Rush's Time Machine tour recently brought an ambitious Steampunk-themed extravaganza to venues across North America. At the visual helm was LD Howard Ungerleider, currently celebrating his 37th year with the power trio comprised of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee; guitarist Alex Lifeson; and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. The production embraced the retro-futuristic Steampunk design philosophy wholeheartedly, as band, lighting and video all reflect the old and the new.
Musically, Rush tackled the entire Moving Pictures album, as well major sections of 2112 and Hemispheres, and also treated listeners to two new Rush tunes ("BU2B" and "Caravan"). A wide variety of emotions were conveyed through video segments (chiefly produced by Allan Weinrib, along with Peart's video segment by Tandem Digital's Greg Russell). The design team and crew used Catalyst and Hippotizer media servers for effect content, and it works with the I-Mag to produce a cohesive, time-based journey.
Steampunk Looks
The set design was quirky and faithful to the Steampunk theme – epitomized, perhaps, by a whimsically-elaborate sausage-making contraption on stage. Ungerleider used recent innovations in lighting technology to create what some have called his punchiest and most emotive looks to date.
Premier Global Productions supplied the lighting rig, which included 48 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spot and 32 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures, 15 Coemar Infinity ACL fixtures, 24 Elation Impression fixtures in two circular arrays, eight Barco/High End Systems Cyberlight Litho fixtures and seven Showguns, 20 Altman six-foot MR16 strips and more than 80 Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlaze units. The rig was controlled by Flying Pig Systems Road Hog consoles and Wholehog 3 Rock Wings, with atmospherics from Reel EFX DF50s and Jem Roadie X-Stream machines.
A 40-foot-by-22-foot Daktronics 9mm pixel pitch video screen formed the main frame of the video package supplied by Screenworks NEP, while multiple video projection surfaces were built into the backline gear. Video director David Davidian blended I-Mag, Hippotizer and content from the Doremi server. He works along with Dale Heslip, who served as set designer for Lifeson and Lee's backline set and also acted as video art director. Russell designed Peart's drum riser and solo video content.
Spider Truss
Ungerleider's custom articulating spider truss and associated webs, all configured with Show Distribution VarioLifts supplied by John Fletcher of Five Points Production Services and programmed by Sebastien Richard, were called both ominous and breathtaking. The lights on the VarioLifts were stabilized by RSC Lightlock units; they're distributed by Total Structures and were provided through Ungerleider's production company, Production Design International Inc.
The spider truss itself was from Xtreme Structures & Fabrication, with a custom octagonal pod truss that was representational of the spider body. The legs are made up of articulating XSF 26"x30" double hung pre-rig trusses. The articulating hinges are designed to provide 180 degrees of rotation, allowing the legs to flex both up and down, providing a realistic spider effect.
"Once the band revealed that they wanted to do something in a Steampunk genre, I had to come up with a design for the system based on that concept. The more I researched the genre, the more possibilities I found to explore," Ungerleider says, noting the collaboration between himself, Weinrib and Heslip.
"They hired Dale Heslip as their backline stage designer and video art director. He came up with a very unique design that fit the theme. Then they let us get our hands on it and wire it up with lighting and cryogenics – items that allow steam to come out and make it glow during the course of the evening. We also put many video screens inside to send unique visual signals through. We brainstormed storylines and created our own footage, as always."
The entire backline was done in Steampunk finery, with Lifeson's Hughes & Kettner amplifiers and Peart's DMX-controlled crackle tubes melding with various CO2 steam portals and Lee's sausage-making machine.
In the spirit of Steampunk machinery, one of the biggest things Ungerleider brought to the table was a giant mechanical spider.
"In every Steampunk movie," Ungerleider notes, "there's always some bizarre piece of machinery – a flying machine that looks like a blimp or a huge moving structure. So I figured I'd make something that moves over the band. I created an articulating spider that actually morphs and changes during the show like a Transformer, and I loaded it with my favorite fixtures."
Along Came A VL3000…
The spider truss system consisted of a custom 8-sided hub, two different configurations of 8-foot truss and special hinge plates placed between them so larger sections can also bend. Taking things a step further, Ungerleider simulated spider webs.
"Behind the structure, to make it look more like a spider, I put VL3000s on bars that come down on stingers. They look like spider webs dropping down behind the rig. There are 24 VL3000s on 12 bars with two fixtures on each using RSC Lightlocks for stabilizing the movement."
Other integral parts of Ungerleider's rig included two upstage trusses with Coemar Infinity Wash ACLs; more VL 3000s; Martin MAC 2000s with custom color; one truss with Altman MR16 zip strips; Philips Color Kinetics 72s rigged horizontally; ladder towers on stage right and left that house Showguns; more MR-16 zips; and Color Blaze 72 fixtures rigged vertically.
As a very early proponent of ACLs, it's perhaps fitting to see Ungerleider reconfigure this classic Rush lighting effect. "I first used ACLs in the early 1970s," he says. "It was Paul Edwards, formally of See Factor, who put together a control system for me with individual control of each fixture using a pin-matrix board. Over the years the ACLs became a real important part of my show. As automation crept in, I sort of let them go. While developing the Steampunk theme, I figured I'd bring back the ACLs, but in a modern fixture that can change colors and use gobos – it becomes a whole new animal with an old-school look."
