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Spiritbox ‘The Eternal Blue’ Tour

The Canadian heavy metal band Spiritbox recently finished their first headlining tour of North America, ‘The Eternal Blue Tour.’ Co-Creative Directors Lenny Sasso (also handling lighting design) and Drew Mercadante (who is also screens producer) fill us in on how the visuals came together for the well-received tour.

Lighting Muse’s ‘Will of the People’ Tour

Designers Jesse Lee Stout and Sooner Routhier were looking for a way to visually express the band’s desire for a show design that would convey a narrative of “an extreme group of vigilantes resetting the world to ground zero” (Stout) with a “rig that feels like the skeletal nature of a post-apocalyptic, near-future world” (Routhier). Upstaging provided 122 CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M fixtures, most of which were in a horseshoe configuration around the stage, with others under the plexiglass stage. “They are one of the main workhorses of the show,” Routhier says, noting the importance of reining in their intensity through most of the show and limiting the full intensity blasts of light to “only a couple times in the show” so they will deliver maximum impact.

From “Designer Spotlight,” PLSN, May 2023, page 34

Max Lenox and Andrew Goedde Open Color Box for Mt. Joy with CHAUVET Professional

Artistic inspiration often finds its most fertile ground outside the gates of convention. Such was the case with the lighting and production design that Max Lenox and Andrew Goedde created for Mt. Joy on the band’s current world tour. While conventional wisdom advises not to mix too many colors on stage at the same time, Lenox and Goedde have been enthralling crowds, and supporting the psychedelic indie group’s music, with a full spectrum design that sometimes displays a rainbow of colors side by side.Read More »Max Lenox and Andrew Goedde Open Color Box for Mt. Joy with CHAUVET Professional

Using Technology to Accelerate the Design Process

Steve Cohen and Bob Bonniol collaborated on the lighting, video and scenic design for Blake Shelton’s “Back to the Honky Tonk” tour. Bonniol built a virtual video environment that worked as an extension of the physical set design using Unreal Engine. “We had created Blake’s honky-tonk. The idea was utilizing this video screen to be an extension of that environment,” said Cohen. “It was like you really couldn’t tell where the physical ended and the virtual began,” Bonniol added. “Working on Unreal was so nimble and so fast, and I was able to bring elements together so quickly; to light them and plot camera moves through them…we had 13 days of rehearsal, but because we were moving so fast, using Unreal, that allowed us to basically take three complete, thoughtful passes at the show, which is unheard of in concert work.”

Realizing an Otherworldly Performance for the ‘Kids’ Choice Awards’

For the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, which aired March 4, 2023, the show featured a digital performance segment with rapper/Nickelodeon star Young Dylan. The sequence was shot via virtual production at LA’s Lulu Studio 18 with a Production Design by Silent House Principal Tamlyn Wright, who was Creative Producer, Production Design for the segment. Lulu Studio 18’s owner Michael Zinman served as Virtual Production Producer. Zinman and Wright share how they created the otherworldly, kid-friendly virtual environment.

Blake Shelton: ‘Back to the Honky Tonk’ Tour

From the creative minds of designers Steve Cohen and Bob Bonniol, working along with Felix Peralta, Blake Shelton’s “Back to the Honky Tonk” tour, with dynamic lighting, a cutting-edge video environment production design and a working bar stage extension, is a visually engaging theatrical experience. We catch up with the team to learn about the design and the practical solutions they relied on to realize it.

Streaming The Last Rockstars at the Hollywood Palladium

The Last Rockstars, a Japanese supergroup, played sold-out dates in Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles. We speak with Lighting Designer Peter Morse about his rocking design that showcased the band in the best light, and with Video Director Kevin Garcia about capturing and livestreaming the Hollywood Palladium show globally, including to 100 movie theaters in Japan.

Bringing Down the Chandelier on Broadway’s ‘The Phantom of the Opera’

Broadway’s longest running show in history, The Phantom of the Opera, takes its final bows and will go dark, closing in mid-April. PLSN speaks with some of the creative and production team who have been with the show since the beginning 35 years ago. Sharing their thoughts are Lighting Designer Andrew Bridge, Associate LD Vivien Leone, Head Electrician Alan Lampel. We also talk with Gary Fails about the fog system, which is integral to the overall impact of the show.