X Japan, billed as “the most successful rock band in the history of Japan,” performed a one-off at Madison Square Garden in New York City. LD Peter Morse designed the set and the lighting for the Oct. 11 show, working with production manager Phay MacMahon. “I designed a smaller show for their warm-up concerts in Yokohama, which took place one week prior to the show at the Garden,” said Morse. “The MSG show was shot for DVD, and consisted of 600-plus fixtures, ably programmed via ESP previz by Troy Eckerman and Craig Caserta. We only had one actual day — show day — with the entire rig! So previz was an absolute necessity.”
Production designer Paul Normandale told of his latest projects including Hunter Hayes’ tour, Kings of Leon in Brazil, and 5 Seconds of Summer’s (5SOS) West Coast world tour start.
LDs Seth Jackson and Nathan Scheuer co-designed Shaping Sound Dance Company’s Shaping Sound — a national tour of “dance reimagined.” (He designed the show in 2012 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, CA.) The tour, which began in mid-October, features the dancing stars of All The Right Moves and So You Think You Can Dance.
LD Louis Oliver of U.K.-based design firm Okulus & Wasted Light finishes his 2014 tour with Chvrches the end of November, with a break until 2015, but there’s no downtime. “We have quite a lot going at the moment,” he said. His partner/ LD James Scott is currently touring with Passenger through year’s end and into 2015. Other ongoing projects include Charli XCX’s tour, Zac Brown Band, Glass Animals and The Temper Trap.
LD Trevor Ahlstrand designed the lighting for Slipknot, whose one-year tour kicked off in late October starting with Knotfest Oct. 25-26 at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA. Ahlstrand was the LD for Avenged Sevenfold’s recent tour.
Lighting director Rich Gilson recently wrapped up South African group Die Antwoord’s U.S. tour. Tech Monica DeRee assisted.
LD Tony Fransen has been lighting up Oprah’s The Life You Want Weekend tour, which features motivational speakers and, of course, Oprah.
Joe Stewart served as production designer for the Marvel Universe Live tour. Norm Schwab designed the lighting and Bob Bonniol was video content and system designer. The live arena event features more than 25 superheroes and villains battling for control of the universe.
Team Imagination TV lighting designers Mike Veerkamp and Adam Portelli spent the summer working on 150 episodes of reality court show Judge Faith, their fifth season of Family Game Night for Hasbro and their first season of King of the Nerds, a reality show for 5×5 and TBS. Veerkamp, by the way, has “lightened up” since last year — losing 110 pounds! “I’m not only a Dad now, I’m half the Dad I used to be,” he joked.
British TV soap stars Ant and Dec took their reality TV show, Saturday Night Takeaway, on the road for a sold-out summer U.K. arena tour. Adam Bassett and Woodroffe Bassett Design created a versatile lighting design for the complex show, and turned to their associated collaborator Roland Greil from einstein & sons to program the lighting, media servers and provide lighting direction on the road.
LDs Eric Cathcart and Mike Grant co-designed The Black Keys’ Turn Blue world tour. Grant is also lighting director.
Lighting director Michelle Sarrat said she’s having fun on Bassnectar’s Noise vs. Beauty tour, which runs to year’s end in the U.S. “The most challenging thing about working for an EDM artist — coming from a band background — is the pace and the complete unpredictability. It’s mainly a punt show, and the music doesn’t stop for two hours. He (DJ Lorin Ashton, a.k.a. Bassnectar) has a giant catalog and could throw anything in at any time, so you’ve got to be present and on your toes. It’s fun too, though! Lots of opportunity for dramatic big looks and fast paced changes. It’s been a good experience to do something different.” Sarrat described the design as an evolving collaboration between Carlos Donohue (the tour manager), his associate Billy Clare and Kyle Kegan from Voyage Productions, who did all the initial setup, programming and operating, including the integration with a custom control system called the U.N.S. [Ultimate Nerd Server] developed by Peter Sistrom, which is the “brain” of the operation. She also added her contributions to the show file to work with the design on the road.
LD Michael Smalley is out with Pitbull. Past tours include Bassnectar, Stone Sour, Daughtry and Big Gigantic.
Share a 2014 recap, or 2015 preview, of your most noteworthy gigs. Contact Debi Moen at dmoen@plsn.com.
