It was conveyed to us that Sting and Paul did not want two [separate] shows — they wanted one,” states Richard Locklin, LD for Paul Simon. “We needed the show to be seamless, moving nicely from one song to another without stopping the show to move set pieces.”
Mission accomplished.
As the 21-city Simon and Sting On Stage Together Tour moved across the North American continent for a five-week trek that concluded in mid-March, reviewers commented on the easy, respectful camaraderie between the two artists. Britain-born Sting might be 10 years younger and nine inches taller (he’s 62 and 6 feet; Simon’s 72 and 5’ 3”) and there may be a considerable gap in their musical styles as well.
But the two singer-songwriters share a mutual admiration for each other’s talents, and their performances on stage have been lauded as more than just a double-bill, but a true fusion of musicianship — a smooth yet exciting performance with songs chronicling pain but also including rays of optimism. (Along with their tendency toward melancholy, both artists are known for experimenting with musical beats from around the world.)
As with the pooled accompaniment of 14 backing musicians, the touring crew included a “Noah’s Ark” compilation with two of everything: Two artist, two FOH engineers, two riggers, and two lighting designers/directors: Locklin and Danny Nolan. (For a look at how this worked out on the audio side, see the Production Profile in the PLSN-affiliated FRONT of HOUSE magazine, March, 2014, page 28.)
An Idea Crazy Enough to Work
Both LDs have been working with their respective artists for years — and each has been lighting other artists on stage for decades.
Nolan went to work straight out of college for Zenith Lighting in London in 1986. “It was the first job I ever had,” he says. He’s been with Sting since The Police Reunion tour of 2007.
Locklin is from Chicago, and worked for some live event companies through the years including Upstaging, which happened to supply most of the gear on this tour. He served as a board operator for Little Feat, Bruce Hornsby, Fleetwood Mac, and the Eagles among others, and has been lighting Simon since 2006. “It’s been an absolute pleasure,” he says of the gig.
Word of the possible collaboration started buzzing, and when Locklin and Nolan happened to be in Atlanta (Locklin with Fleetwood Mac, Nolan with Sting) at hotels a few blocks apart, they got together.
“I called out to Danny, and he had heard we might be working together too. So to lay a little groundwork, we grabbed a meal together in Atlanta.”
As a sign of things to come, the meeting went swimmingly. “Danny has been at this forever, and I really appreciate his work, and knew I’d be a good counterpart for what he does.”
“I thought it was a great idea,” Nolan adds. “Paul Simon had already sung with Sting a few times and it worked really well.”
They parted and waited for official word.
October came, and suddenly it was official. While both teams scrambled, the LDs seemed to have it under control immediately. “Rich and I both had to create our own looks from over 35 songs in the joint set list,” Nolan explains. “We needed to make them different and interesting, but also blend together.”
They envisioned a way to have all those musicians in all those combinations: by having a single scene. “Whatever the set it was, musicians needed to walk in and walk out, and so we developed the look so that could happen.”
“Simplicity was the key,” Nolan says of the design. “The stage has two full backline setups for both bands, and six or seven blocks of songs from Sting, then from Paul — so we needed to define this sections. We used 13 pantographs and classic simple backgrounds to create these moments.”
The rig needed to look bigger than it was, Locklin adds, and it needed to have “that New York feel, which is appreciated by both elements.” The final set offered “a little motion, but not something that moves throughout the show.”
“Upstaging was incredible to work with, and the way they helped put this tour together and set up the rig was wonderful,” Nolan says.
The Two Become One
While melding it all into “one show,” they still wanted a rig that allowed “Sting to look like Sting and Paul to look like Paul,” Locklin says. “Everyone was excited, but didn’t know how it would come together — if these flavors would work together. And it was even a surprise to all of us when they took the stage and started to play!”
Four hands proved better than two in more ways than one: Locklin was at the early rehearsals and began taking notes while Nolan was at the Upstaging’s headquarters near Chicago, building the rig.
“For the recent Graceland tour [which celebrating the 25th anniversary of that album’s 1986 release], I had a rig that became the starting point for this rig,” Locklin says. “We agreed on Martin [MAC] Vipers and Vari*Lite VLX washes, and then Danny suggested the Chauvet COLORado PARs and pantographs.” He adds that the Chauvet fixtures were especially effective because they helped make the rig look bigger than it was.
“I was very pleased with the Vipers,” Nolan adds.
Adjustments and tweaks ensued, as the challenge became a matter of balance.
“The music doesn’t lend itself to a big flashy rock show lighting style, and Danny found the perfect balance. During songs like ‘Roxanne,’ it was intimate, and the songs with both bands had the proper lighting for that too.”
The artists themselves were lit a bit differently — the backlighting that works so well for Sting and is such a part of his many shows isn’t as well suited for Simon, and yet the LDs made it all work.
There were other differences, too. Simon tends to interact a bit more with his backing band members, with each musician bringing more of their own nuances to the music and the solos. Along with the washes, the lighting design called for a Martin MAC Viper for each of the backing musicians, plus a pair each for both Simon and Sting. “There was too much going on for any one light to do double duty,” Locklin laughs. “And there certainly wasn’t enough time to even try to.” Both LDs used grandMA consoles for control.
“This show was not about pushing boundaries — it was about what’s appropriate for the artist and audience,” Locklin adds.
Once the show hit the road, there were few changes. A couple tunes were switched around early on, but otherwise, the pair of LDs just catered to the different styles.
“But I’ll say it’s been phenomenal in that Sting will come out and do a really tasteful solo version of a Paul song, and when Paul sings ‘Fragile,’ it’s really magical. Any skeptics who see the show are won over — the whole is truly better than the sum of its parts.”
