Swedish singer and songwriter Tove Lo is touring in support of her fifth studio album, Dirt Femme, released last fall. After kicking off the tour at UK and European venues in late October and November, the North American tour leg ran from February to early March, with a number of South American dates in late March. PLSN spoke with Mason Ford, Lighting Designer, Programmer and Director for the Dirt Femme tour.
Mason Ford
Lighting Designer/Programmer/Director
Mason Ford says it was a very interesting design process, and exemplary of why he enjoys working with Creative Director Charlie Twaddle, and Tove Lo’s camp in general. “The main element at the start of our discussions was always the cloud set pieces. We were initially going to lean into a more video-based design around them, but as time wore on, we realized that we could more effectively achieve the variety of looks and feels we wanted if we leaned solely on lighting.”
Mason certainly wasn’t going to complain about it. A few months prior to the start of the tour, they settled on Pedro Catellani’s beautiful designs for the clouds, which gave them a great starting point to design lighting around. “As discussions progressed and we locked in a final design, I started programming and trying to figure out how to best use this rig. I definitely had a lot of flexibility. Charlie and I have worked together for years now, so there’s quite a bit of trust there. After I laid a bit of groundwork, he let me know his notes and thoughts, and we just continued building the show in that fashion. It was a very simple and natural feeling process.”
Ford says he was fairly lucky with time on this show. He had everything he needed pretty well in advance and was able to spend about a week just in previz at home, so by the time of pre-production and rehearsals, he was in a pretty good spot. “I did have a few late nights, but they were more of a luxury than necessity, just trying to meticulously (maybe too much so) dial things in and clean up as much as possible. I felt pretty confident by the first show but, as most of us have been through, rehearsals always look quite a bit different than the first show. Even with that, almost all of the hard work had been finished on my end well before any stress started to sink in.”
Gear Choices
The selection of fixtures Mason was able to use checked off quite a few boxes on his all-time favorites list. “I’ve used all of them very often in the past and they all performed exceedingly well. The Robe MegaPointes did everything I needed them to do and more, the optics, the brightness, the versatility, they are truly unmatched. I love the Elation ACL 360i’s as well, I needed something with speed and punch, that could really define themselves through a ton of other, possibly more powerful fixtures, and they certainly succeeded in that. I used Martin MAC Auras mostly to light the clouds, and they once again proved why they’ve been such a reliable workhorse for so long, they played so well off the surface of the set pieces, and that’s thanks to their rich color mixing and impressive output. I can say the same about the TMB Solaris Flares, they were used selectively, to uplight Tove on a grated riser, but in their moments, they really stood out. As far as the GLP X4 Bar 20’s, I don’t even have to say much. There’s a reason I’ve used them in nearly every one of my designs going back years now, they are just incredible.”
Ford used Premier Global Production for Tove’s Sunshine Kitty tour in 2020, and says they knocked it out of the park on that one, so they were the natural choice for this run as well. “PGP had everything we needed (both in terms of equipment and availability) and were extremely accommodating toward us,” Ford says. “When I heard from our Production Manager Tyler Young, that we were going with them, I definitely breathed a sigh of relief. With Mark Donahue out as our Lighting Tech, and the gear they sent us out with, I didn’t have much to worry about.”
Tove Lo is always a great artist to light, says Mason. “She’s so dynamic and energetic. And because she’s such an authentic and engaging performer, any extra production is just icing on the cake, so it makes my job a bit easier. Her team is solid as well–I’ve mentioned how much I enjoy working with Charlie, as he always has great ideas and will never shy away from experimentation. Tyler Young, the PM is also always a pleasure working with. He has a great eye for detail, a true team player and never one to be afraid of getting his hands dirty. Going back out with Tove, the creative flexibility and novelty, as well as the camaraderie truly make her team a standout in the industry.”
More Tove Lo Dirt Femme tour photos by Steve Jennings:
For a full list of crew and gear, go to https://plsn.com/articles/showtime/tove-lo-dirt-femme-tour/
