Lighting designer Tim Routledge informs us that we’ll see three of his tours in the U.S. this summer: Sam Smith’s The Thrill of It All world tour in North America until September (pictured above, with lighting director Louisa Smurthwaite); Jeff Lynne’s ELO World Tour in August and Florence + The Machine’s world tour, which rehearses in the U.S. prior to its August launch. Routledge also got Rita Ora and hip hop artist Stormzy in the works in the U.K.
Pixies and Previz
Pixies LD Myles Mangino has hit the road with co-headliner Weezer (LDs Dan Hadley, Tess Falcone). “We share one-third of the rig and the show completely transforms to create two unique stage sets,” he says. Just prior to the tour, Mangino opened his new commercial previz and design studio, Highlt PDS, in New York City. (For more info, turn to page 46 and visit www.highlt.com).
Full Circle
Back in his college days, LD Chris Werner’s first summer job was working on an Irish dance show, Irish Thunder, with LD Ken Billington, at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. This summer, nearly two decades later, he returned to the Virginia theme park to remount a show, Britmania. “It tells the story of the British Invasion, starting with a flashpoint of The Beatles’ performance on The Ed Sullivan Show,” explains Werner, who handled lighting and media design while Mike Berger served as associate LD. Berger and Werner also worked together on the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, with Berger as LD and Werner and Ryan Tanker as lighting directors.
Quick Cues: Summer in the Cities
Mike Shinoda, co-founder of Linkin Park, is on tour promoting his debut solo album, Post Traumatic. LD Celine Royer designed, programmed and operates the touring production, which launches in Beijing on Aug. 12. Royer recently completed the ninth leg as lighting director of Jennifer Lopez’s residency in Vegas and plans to return to Las Vegas in September after Shinoda’s trek to finish the last leg of J-Lo’s three-year “All I Have” residency at Planet Hollywood…
Kevin Cauley programmed this summer’s Chris Brown tour for LD Justin Collie. Cauley also received a nomination for a second Emmy for his TV work on The Ellen DeGeneres Show…
LD Dara Guiney saddles up with Band of Horses on a U.S. tour in August. After a quick week off, Dara dives into Garbage for their 20th anniversary shows, the Version 2.0 tour…
LD Patrick Hayes is out with The Decemberists’ “Your Girl/Your Ghost” tour, with dates to Nov. 17…
Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson co-headline on their “Twins of Evil: The Second Coming Tour,” which runs through Aug. 29. Manson’s LD, Nicolas Riot, and Zombie’s LD, Damian Rogers, designed the rig together, according to Riot…
LD Dave Herrman rejoins the Gipsy Kings’ caravan Aug.1-Sept. 30 in the U.S. and Canada. The Portland, ME resident usually stays busy working at the local State Theatre and outdoor venue Thompson’s Point…
LD Marc Janowitz designed the current tour for Dispatch, a New England indie/roots band. He says the ad materials promoting the show had a Native American theme to it, so his set reflects those elements…
LD/production designer Guy Pavelo with GP-SK Design designed Panic! At The Disco’s Pray for the Wicked tour, with lighting director Alex Specht operating it on the road…
LD Steven Mills is out with Beck…
LD Matt Waterfield is touring with Erasure…
LD Keith Hoagland with CKP Lighting has been out designing and operating Rob Thomas’s dates in June, with more dates this fall, while he still juggles full-time duties with Jason Aldean. “It is a fun camp,” Hoagland says. “It’s been a great mix-up from Aldean to Thomas. Rob Thomas’s shows have worked out great to drop within my days off.”
LD Jeff Maker is once again on tour with All Time Low as their LD on their co-headliner with Dashboard Confessional on “The Summer Ever After” tour…
LD Phil Ealy tells us he’s blessed this summer with lighting designs for Britney Spears, The Offspring and Guns N’ Roses. He’s currently winding down the summer directing for Kenny Chesney’s “Trip Around The Sun” tour, which wraps up Aug. 25…
The Activity’s Patrick Dierson says they’ve got a lighting design out with N.E.R.D.’s summer festival tour with lighting director Manny Conde and overall creative direction by Good Company. They also just wrapped several stadium projects with Ultra Music Festival, handling lighting and production design duties alongside creative director Richard Milstein. The festivals took place in Seoul, Beijing and Split, Croatia. The Activity returns to the road with them this fall with shows in Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing…
LD Erich Meitzner is sewing up a successful touring cycle with Bleachers, and says he has no idea what’s next. (Hint hint)…
Before Joel Reiff returned to Jason Mraz this summer, he found time to pop in on a few other shows. “I got to see Billy Joel’s show in NYC at the Garden as well as the Foo Fighters overseas. Both great shows,” he says. “My hat is proverbially tipped to LDs Steve Cohen and Dan Hadley, respectively.”
Any other hats to tip to other LDs for their shows? Send them to [email protected], and we’ll share them next time.