Rundgren’s EDM Project (with Singing Dancers) Fills Smaller Venues with a Big Rave Vibe
Martin Thomas apologizes for being a few minutes late to the interview. “I’m solo on this tour, and I touch everything,” he says, explaining that, besides a few local tech hires, the whole operation is literally in his hands. You could say the whole “world” is.
It is Global, Todd Rundgren’s tour based on his EDM techno album of the same name. While lighting designer/director Thomas of Relentless Entertainment Designs has been out with Rundgren several times, this is a marked departure (then again, everything Rundgren does is a marked departure from his previous work). Thomas has worked with a variety of acts otherwise including Jill Scott, Alan Parsons, Banks, D’Angelo, David Benoit, Robert Plant, Erykah Badu, and Foreigner; but this adventured offered him a slew of opportunities — and challenges.
“Each song is a story and has its own look, but then there’s a ‘global’ theme, a world story over the whole show,” says Rundgren. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many set changes [in a rock show]. It’s really like a Broadway show, but instead of the orchestra being in the pit, it’s on a computer being run by the DJ. And since we’re putting on a show, the lighting is integral. We wanted the audience to focus on the action on the stage, and that’s the reason the lights were so important, and not just to set the mood or watch the musicians in the traditional sense.” [See sidebar for full interview with Rundgren.]
Creating the Show
New to a Rundgren show is a pair of singing dancers, fondly referred to as “Global Girls.” Thomas says another difference from the typical rock tour is because the vast majority of music is “in the can,” it’s important to make sure the audience knows that vocals are live. “Everybody is illuminated to make sure everyone knows they are singing,” he says.
Thomas, well aware of Rundgren’s history of pioneering visual aspects to his music, is pleased to get to work with him again. “I remember when we were rehearsing up in Bearsville [NY] for his State album and first venture into EDM. His brain is always moving faster than current technology!” For this tour, Rundgren wanted to create that giant rave vibe, but on an intimate scale. But was constantly thwarted by what was technically available at the time, which was a really long time ago (2013). While that tour turned out well, Thomas feels technology has caught up. Added with Rundgren’s new take on the genre, it’s all come together better. “I don’t want to say the music on this tour is more subtle, but there’s more of an emotional side; there’s more storytelling.”
The lighting rig centers on gear from Robe. Thomas says he’s long established a good relationship with the Czech Republic-based company (he’s currently designing a fixture with them). “I am using Robe Pointes, as they are super flexible. I had 18 Lekos downstage for Jill [Scott], and had to spend an hour focusing them, so the Pointe immediately became my favorite light, as not only is it a time-saver, it’s a great narrow profile, a great wash, and a great effect light all in one. It’s also low wattage (280W light source), so we don’t have to worry about power.” Also lighting up Rundgren and company is the Robe’s Robin 600 LEDWash and MMX WashBeam.
Even though he is creating that big rave vibe, it doesn’t mean it’s a show that relentlessly blinds the audience with lights. “This is about what’s happening on stage,” he says. There are a few specific moments where the lights do go out in the audience, bringing them into the action, but only when it makes sense, like on the song “Today,” a call-to-action anthem that’s off Rundgren’s 2008 Arena album.
Video Hunting
Rundgren challenged Thomas to find a video package that could keep up with their collective imagination yet be both affordable and portable. During that process, Thomas made a call to Rush’s lighting designer, Howard Ungerleider. “Howard was a huge help, as he hooked me up with LMG Show Technology,” Thomas says. “I had done the research, and having Howard point to their Omega [LED video tiles] was great.” He says LMG trained and prepped him on the system in Las Vegas, and that LMG’s Kevin Maas offered “amazing technical help. Plus, once I was on the road, he helped me with any questions I had. The biggest thing about the video is it assembles quickly.”
For longtime Todd fans, one of the interesting aspects of the show is that, as the show goes on, Todd reaches further into his catalog, doing new EDM-style versions of classic favorites. This is a favorite aspect for Martin — he says it’s giving the audience what they want, yet keeping them in 2015. “It’s a fresh uptake to do classic songs with leading technology.”
Talking Tech with Todd
“Technology is something that is always behind on what we’re thinking.” —Todd Rundgren
LD Martin Thomas ushers me into Todd Rundgren’s coach, where he’s relaxing in a booth before the show. Thomas takes a seat on the other side of us as I slide in across from Rundgren. I tell him I only need him for a few minutes, “because in my world, this guy [pointing to Thomas] is the star, the guy we really want to hear from.”
“As it should be,” Rundgren says.
PLSN: When creating Global in the studio, were you thinking about how the show would look?
Todd Rundgren: I didn’t have a clear idea how I would present this. Once I finished it, it was a challenge, but I did figured out I was going to strip it all down to pretty much a musical playback situation with a DJ/Emcee.
Had you done anything like that before?
I did a fairly techno-intensive tour where I was the MC and the singer, but that took too much mindshare [2013’s State]. This made for a better performance to have a DJ [first Dam-Funk, then Reggie B]. I’ve never taken out two dancers/singers like we have now. That took three months to cast. There were people who could sing but not dance, and vice-versa. Once I had them, I had the basic kernel of the show, and then could think about the visual aspects of it.
Let’s talk video and the process of putting it all together.
We had done some video wall before, essentially LED lights mounted on a black curtain, but it was not flexible. Technology is something that is always behind on what we’re thinking. So I set Martin about exploring what the possibilities currently were, and essentially set him on the task of bringing a big festival show to the smaller venue. What we ended up with is [LGM Omega] video technology we hadn’t used before, and we were glad it could do what we wanted yet reached the realm of affordability! [Laughs]. Also it’s flexible in terms of the variety of venues we play.
Where did the visual elements used in the video come from?
I had a few ideas, but I let Martin draw on the lyrics and figure out what works. This is his first time using this technology, and there’s not a lot of precedent for it. We had created some video for other shows with different technology, so we had some files we were able to use because the file format was in Quicktime Movies and Quartz Composer so we could recalculate abstract images and mix that together with some stock footage. But Martin didn’t take the lyrics and make literal visual reproductions on the video screens…but there is a lot of climate commentary.
Any challenges?
To prepare, we had three days in Salt Lake City and really got it to where we wanted, and then we went to load up, and 30 percent of the lights couldn’t fit in the trailer! [Laughs] So then there was a little trial and error, but fortunately it was a system built around flexibility, so we just recalculated it all.
Also, in some ways, no matter how much you try to advance a tour like this, you don’t always wind up getting what you expect. You don’t get the correct information, calls are sometimes not returned, so we’ve been in places where we’ve had to scramble for a generator — that sort of thing. Dallas was a nightmare. Yet we still managed to pull off a good show.
—KMM
Todd Rundgren’s Global Tour
Crew:
LD/Lighting Director: Martin Thomas/Relentless Entertainment Designs
Lighting/Video Co: LMG
Gear
1 grandMA 2 Fullsize console
8 Robe 600 LEDWash fixtures
12 Robe Pointes
6 Robe MMX WashBeams
4 Applied Electronics L-16 towers
4 Thomas 8’x12”x12” truss sections
1 LMG media processing system
56 LMG Omega 8mm video tiles
2 Catalyst Media Servers
