Slash Feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators launched The River is Rising headlining tour Feb. 8-March 26, hitting 28 major U.S. cities. “I don’t have any crew,” says LD Cosmo Wilson. “It’s just me. It’s the modern world of touring. Instead of carrying a large lighting package, you have it supplied locally. All the lighting in the air is local—and we changed the floor plot and added better lights. It’s a stronger floor package than it’s ever been.”
Wilson is enjoying working with Slash for the first time, as he’s known him for many years. And mixing it up with an ever-changing rig? “So far, so good. Technically, it’s challenging, because I have a rig that I have to patch and clone, but I’m good at that and I enjoy it. It is great working with different fixtures every day, and at least I get to know the basics of the fixtures. Working for a lighting company, I’m in a position to buy equipment, so using the fixtures in the real world is helpful—I can advise to ‘buy these fixtures’ because I know they how well they will work.”
Designing for Lane 8
Sarah Landau has production designed, programmed, and is operating the lights and video for Denver-based DJ and producer Daniel Goldstein, who performs as Lane 8. The Reviver Tour 2022 started Feb. 25, with “weekend warrior” style dates, so he isn’t away from his kids for too long, she notes. “All the video content is of nature—plants and landscapes. It’s beautiful music and super good vibes—a real pleasure to create,” she says. “Technically it’s considered house music, but for a DJ set there’s a lot of song structure and melody. Some fun facts are that he doesn’t allow phones/photos/videos, and the fans largely police each other, so it creates a really incredible atmosphere with everyone present and engaged and dancing.”
Landau figures she’s been living out of her suitcase for 16 years as of this summer, so being back on the road won’t be a new adjustment. “The six months I spent in Playa del Carmen, Mexico from March 2020 was the longest I’ve been in one place since 2006,” she proudly claims.
Going Global with Louis Tomlinson
Louis Tomlinson, former member of boy band One Direction, embarked on his first solo tour from the UK on Feb. 1 after almost two years of postponed and cancelled performances. Tom Taylor of UK design team TANCK created the global touring production and also serves as the lighting designer/operator. “It’s great to finally get it out, having originally been planned for a world tour in 2020,” Taylor says. “The design itself is based on the brief ‘No video. Only rock ‘n’ roll,’ which is why we have just a load of lights. A huge and scalable blinder wall serves as the backdrop.” He adds, “This U.S. run is the first before it goes to Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia later in the year, all culminating in a massive headline show in Milan to 35,000 people.”
Rateliff and LaMontagne
Production designer Jeremy Roth has wrapped up his nine years on the road with Wilco to free up time for other projects. Recently, he handled the lighting design for one of New York’s newest music clubs, Brooklyn Made, with more than 150 fixtures installed in the 500-person capacity venue. But he hasn’t left touring behind. He’s recently designed a tour for Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and he will have a new design for Ray LaMontagne’s The Monovision tour by the time it hits the highway this May.
Narratives of the Place
Eric Belanger was called on at the last minute in January to the United Arab Emirates for a show, Narratives of the Place. The event was created to highlight the country’s culture since the 1950s. Taking the roles as lighting designer, assistant, programmer, and operator, Belanger says, “I flew out on Jan. 7 with nothing other than a quick Zoom meeting of a presentation of the show and the website of the Al Majaz Amphitheatre in Sharjah.” Load-in started on Jan. 16 for a Jan. 25 premiere. “And surprise, they added 19 cameras and a live broadcast for the premiere,” he says. While Belanger was on site drawing the plots, a windstorm blew in and they lost two days of rehearsals. “We had to land trusses and dismantle the upstage video wall as preventative measures. Once all elements were ready, we rehearsed a full run through and recorded it. I used these recordings to fine tune and adapt the lighting to the performance.”
The challenge of lighting acrobatic performances was a top design priority, and tricky. “We cannot blind the flyer or the catchers while making sure they’re properly lit,” he explains, saying that an error in a lighting position can result in injury or death. “These types of performances are more about enhancing the story and directing the audience’s focus where we want them to look.”
Quick Cues
Jared Paul Rarick has embarked on his first tour in two years, as lighting director/programmer for Toto, support band for Journey. “Gratefully back to work!” he says.
LD Max Lenox is out with Rainbow Kitten Surprise and Mt. Joy, as well as the lead house LD at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, which just won a Pollstar award for Best New Concert Venue—Small Venue.
Share your touring news with PLSN Co-Editor Debi Moen at dmoen@plsn.com.
