Folk-pop artist Maggie Rogers has wrapped up the first leg of her The Feral Joy Tour. The tour promoted her latest album Surrender and featured special guest Del Water Gap as an opener for the show. Production/Lighting Designers Tess Falcone and Dan Hadley of LXFC marked their first tour with the artist. Hadley had worked with Rogers’ management before and was invited to submit a design to work with the artist herself, executing an intimate rock-concert design for Rogers’ unique sound. Entertainment Technology Partners spoke with the LXFC partners about the tour’s design.
Bridging Artist with Audience
The management team had design elements implemented from the Coachella Festival last year but wanted to flesh out and refine these elements. One of the biggest components of the Coachella performance was that certain scenic elements that were tremendous during daylight had to be brought into theaters, requiring a bigger light show. Hadley explains, “For Coachella, they had that twilight hour of trying to figure out what the lighting is actually capable of, versus just having an entirely dark show.”
“Maggie was very mindful of our work and the time it took to do everything. Having those conversations was really helpful, and that was probably the biggest one. Additionally, some of the venues turned out to be smaller or more limited in unexpected ways, particularly with rigging limitations. So, the first week or two had some unique challenges due to venue situations. Despite all this, they have really come together to make things happen.”
The design conversation was centered around Rogers’ involvement with her fans and the desire to bridge those gaps between artist and audience. Hadley notes, “Maggie wanted to have a classic arena rock feel with a lot of elements that would make it big and in-your-face, but with a nostalgic twist. She emphasized the importance of inclusivity, wanting to break down the barriers between audience and artists. ‘Nostalgia’ was a word that came up frequently in our conversations about the design.”
A change in venue type meant adapting and redesigning elements to conform to the various venues Roger performed at. A major component that carried through well, based off the execution of the Production designers, was the unique way Rogers’ energy was captured, which is one reason they had a cameraman on stage.
“We have four HD pan, tilt, zoom cams on stands around the stage, and then one handheld camera. Uniquely, we don’t have cameras in the house. We don’t have your typical front of house long-lens look that gets the artist at their mic, which is kind of shocking and took a little bit of getting used to. Instead, we have a cameraman on stage that I personally thought was going to draw attention, but during the first show when Maggie turns to the cameraman and her face gets projected big onto the screen, the crowd reacted, and I learned something there… Having that element, that cameraman on stage, bringing her very close and intimate with the audience, was a great surprise.”
LMG Touring provided a small camera package including a wireless Panasonic CX4000 ENG camera and four Sony BRCX-1000 4K P/T/Z color video cameras with POE+, allowing for the execution of the creative team’s vision, bringing the audience close with the artist through the onstage dynamic cameraman and peripheral cameras.
The goal was to portray the artist in the right element for her voice. “The most important thing [to our job] is to make the artist feel comfortable and confident in their environment, ensuring that we create a show that accurately represents their vision for the world to see. Working closely with Maggie, we fine-tuned each aspect of the performance, taking into account the artist’s intimate knowledge of their music. After all, the artist has spent countless hours perfecting their craft, and it’s our responsibility to ensure their satisfaction with the final product.”
Now You See It, Now You Don’t
A giant grid consisting of 40 CHAUVET Strike 1 Blinders sat behind ROE Visual Vanish V8 Touring (V8T) panels for Maggie’s inclusive rock performance. Lighting, video, and LED vendors of The Feral Joy Tour, LMG Touring, are currently one of the few providers of the Vanish LED panel technology in the country. The package they provided included a Brompton Technology 1080 video processing unit, which was used to optimize the video content delivered by Resolume media servers for display on the wall of LED panels.
“There was a lot of discussion about when to debut the grid of Strike 1 Blinders that sits behind the Vanish V8T video wall” says Hadley. “While eager to show it off in the first song, we waited a few songs in because we knew the audience would be excited enough just to see Maggie. We finally revealed it in the fourth or fifth song, and the crowd was amazed to see that the video wall also had a ton of blinders” Falcone emphasizes, “It’s really impactful. It is a great product that really did well in getting the points across that Maggie and her management wanted to see, and we were able to get some really diverse looks out of it.”
As an artist, Rogers’ genre is not easily defined. With elements of folk, pop and R&B, her performances border on spontaneous and electric. What can be easily defined is the artist’s strong belief in music being the strongest way to change the world, and Rogers strives to create this sense of community through her craft. The creative vision for the tour was executed flawlessly with the use of the Vanish V8T technology, exhibiting “feral joy” with inclusivity of the audience through closeups of the artist and the audience themselves being projected onstage. The Vanish wall created viewing angles with high brightness to define the emotions of the performance, relaying them to the audience and creating community through visual and auditory senses.
The Vanish V8T can elevate visual performance quality with its 14-bit-gray scales, and the option to curve the LED panels provides ample room for innovative designs. With its modular design and easy handling, assembly and maintenance are made easy, but the real magic behind the Vanish V8T is the varying levels of transparency and opacity of the LED panels. With a transparency of 60%, Hadley and Falcone of LXFC and Rogers’ management team had the flexibility to modify and customize their creative content, allowing for lighting, I-Mag, and video content to run simultaneously on the Vanish wall.
