When the lights go down in the venue, and Journey takes the stage, LD Kevin “Deuce” Christopher is ready to rock with their hits and ballads on their North American tour, which runs to December. The hit TV show Glee and the new film Rock of Ages have fueled the fire of interest in the band, with songs “Don’t Stop Believin’” and more bringing in fans of all ages to the shows. Deuce has worked with Journey on seven tours now since 2004.
“When Arnel Pineda joined in 2007, he also created a lot of interest with his vocal similarity to (original vocalist) Steve Perry’s, and since Glee and Rock of Ages, the songs have drawn in younger audiences. By about 2008-2009, I noticed a higher volume of attendees: original fans, and children of original fans who were turned on by parents, and now it’s another generation as well.”
The age mix of the audience influences his lighting design.
“The show appeals to all ages. But it also has to appeal to the younger audiences without alienating the original fans. So it’s still lit with layers of washes, but rather than using old technology of PAR cans — which the younger audiences wouldn’t understand — we use moving lights layered with video elements.”
He collaborates with the band on the lighting. “They have ideas, I have ideas, they know how they want to be represented onstage. They don’t want to be overpowered by the production. That’s why we use video elements with custom content as a backdrop behind them — not a large video screen, but 3-by-3 video squares. I dim the video squares to 25 percent so as not to wash out the lighting and try to make them work together. They don’t want the video to be the focal point. The I-Mag is on the side screens — the band prefers artwork to large video images of themselves behind them.”
As far as lighting, it’s big looks with saturated colors and a layer of graphics, plus movement from verse to chorus, he says. Occasionally there is a piano or guitar solo in front of a song — so those individuals are lit with beamy looks.
The design is a continuation of last year’s tour with a few minor modifications. A mix of hits, with a couple from the new album Eclipse (14th studio album) and a previous album, Revelation, make up the show, which usually runs 90-to-105-minutes.
“The set gets mixed — some 8-10 songs are the same, another 8-10 are in rotation, and then there are one or two out of six songs that they will pull out for that night, so it keeps it interesting. I visit with them before the show in the dressing room to find out what new ideas they may have or a song they may want to bring in.”
When the band takes a break, he does too, but on a few occasions, he has worked with Alanis Morissette on a South American tour and some promo dates with Alicia Keys.
Deuce’s own journey to becoming an LD started in the Hamptons. He worked in clubs helping as a bar-back, or would change lights for the promoters — whatever needed to be done. Then he started underground parties in Elks Clubs, bakeries, a few warehouses. “These events were called ‘BANG Parties,’ the creation of a talented and well established designer based in Manhattan, NY,” he says. “It was a special time for me and a great educational and character-building experience. We would create special invitations, and it was a big deal to get one. I learned about how you should check on how much volume the bathrooms could take!”
After moving to New York City, a gaffer found out he could run cable and hang lights and he needed help, so he became an unofficial electrician at a TV studio. Three years later, he moved to Wilmington, DE and became a shop guy in a lighting production company, prepping shows, eventually learning CAD work, and started crew-chiefing jobs.
“My big break came when Journey wanted to make a change and approached the company I worked with. I went straight to being their LD and eventually became employed by the band.”
His nickname didn’t come for another year and had its own evolution as well. “On the 2005 Journey Generations tour, we had three Kevins at the FOH. I was the second Kevin, aka “K2.” After a few weeks of rehearsals and a string of first shows, we were headed into our first day off. Everyone on the bus had been drinking a bit before we went on a truck stop shopping spree while refueling. I returned with a pair of oversized Gucci knock-off sunglasses for kicks. When our tour rigger, ‘Hillbilly Willy’ Williams caught a glimpse of me, he said, ‘You’re K-to-the-2! Uh-uh, you’re the Deuce!’ And it stuck.”
Candace Brightman: “I Miss the Bus”
LD Candace Brightman – the longtime designer for The Grateful Dead and a few years with Widespread Panic — has been “off the grid” for a few years. She’s now ready for a comeback. “I want to go on tour,” she says. She’s been occupied with her Animated Architecture company, but being house-bound, even in Hawaii, has its “grass is greener” moments.
