Grunge rocker Chris Cornell, frontman of bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, is on an intimate acoustic world tour showcasing those songs and new ones from his Higher Truth CD. Perched on a stool in front of a mic on a bare stage, Cornell sings folksinger-style and from the heart. Suddenly, over his shoulder, a beam of violet hits the plain backdrop, bringing to light the appearance of a big scarlet heart.
Otherwise, lighting is minimal. Nothing moves. There are few effects, no gobo patterns. Cornell is enveloped in blue or red, his face uplit in natural tones.
The Focus is on the Music
“Nobody should consider much the production value in this show,” LD Scott Strandberg says, knowing how odd that sounds. “Chris is front and center. There’s no haze, not a lot of production. I light Chris for visibility and what’s appropriate.”
Strandberg, touring four years now with Cornell’s solo sojourns, designed the show following his own higher truths: the principles of Stanley McCandless, a.k.a. the father of stage lighting design. Part of the McCandless Method states that by using two primary lights — one cool color, the other warmer — a more natural looking facial color can be produced without shadows. As can more natural looking sunsets.
Strandberg bases the show around sunset colors: indigo, magenta, reds, blues. “It’s a period of time after dinner. We’re resting. People are at a different mindset, ‘the golden hour,’ the colors match that.”
Another guiding guru is Candace Brightman, longtime LD for The Grateful Dead. As a fan from afar, he follows her philosophy. “Candace said, ‘You light the show but the lighting is not the show.’ It’s not about gimmicks or flash and trash. It’s always being understated.”
Although the venue, Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theatre, is outfitted with new technology, Strandberg is decidedly understated, sticking to the gear he’s carrying: six Martin MAC Auras, six PAR 38s as uplights/chin lights for Cornell and a High End Systems Road Hog 4 console.
He owns the gear and rents it to the tour. For six years he’s been serving the combo platter of equipment, lighting design and directing under his company Cool Complement. The name refers to the main concept of McCandless. And he likes the way it plays on words. “I like to think my work complements the music in a cool way, too,” he says.
He’s not trying to compete with vendors, but to bring his own palette. “I offer artistic vision with integrity at a competitive price. I want a different relationship with my client. I price myself competitively, but I like the concept of lagniappe — the New Orleans saying that you get more than what you pay for — a little something extra.”
Strandberg stores the equipment with a furnished rehearsal space, eliminating overhead costs. “The space is effectively paid for by my clients who use the space and my gear, but it also gives me a place to do shop work, be creative and lend it to other artists whom I am mentoring into clients.”
One-Man Lighting Crew
It’s a small tour. Strandberg is a one-man lighting crew. Ted Keedick is FOH, tour manager and production manager. Stephen Ferrera-Grand is the guitar tech and stage manager. There’s a merchandise person and support act.
When he specs gear, he factors in its creative capability with cost of ownership.
“I like the Aura’s 50-degree zoom and the even color field. Space was an issue in the trailer and I didn’t want anything bulky on stage. This tour is mostly theaters and symphony halls, so we light Chris for visibility and use Auras to color the mood and light the walls. Some of the theatre’s architecture is breathtaking, and the Auras show it off.”
He’s been “onboard” with the Hog console platform since the Hog II, finding Hog 4 “more intuitive, more responsive from an artistic perspective.”
“We’re here to experience the music live with Chris. He’s onstage at a minimum of two and a half hours, so I find a lighting level that doesn’t fatigue the audience. It needs to be balanced with depth, easy to watch.”
And easy to listen to. Surprises in Cornell’s repertoire are covers of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and a revision of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a Changin’.” For select songs, musician Bryan Gibson comes out to accompany him on cello or mandolin, lit in the same minimal way.
As the heart is a reoccurring theme in the songs, Cornell’s album artwork designer Josh Graham incorporated it into the backdrop. Gallagher Staging fabricated the curtain wall.
“The way the colors play on the drop, where the heart disappears under blue light, but jumps out in violet, is a happy accident that I came across in preproduction,” Strandberg says. “The exact light hues were chosen in relation to how the heart either jumped out or disappeared.”
There are a few big theatrical moments in the show, Strandberg notes. He cites examples: “In ‘Black Hole Sun,’ there’s a crescendo, where the room is blinded by a ridiculous amount of indigo pars and the line in the song is: ‘Hang my head, drown my fear, ‘til you all just disappear’ and the lights fade with Chris on the ‘disappear.’
“‘Wide Awake’ is about Hurricane Katrina. At the end, Chris sings to the government: ‘you should have been wide awake,’ and I light the room to intensify the wide-awake part. It’s a bold statement. I don’t know if the audience will get that.”
“I light for the artist’s comfort,” he adds. “If an artist is over lit, they may feel exposed and put up a wall. It’s like a spotlight in an interrogation room. Artists put on their best performance when they are comfortable. People want to see the artist, but we want the best performance. And it may not be in a bright light.”
The tour started in September 2015 in North America, and spans the globe to June 2016.
For more Chris Cornell solo tour photos by Debi Moen and Scott Strandberg, go to:
http://www.prolightingspace.com/photo/albums/chris-cornell-solo-gallery-shots-by-scott-strandberg-and-debi