“The V8 wall offers a significant advantage in providing a diverse range of looks with a compact rig. With the ability to incorporate camera content on the screen, lights in the back, and various graphics, we can unveil a variety of looks throughout the show.” says Karol Luczkiewicz, Touring Account Executive of LMG Touring. “As a concertgoer, this creates an element of surprise and excitement, akin to a plot twist in a movie. It keeps the audience engaged and interested, making for a truly memorable experience.”
Lighting Director/Operator Ali Blue notes that it was the “star of the show.” Blue worked with Falcone and Hadley for The Feral Joy Tour, seamlessly executing the show in real-time with Resolume media servers, controlled by a grandMA3 full-size lighting console provided by LMG Touring. “The Vanish Wall… it is incredible. It is one of the greatest things I’ve ever used on tour. With the wall of CHAUVET Strike 1 Blinders behind it… they are some of my favorite fixtures. The two together in conjunction really were just such an important part of that show. I just love that you don’t see it until a couple of songs in. It was one of those moments where the audience just went wild, and then it continued to play such a big role in driving the show while not taking away from the I-Mag, which is sometimes really hard to do.”
Roxx Concert Feel
One of the biggest elements that is unique to the design are the Roxx Cluster B4 FC fixtures. 8-cell blinders had been used in previous shows to create a classic look, but the lights were agreed to have been too bright and static, so a new approach was taken for the tour. “There are more emotions with full color. You’re able to create more moments in the show than just having this white light all the time” says Falcone. “You didn’t see the fixtures change colors until a few songs in, so that in conjunction with the big wall of Strike 1s behind the Vanish Wall really made it feel like an elevated old school rock show.” Blue says.
According to Hadley, “Having an LED full color fixture in that same form factor of the 8-cell and 4-cell blinder was really great because we could introduce them with no surprises. People look at it and it’s familiar. For the first few songs it warms up and is a tungsten look… but then once it gets into the first big pop number, it starts really flashing with that instant on, instant off LED and uses full color. There have been RGB LED blinders before, but nothing that looks this good. Craig Mitchell and Kevin Maas of LMG Touring did an incredible job getting us the gear that we requested. The Roxx fixtures are not widely available in the US yet, so it was a big challenge, and they were happy to find them and procure them for us on a pretty tight timeline.”
Rigging the Gig
LMG Touring provided video, lighting, and LED for The Feral Joy Tour, and was able to prepare the entire rig in their Orlando studio before it went to rehearsals. The Orlando studio features two combinable studios with a total of 5,400 sq. ft. and a 31’ trim height. The Orlando LMG rehearsal studio offers ready-to-use spaces for both touring artists and hybrid events, and the added element of an air wall dividing Studio A from Studio B allows the space to be combined and easily configured depending on needs, perfect for tour programming and artist rehearsals.
They built and flew the whole rig in their studio and tested it, enabling the load-in and load-out process to run smoothly for Rogers’ tour. “By having the capability to hang the rig in its entirety during prep, we’re able to streamline the load-out process going into rehearsals” says Luczkiewicz.
The opportunity for test load-ins and load-outs is crucial in identifying any issues and making necessary adjustments before the actual event. Allotting time for this process is a worthwhile investment as it saves costs on bringing in extra stagehands and prevents last-minute fixes that could potentially compromise the quality of the event. “Troubleshooting the whole system in its entirety, rather than in pieces, is what really sets us up for success and helps us avoid potential setbacks.” Luczkiewicz adds. Any potential issues are tackled beforehand, and the final outcome is ensured to be a perfect reflection of the clients’ vision.
Shout Outs
The production designers expressed how everyone’s involvement in The Feral Joy Tour was essential to the success of the tour, giving honorary mentions to their production manager, lighting operator, LMG Touring, and the LMG Touring crew. “Our Production Manager, Shane Rawdon, was integral in keeping everything afloat and meeting the challenges with a good sense of humor, and our lighting operator, Ali Blue, has jumped right in and taken on all the challenges that we have given her. She has come in, in stride, and has had a great attitude about it.”
“The attitudes of the LMG crew, including Alex and DJ, have also been great. Through all the challenges, they’ve not stopped. They always kept their cool and their attitudes never wavered… and Alex kept us caffeinated throughout all of rehearsal with Cuban coffees, South Florida style.”
Falcone expresses that she has known and worked with Kevin and Craig for years and has always had really positive experiences with them. “I was really grateful to have both of them on this project.” Regarding the LMG Touring team Hadley states that their success is about their positive outlook. “They don’t start with listing the challenges, they start with listing the possibilities.”
Maggie Rogers returns to tour this Summer 2023
Gear
Lighting
2 MA Lighting grandMA3 full-size Console
2 MA Network Processing Unit
3 MA 8Port Node
6 GLP JDC1 Strobe
20 Roxx Cluster B4 FC
14 Robe Forte
40 CHAUVET Strike1
18 GLP JDC1 Line 500
8 GLPJDC1 Line 1000
2 hazebase Base Hazer Pro Plus
Video
1 Ross Video 1ME Carbonite Solo Switcher
1 Resolume Media Server Package
84 ROE Visual Vanish 8T LED Panel
3 Brompton Technology Tessera S41 Panasonic CX4000 ENG Camera
4 Sony BRCX-1000 4K PTZ Camera
1 ABonAir Wireless System
Further information from LMG Touring: https://lmgtouring.net/
PLSN covered the Maggie Rogers’ The Feral Joy Tour in the May 2023 issue. You can click here to read the Wide Focus on this tour.
