Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan set out on her Shine On tour to promote her new album — her first in four years — of the same name. After preproduction at the CBC in Vancouver, the U.S. summer leg started June 20 in Seattle and covers 29 cities in 19 states, ending Aug. 3 in Dallas. The Canadian leg kicks off in October.
LD Brent Clark has designed the show, which centers on a comfortable onstage living room “with a bunch of bells and whistles,” he said. “There are some moving circles of lights, festoons, some couches, chairs, some video. It’s a very organic, nice feel.”
To get closer to the fans, McLachlan is conducting a social media contest asking fans how they “shine on” and those selected in each city are invited to sit on her couch onstage for a few songs. No singing or playing involved on the fan’s part.
The recent death of McLachlan’s longtime LD, Graeme Nicol, is on the minds of all those involved with the tour. When Nicol fell ill, he asked Clark to cover for him. Clark worked with Sarah to put this tour design together after Nicol’s passing.
“It’s bittersweet to be out here without Graeme,” Clark told PLSN. “He was one of my closest friends in the business, so I just want to do him proud. I will never be as good as he was. But I think he is here giving me a bit of a helping hand. I miss him greatly.”
George Strait’s Last Ride
Country singer/songwriter George Strait officially retired June 7 from the concert touring industry with a record-breaking final show on “The Cowboy Rides Away” tour. With 104,793 attendees filling the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, the event made history as the largest indoor concert in North America.
Though Strait will be missed by his fans, his touring family will also miss the emotional connection forged over the years. Strait’s longtime LD Stacey LaBarbera gets misty-eyed when reflecting on it.
LaBarbera told PLSN, “Twenty-five years working with the same person is a long time. I don’t think it has really set in yet that those touring days with The King of Country are over. I feel like they are my family in so many ways. We have all raised kids together. Some have grandkids now, as well.”
The final show was “spectacular,” he added. “I will admit, I was extremely happy with this show. That’s hard to say much of the time. I’m my worst critic.”
“I had an excellent crew and couldn’t have done it without them,” he added, citing lighting assistance from Dave Hare and rigger John Bleich, who “overcame all the obstacles” in the rigging of the event.
“Thank you to everyone over the years that have worked with us on George Strait providing the best show night after night for all his fans,” he said.
Lonely Airport Guy Update
LD Richard Dunn, whose “Lonely Airport Guy” video went viral, reports that his job calendar is now booked well into 2015. Dunn drew international media attention with the video he made in June when bumped from his flight at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. Lip-synching to Celine Dion’s version of Eric Carmen’s hit, “All By Myself,” Dunn captured the attention of the singer who invited him, his wife and both sets of parents to her concert on July 4. She requested a meet-and-greet before her show.
The video has hit more than 17 million views so far, has been translated into various languages and hit major media such as TMZ and USA Today. To get the latest, PLSN contacted Dunn in Canton, GA near Atlanta to find out more about his new-found fame. He’s been lighting professionally since 1991, while still in college, he said. He’s logged almost 10 years with Walt Disney World as a lighting specialist with the Magic Kingdom in Orlando and lived for six months in Italy as onsite designer for Disney’s first two cruise ships, the Magic and the Wonder. From there he ventured into corporate show production.
Dunn told PLSN, “It’s been a ton of fun for my wife and I, and I know that there will be another round of attention after the concert, but then it will be nothing more than a cool punctuation in my life. There have been a couple of ugly moments that come with the attention, but it hasn’t dampened our outlook. One guy has a fake fan site — he’s pretending to be me, and he’s making some strange statements that are not my style at all! He’s sending me some taunting messages, and although I’ve reported it to Facebook, they have left it active. I have also had folks download my video and re-upload it to their YouTube channels as their own to cultivate clicks and subscribers, and that’s a bummer. Ultimately, I don’t care other than I don’t want people to think I’m trying to make money off of this video, because I clearly don’t have the rights to the music!”
Back to Celine and their upcoming visit, Dunn said, “I will do a full report after the concert, but for now, I’m really looking forward to using Celine Dion’s bathroom!”
To see the video, go to: http://plsn.me/DunnAllByMyself.
Quick Cues…
Katy Perry’s Prismatic world tour just hit North America. Show Director and Designer is Baz Halpin (See related feature)…
LD Alastair Bramall-Watson is out with Joe Satriani…
AJ Pen is the lighting director on OneRepublic’s Native summer tour, which runs to Aug. 28. (See related feature). Pen is carrying out the production/lighting design for Chris Lisle, who is busy designing Miranda Lambert’s Platinum tour starting in July…
LD Rich Locklin just finished a run with Barry Gibb “that was fantastic!” he said. He’s currently working with Michael McDonald and Toto’s LD Todd Ricci for an August-to-September co-headlining run featuring McDonald with Toto…
LD Stan Green is running the opening show featuring former Eagles band member Don Felder on the Styx/Foreigner tour…
Susan Rose returns to Ringo Starr’s tour as lighting director for the former Beatles band member’s summer run for LD Jeff Ravitz…
LD David “Gurn” Kaniski says he’s “still doing what I love.” He finished U.K. and Australia with Jason Derulo and is now out with The Offspring on their summer run…
LD Marc Janowitz is working with Tune-Yards on some East Coast shows. He also lit the band TV On The Radio at the Governors Ball NYC…
Steve Garner designed the lighting for a Concert at the United Nations featuring artists of the Caribbean. He’s now started up with season 15 of the TV quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire for LD Chuck Noble.
James Scott designed the production for the Zac Brown Band’s “Great American Road Trip” tour.
