For Robert Peterson, it was an honor designing the lighting for the 16th Annual Academy of Country Music Honors, held Aug. 23 and airing Sept. 18 on FOX. This wasn’t his first rodeo at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. “I’ve been blessed in that I’ve shot more shows in the mother church than any venue in the U.S.,” he notes. Carly Pearce hosted the event celebrating special honorees Clint Black, Kane Brown, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tim McGraw, the late K.T. Oslin, Chris Stapleton, and others.
“Each year the ACM determines a theme and a palette,” Peterson says about his design guidelines. “I respect and feature it each time. The Ryman is as much a performer in the show as the talent. My team—with feedback from the producers—designed the show: Scott Cunningham and Brandon Webb ran lighting, Taylor Price managed screens and content. Every chance I get to work with Les Banks (production manager), Karalie Hennington (stage manager) and Brandon (in-house LD) the better.”
Thomas Wins Lenny Award
Martin Thomas is being honored as Lighting Designer and Director of the Year by the Roadies of Color United during their 2023 conference in Atlanta, GA. The Lenny Awards, which honors professionals in live event/tour-related categories, were announced prior to the Sept. 30 event. Thomas says it was “an absolute surprise and a humbling honor to be selected for a Lenny Award, presented in honor of the late Lenny Guice, one of the original roadies for the Commodores. I cannot express enough the pride I feel to be recognized by my industry peers for the works that I have done over the years, and I look forward to continuing to share my knowledge with those finding their way into this business.” For details, go to www.rocu.tours
Touring Career Workshop
The 2023 Touring Career Workshop is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the Soundcheck Annex in Nashville, TN. Co-Founder and Executive Director Chris Lisle says details should be available when registration opens Oct. 2. As always, the event is free. The TCW was created in 2011 to provide live event professionals with education, connection, and mental health resources for navigating a life on the road—or as they call it on their website, “human resources for touring professionals.” For details and to register, visit www.touringcareerworkshop.com
Design Cues
Alex Picard says he’s back out since September operating lighting with hip-hop duo Run the Jewels through mid-October. “We are out with an updated lighting design by Cory FitzGerald of Silent House, and updated programming by Davey Martinez,” he says. The tour is performing for four consecutive nights in four cities with different set lists each night to celebrate their 10 years of music.
Brett Lorins is going out on a short tour with The Church for the month of October. “It’s not a huge tour or rig by any means but it’s my first real tour in 4-5 years,” he says, adding that he’s “doing it all: designer, programmer, and director.” Since working with a console manufacturer, Lorins is training industry professionals on some of the products that will be in use on the tour. The Australian/prog rock band is most known for its ‘80s hit, “Under the Milky Way.”
Emily Bornt says she’s “stepping up” as lighting designer for Demi Lovato, who just appeared at The Town Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has a handful of one-offs and private events over the next few months. She also has the pleasure of being a judge for a console manufacturer’s programming contest for students.
Graham Rolak has designed a special rig and is deploying “a huge new design” for Incubus for their Hollywood Bowl performance. The Oct. 6 event is in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their biggest album, Morning View, he says.
Gregg Maltby is making use of time during a break in Peter Frampton’s Never Say Never Tour by serving as LD for all the headlining gigs for The Black Crowes through the middle of October. In November, he’s back for three more of weeks with Frampton.
Lenny Douglas reports in that he will be LD for American rock band Rival Sons on their UK/Europe tour during October to November.
Mark “Junior” Jacobson has buckled up his Tool belt for the band’s North American run of about 30 shows, including three festival dates. “It will be different,” the LD says about his design. “It’s not completely new but it’s based on the existing rig with modifications.”
Mike “Herk” Herkimer is touring lighting director with Nickelback, carrying out the production design from Nimblist’s Spike Brant. “It’s a great show. It’s been fantastic working with the Nimblist team,” Herkimer says. “They really outdid themselves on this one.”
Rachel Mullen of RFDesigns spent a few weeks on the East Coast as the lighting director/programmer for the tech industry’s Grace Hopper Celebration at the Orlando Convention Center in late September. She then returns to the West Coast to work on Symphony by the Sea—a large annual event for the city of Imperial Beach, CA. The production features both San Diego State University Symphony and Orchestra in a beachfront/sunset setting,
Steven Douglas says October is quite the busy month. Projects going out include his role as production and lighting designer on Hozier’s Unreal Unearth Tour with Madison Adams as FOH tech and associate lighting director; as production and lighting designer on The Corrs performances in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia with Lighting Director Joseph Morris; and as lighting designer for the Killers’ Formula 1 Grand Prix Race Concert in Austin, TX. While the Killers are currently out on tour, the F1 show is a design departure for the special Circuit of the Americas event, he notes. “The F1 gig is an amalgamated rig to suit both ourselves (on Oct. 20) and Queen + Adam Lambert, who play the next night (Oct. 21),” he says.
Tom Sutherland says he and the team at DX7 Design are involved in The People’s Choice Country Awards, which aired live Sept. 28 from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville; the 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) Nov. 5 in Paris, Lionel Richie’s ongoing Las Vegas residency, the “Awaken” show for Celebrity Cruises, and a new global extension of America’s Got Talent called America’s Got Talent Fantasy League, which launches in October on NBC.
Share your news for November with Debi Moen at dmoen@plsn.com