Her three years touring with Widespread Panic, especially with the Halloween and New Year’s sets, was “enormous fun,” she says. “I left Widespread Panic because I was building a solar, off grid, house out here on the Big Island, and the architect turned out to be unsuited for it. So I had to finish designing and building our house. It’s heavenly out here off the grid. But I’m starting to have recurring lighting dreams, and I miss the f’ng bus.”
Meanwhile, she’s kept up with new technology and describes visions she has in mind. “The new video and LED lighting technology is marvelous,” she says. “I’ve wanted to use the layered and 3-D video for a long time. I love the way some designers are using low-res and hi-res in different planes. I’d like the video sources to be spread out and overlapped so you can get not just a completely different look, but a feeling of being in another space entirely. And you wouldn’t know exactly where the lighting and video rig is, once the houselights are off. I would make lights and video speak to each other and ad lib, as I always have. Media servers can do such wonderful stuff live, that’s where I would be headed. I’m still crazy about lighting, of course.” Say Aloha at candace@anarchi.com.
Gotye Got Started
LD Steve Richards just started Gotye’s world tour Aug. 23 in Colorado. “It’s a huge show, very technical. It’s all about the lighting and video, and it’s intricately programmed,” he said. The tour runs to December.
Duran Duran On Tour
Lighting tech Steven “Moon” Fitzgerald is supporting LD Matt Jensen on Duran Duran’s tour. “It’s an amazing display of color, vibe and marvelous array of video as well,” said Fitzgerald. Chris Lohden is the crew chief and Oscar Calales is the moving light tech…
An Ozzy Summer Cut Short
LD Michael Keller just finished an “Ozzy and Friends” tour in Europe. “It was originally going to be a Black Sabbath tour, but with Tony Iommi’s illness (lymphoma), it switched to Ozzy and Friends. Geezer Butler, the bass player from Black Sabbath, Slash and Zakk Wilde were the Friends and would switch out with Ozzy’s normal band. We did do three Black Sabbath shows, with Ozzy, Tony, and Geezer. We still do not know Tony’s status with his illness, but he seems to be doing well considering. The Black Sabbath tour was supposed to be a fairly long tour, but when we switched back to just Ozzy and Friends, it was only booked for four weeks, mostly festivals, in Europe. My summer wasn’t what I was hoping for. So now I am waiting for the car show season to kick in…”
Cormac Designs Arthur’s Day
LD Cormac Jackson has been out with Franz Ferdinand since April doing festivals mostly in South America, U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe. They’re just about done and start again in early 2013.
Meanwhile, once again he’s involved in Arthur’s Day — Sept. 27 — in Ireland. The now-annual event was launched in 2009 to honor Arthur Guinness and mark 250 years since he founded the Guinness brewery. Jackson is the set/art director for 30-plus international acts on one night with over 10 venues, which is televised. Meanwhile, more informal celebrations happen in pubs around the land with a drinking of a pint or two.
“A crew does the install prior to the event, and I try to keep the theme/look constant in venues so we get some visual continuity throughout. Last year, the theme was simply ‘old and new,’ so I used lots of tungsten light sources like skypans, mirrored skypans, etc. mixed with low-resolution LED displaying custom-created content based on the sponsors’ artwork.”
Swingin’ Johnsons Jam for Flood Benefit
The lighting industry’s band, The Swingin’ Johnsons, headlined at the Suwannee Flood Jam event near Live Oak, FL, to raise money for victims of Tropical Storm Debby. Robert Mokry, Bruce Jordahl, Scott Church and Tommy Hall are all lighting industry veterans who, of course, are particular about how they look under the spotlight. So Hall himself was the LD and programmer for their Aug. 18 gig, which happens to be Hall’s own hometown area. One can guess whose lights Hall commandeered for the show. Jordahl described highlights of the gig, including the attention-grabbing “special custom content” Hall created to project on a video screen behind the band, and Church’s professionalism on a three-stringed bass. Catch the band in a major show happening in Vegas on LDI weekend.
Share your news by emailing Debi Moen at dmoen@plsn.com.
