Jon Pollak must be something of a mathematician, because he’s dealing with a lot of numbers. The first is Steely Dan’s band: There are 14 musicians to keep track of, and even on the typical big shed stage here on a not-too-hot July evening, that’s a crowded stage. Next, any given show’s set list comes from a master list of 70 tunes, all of which he has to be ready for.
Then there’s the number of cues at his fingers on his trusty Whole Hog IPC lighting console: 3,800. “With a band like this, it’s pretty intense, musically, as you can imagine,” he understates.
Classic Look for a Classic Band
Watching one of his shows, you can tell that Pollak comes from a technical theater background. After studying that in college, he was inspired to light for dance companies, right up until the very moment that he realized that maybe he couldn’t live off $300 a week (he met his wife, an actress, during those days when a shortage of space had him working the lighting board in the women’s dressing room, so that part worked out).
His first tour was with Rickie Lee Jones and Marc Brickman was the LD. Perhaps hinting of what was to come, he got to take jazz/fusion band Tom Scott and the L.A. Express out on tour. Along the way he’s lit many great, diverse acts, including Christina Aguilera, Bob Dylan, Lauryn Hill, Bonnie Raitt and Prince. He took care of Lenny Kravitz for 12 years. Pollak has been behind the lighting board for Steely Dan since 2000. “It’s interesting that a band that was first known as a studio-only group is now touring almost every year,” he notes.
Pollak says those earliest days of study and work influences his approach to lighting live bands: “For this project, as directed by the principals, I concentrate on lighting the music and approach the cues with a sense of choreography.”
The look he put together for this classic rock band is classic indeed, consisting of Martin MAC 2000 washes, Martin MAC 700 Profiles and a bunch of ETC Source Four Ellipsoidals. “I have added 20 ColorBlaze 72 LED strip lights, but don’t tell accounting,” he winks.
While previous tours featured video, including one that featured an actual video sculpture with Martin panels that looked like the back of an old theater designed by co-leader Donald Fagan himself, this time out they left that at home, though the show certainly doesn’t suffer visually for that.
In looking at the tour itinerary, a gig at Coachella stands out: “That was interesting,” he says. “The audience reaction was really positive. They played for an hour and stuck with the hits, but I don’t know if the kids really got it, as the music is of a decidedly different genre then being served on stages elsewhere. But many of the young kids sang along with the songs, so their parents must have had good influence on them. I was really impressed.” Otherwise it’s been a summer of A market sheds.
The band is heading “home” with a two-week stint at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in October, and the success of this tour is fueling rumors of “carrying on somewhere else in November,” he says.
Building Blocks
The show opens in a manner that appropriately puts the music first. Those of us who pay attention to such things couldn’t help notice that it was just a mere three of the line of ETC Source Four Ellipsoidal shinning white as the band struck the first note of the Oliver Nelson tune, “Teenie’s Blues.” “It’s a choice I make, made up by the fact that it’s a bit of a warm up lap, and much of the audience is still just taking their seats,” Pollak says. “I use the ‘building block’ philosophy throughout the show to create a proper crescendo at the end… you know, like they teach you in school,” he laughs.
Used tastefully and sparingly are two Reel EFX DF-50 Hazers. “We have specific cues we use it for, otherwise I tend to turn it off, because when used outdoors, it tends to look like tires are on fire onstage.”
Working with the Martin MAC Performances, Washes, and Profiles, around midway through the show, there’s a nice, almost Cathedral/stain glass feel that fits the sanctimony the music deserves.
One of the challenges is keeping that big band in line. He personally goes on and spikes 14 marks on the stage every day. And it is here where all those cues come in handy: “When someone is playing, they should have a light.” That goes double for the many solos that were generously distributed (there were two trombone solos, for goodness sake!). The spectacular drummer Keith Carlock certainly soaked up a lot of lighting attention — deservedly so, and his silver Gretsch gray swirl reflected the light back out. Also, Fagan, who spends most of the show behind his Rhodes keyboard donning Ray Charles-like shades, gets plenty of attention.
Then there’s the song, “Show Biz Kids,” which stands out as an especially nice treatment by Pollak. “It was really the only jam number of that particular night,” he says. “They do different treatments of the song every tour, and for the audience, it’s all about the chorus. They get all riled up when they hear the word ‘f*#%’ sung out.”
As for “working with what one has,” Pollak admits he certainly works through the gears on this particular tour. “Like I said, 3,800 cues for 70 songs is a lot, but their music deservers meticulous attention to detail. I try to convey that with the intricacies of the lighting direction. After all, it’s Steely frickin’ Dan for Christ’s sake!” Agreed.
Crew
Production Manager: Steve “Chopper” Borges
Production Designer/LD: Jon Pollak
Lighting Co: Upstaging
Lighting Crew Chief: Jim Michaelis
Lighting Tech: Matt Bright
Gear
2 Flying Pig Systems Whole Hog iPCs
1 HES Hog PC 10 fader playback wing
21 Martin MAC 2000 Wash XB fixtures
12 Martin MAC 700 Profiles
2 Martin MAC 2000 Performances
18 Color Kinetics ColorBlaze 72s
8 Color Kinetics ColorBlast 12s
18 ETC Source Four Ellipsoidals
8 4-Light Molefays (2×2)
2 Reel EFX DF-50 hazers
