I was recently able to catch up with Russ Felton during a break in his schedule, which is one that barely allows for sleep. I’m chatting with him during lunch to see how he handles all the pressures of dealing with the lighting at these massive festival shows he works on. Russ is one of the top lighting crew chiefs in the world. He is employed by BML Blackbird, one of the top lighting companies on the East Coast, located in Secaucus, NJ, right outside NYC. Russ deals with everything from touring acts to trade shows to stadium-sized festivals.
This week we find him prepping gear for some huge Music Festival in the sticks of Delaware which will serve close to 90,000 multi-day tickets this year.
For the main stage, headliners including Paul McCartney, the Killers and Kings of Leon performed on the main stage with their own touring rigs supplied by Upstaging and Bandit Lites. For this festival, BML provided a supporting role to the main lighting rigs — but that still added up to five truckloads of gear.
PLSN: Last week you were working at a three-day festival in NYC. Next week you are located in a field somewhere in Delaware. What’s the difference between these two gigs for you?
Russ Felton: Last week, I was in charge of the two main stages located in the city. Surrounded by good crew and fair weather, I was happy to babysit the main stage most of the time. Next week, I’m in a totally different world. Another company and crew will take care of the main stages while my team does a couple small stages and all the ancillary lighting in seven separate areas that are on the festival grounds.
So with time constraints, do you just load up all the gear from one gig and sort it out at the next?
Umm, no, but that might have been a valid idea. I finished load out in the city at 4 a.m. Monday morning. By noon I was back at BML, taking conference calls on the next festival.
Is everything pretty straightforward going in to this festival ?
One must understand that these humongous festivals aren’t like other gigs. The site LD Chris Kuroda is involved in the design here, and while I’m sure the main stages have thorough light plots, the smaller ones are easier and basically something we will hash out on site. The fact that Chris is doing other cool stuff with lighting the grounds is something we have to take into account. Last week I was in charge of much of the big lighting on a small part of the grounds. This week I’m involved in a lot of little lighting that takes up a large area.
There’s no way to really draw a proper plot for these lighting situations, is there?
Today. It’s like this, “Here’s a list. Here’s an idea. Plan accordingly.” I have basic truss layouts and lists of fixtures. While I am a tad clueless today, I will know more tomorrow, as the LD and the site guys are there now hashing stuff out.
Okay. You’re not doing the main stages. Seriously, how much gear is BML sending down just to look after the on-site lighting and a couple of stages?
I have five semi-trucks standing by for the lighting gear. I will work two teams while keeping to a 10-hour day as best as we can.
So what is your plan of attack?
I have seven distinct areas to cover, hence I will create seven different ‘bone yards’ on site. Each one will have the fixtures Kuroda spec’d and whatever hardware that I need.
I understand that a ‘bone yard’ is a term used for putting all your spares and gear off to the side for when you need it. But how do you handle figuring out your cable needs?
Well, without a definitive plan, the bone yard is simply all the gear that I possibly might need to pull off lighting that area, no matter what the designer throws at me. As far as cable, there’s only one thing I can do. I bring along one 5-foot, 10-foot, 20-foot and 50-foot jumper cable for every fixture. Since I have lots of LED fixtures, I will two-fer a lot of circuits together on site. Sure, it’s a lot of cable, but better safe than sorry. I’m in a 400-acre field in Delaware; can’t just run to the shop for something.
What kind of site lighting are you talking about, and what does that entail?
These festivals have pathways and VIP areas that need illumination. The designer has a cool setup going into the artist’s compound. The producers of the event have an idea. As was explained to me by the production team for this event, we are going to light a whole lot of trees surrounding the stages. LED fixtures will be attached to the actual trees with lag bolts and accent the grounds all around the main spectacles. It’s to provide a cool ambient look that will make the stage look even larger.
Lag bolts into trees?
That’s what I thought originally, but they have investigated this. As my crew takes each fixture down after the show, they have a person right behind them filling in the holes with something that will heal them, and I have been told this is a non-issue. The bigger problem is that all my cables jumping all this together have to be 10 feet off the ground. It may end up looking like a big Charlottes’ Web in the air, but it may be a good look, for all I know.
What’s your biggest concern with loading this in?
I’m not concerned that I will have forgotten anything. What concerns me is the “What if” factor. What if it rains? What if the tower I’m supposed to set up ends up being in the middle of a large puddle when I get there? What if I get on site and I need a trench to bury cables under a road?
You are there for a week before the show. How do you prepare for the rain, which seems to be attracted to open-air festivals?
I make sure the majority of the gear that is exposed to the elements is LED and IP-rated to withstand water. Of course, I have a lot of Clay Paky B-Eyes and [Martin] MAC fixtures that are not. But I have ideas on how to protect them.
Sounds like a tall order to get all your info on a Monday, then pull five trucks together to load in Saturday morning…
It’s my gig. I’ve done more with less time, not that I ever really want to. But I’m not afraid, just concerned. The fact that my staff at the shop is top notch and I have a crew I can count on speaks volumes. I have faith in the production coordinator next week and his team. He has learned a lot working at this festival over the years and probably has faced every obstacle known to man at these events.
How many lighting techs do you have with you, and how do you spread out the manpower?
I am the crew chief who oversees it all. I will bring eight BML crew down to the site, and we separate into two teams and just start tackling areas as they are ready to go. I have two lead guys who will run their team, and hopefully I can join in with one of those groups. I’m looking forward to wearing my mud boots with pride, ‘cause we’re all out on site and in the trenches together.
