, their hometown. That is where I’m starting this tour, with the hometown crowd with a rig I have no idea what I am getting! So we prepped the rig the night before with the Chicago crew. I looked at the gear list and moved stuff around in the rig. It was completely different from what the rig was, and I worked on an existing show I had on my console and built it little by little. Thank God they were happy. So we developed that kind of rig over time until the floor rig we have right now.”
Reach Debi with your 2016 news at dmoen@plsn.com.