Video Collaborators
Ungerleider is quick to praise the talents of his video collaborators, and it is apparent they play a more active role than ever in the final production.
"David Davidian and Bob Larkin are part of the video team here, and an integral part of making things happen. They're using a lot of new gear, like the Hippotizer, and are responsible for many control functions. We have video screens built into the drum riser as well as on Geddy and Alex's backline. The drum screens are being fed by Catalyst media servers, as is the main screen, and David is feeding the remaining backline. We also have the I-Mag portion crossfading into what we're doing at front-of-house, so there's a great deal of complex communication going on throughout that puts it all together.
"A 40-foot-by-20-foot screen is a big format to play in, so you have to create your lighting to go with the visuals. I would say it's working well on this tour. While video often is the leading element, there are times where there's no video at all, and I'm just running Catalyst, and when that fades away there's some creative effects to be seen. We make it work seamlessly as we blend the lighting in the most sympathetic way. All the color palettes and everything I do is based on the hues of the video content."
Also indispensable to the Time Machine production was Ungerleider's assistant, Matthew Tucker and programmer Tim Grivas. "Matt deals with a lot of the content, and really makes it happen for me out here, and for many years Tim has been my guru and muse. It's really a shared consortium with all the imagery, but it breathes. Yes, there are some really bizarre moments, some artsy pieces, and some really funny ones too – for example the starting and intermission video along with the outro video.
Rigging the Looks
In describing the impact of the spider and its webs, Grivas says, "Instead of just producing certain looks, we really utilized the capabilities of the rigging system to help create the emotion for the part. If a certain section was extremely powerful, we would make the system move at the necessary speed while the lighting system did its thing. It definitely added to the emotion we were attempting to convey. We were able to invert the system and then restore it with a lot of perceived motion and a lot of speed. It was exciting, and really makes you appreciate how much technology is going on up there."
The Showguns on towers performed double duty with their 32 homogenized LED rings and defining wide exiting aperture. Grivas says, "Howard's a punch freak for sure, he's all about having a gas pedal. There were only seven Showguns, but they are so bright!"
LED lighting also plays a more defining role in the visual menu than on previous tours. Ungerleider used his sizeable Color Kinetics arsenal in conjunction with the Showguns' LEDs and two circular trusses loaded with the Elation Impressions to produce rich saturated colors as well as camera-approved correction. The two circles are used as side fills that bombard the stage with primary washes, but the Elation's CTO ability also provided Davidian with downstage camera-ready washes for Lee and Lifeson that looked incandescent.
There are also several vital pyro concussion flame and flare cues in the show executed by John Arrowsmith, but no lasers, which Rush fans have come to expect. Ungerleider says, "I felt that with the movement of the spider and the Lightlocks, I'm not missing the lasers, because I have created so many other wonderful elements. The visuals on this tour are outstanding, and I think the ability to blend these items with the lighting is a refreshing, positive change. I embrace that."
A Trip Through Time
It is very rare to see a rock ‘n' roll tour with a real theme and sense of journey. The Steampunk aspect gave Rush the ability to go back in time and jump to different points in their career. Adhering to the Steampunk genre, Ungerleider managed to remain true to his trademark lighting style while making these elements unique and even timeless, bringing in some new effects along the way. Time travel with Howard Ungerleider and Rush is a great way to fly, and as many who attended might attest, this show soared.
CREW
Lighting and Effects Designer/Director: Howard Ungerleider, Production Design International Inc.
Production Manager: Craig Blazier
Stage Manager: George Steinert
Lighting Crew Chief and Dimmer Tech: Seth Conlin
L1: Martin Joos
FOH Tech: Matt Tucker
Moving Light Tech: Bill Worsham
Tech #5: Joey Bradley
Pyro: John Arrowsmith
Video Director: David Davidian
Master Video Tech: Bob Larkin
Camera Operators: Bruce Ramos, Lindsey Haney
LED Engineer: William Duncan
Head of Automation and Rigging: John Fletcher
Motion Control Programmer:
Sebastien Richard
Rigger: Chuck Anderson
GEAR
2 Flying Pig Systems Road Hog Full Boar consoles
2 Flying Pig Systems Hog 3 Rock Wings
2 Flying Pig Systems DP 8 DMX
processors
2 Artistic License 4-Universe ArtNet-to-DMX converters
3 Catalyst media servers
48 Vari-Lite VL3000 Spots
32 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures
15 Coemar Infinity Wash ACLs
24 Elation Impressions
8 Barco High End Systems
Cyberlight CLs
40 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes with color changers
20 Altman 6' MR-16 striplights
46 Philips Color Kinetics Color
Blaze 72s
38 Philips Color Kinetics Color
Blaze 48s
6 Lycian M2 short throw spots
36 Honeywell red runway lights
Spider Truss: Xtreme Structures & Fabrication's (XSF) 26"x30" double hung pre-rig trusses
