…And Tom Kenny Hits the Road Again to Light One of Rock’s Biggest Acts
For the current North America and European tour, The Who Hits 50!, production and lighting designer Tom Kenny is back with the band he has been designing for since 1990.
For The Who, regarded as one of the most innovative bands in terms of visuals and audio in the history of rock ‘n roll, Kenny’s lighting and production design deftly enhances the musical and visual experience of audiences everywhere. Kenny usually doesn’t go out on tour these days, instead designing extensively for large television projects; that is unless the band touring is the legendary The Who.
The Who Hits 50! is a show with a lot of the band’s hits and with that comes a lot of expectations for what people want to see at the show. Kenny addresses that issue. “Everybody will tell you that every tour they’ll want to make it look different. Some things with The Who are grandfathered in, which the band and everybody enjoys. It’s just really great to work with a band like this. I don’t tour with other bands because I’m so busy with my other projects, but they’ve got the best lighting cues out there. Pete Townshend wrote all the theatrical songs, so he wrote thinking of effects while he was writing the songs. It was all written in there for the stage. Everything is a musical. Has a crescendo; has down parts.”
On their previous tour, Quadrophenia and More (2012-2013), Kenny had done a very visually rich design using a lot of video screens and content that Kenny created along with the band’s input. “For this tour, because it was the band’s hits, we wanted to keep the very visual design going but go for a cleaner look,” explains Kenny. “Because Roger is allergic to smoke, in the past 10 years I’ve been going away from lasers and beam effects because you can’t see them. Even without smoke and beams, this is still a very classy, big rock show.”
Shine a Light
The design centers around the upstage video wall. Surrounding the screen, Kenny arranged LED fixtures and LED lighting panels aimed out at the audience. “I designed it to make it more of a frame. Most of the lighting system is pointing out at the audience and I can create shapes—circles, ripples, and the like that go along with the video content.” says Kenny.
He has been working with the Chauvet Nexus LED panels since the product was introduced. “I use a lot of the Nexus panels on my other projects, and I knew I wanted to use them on The Who. I also use a lot of Robe Robin 1200 LEDWashes so I decided for this design that I would use a lot of lamps with LED sources and that I could produce shapes,” says Kenny. “The Nexus panels have some very cool effects inside and they’re very bright. The same with the Robe 1200s; they’re just really strong, powerful lamps, and they can light the whole arena.”
The majority of Kenny’s lights are focused like a phase shift, so when the audience is looking at the screen, the colors radiate out with the Nexus 4×4 panels and the Robin 1200 LEDWash units. “I’ve got 24 [Philips Vari-Lite] VL3500 spots lighting the band as key lights,” Kenny comments. “Then I’ve got some GLP impressions that are on the floor, and they key light the band from the side. It’s a very colorful production; a very saturated color show. Every review mentions the look and mentions the video. I think the design just says The Who.”
The color effects in the Chauvet Nexus 4×4 units are programmed through the MA Lighting grandMA2 console and they are not pixel-mapped. The show is operated off two grandMA2 consoles, with lighting director Jim Mustapha running one and Kenny controlling the key lighting and calling the show on the other. Mustapha programmed the show along with David “Fuji” Convertino.
Logistics also played a key role in the rig’s design. “It’s all about getting into buildings quickly and loading out quickly,” Kenny says. “We’ve only got seven trucks. I have four straight trusses with some wings above the band, and then I’ve got some curves in the back. I use a lot of PRG BAT truss.”
Video at Center Stage
The large 42 by 32 foot (WxH) 7mm LED video screen at upstage center is made up of PRG Nocturne’s new VR-7 LED modules. Much of it is filled with custom created content throughout the show and then at times the screen is used for I-Mag. For the content, Kenny, along with the band, create the concepts, and then Kenny works closely with London-based content creators Chris Rule and Des Murphy of ShinyEye Studios. Kenny explains. “Myself and Pete Townshend put a lot of content ideas together; Roger has ideas which we have up there. We run a very live show with Giani Fabricio running the content with a special customized system that he made up himself. He is on the ball every night. If something happens, say, that we didn’t think of, we can put it up on the screen within a minute. We also match up with the video director, Mathieu Coutu; we use the big screen for I-Mag as well and in the back we have some other I-Mag screens. We like to make sure the audience sees the band up close. It’s very much that the lighting and video is all one; we’re not fighting each other.”
This tour is one of the first to go out with PRG Nocturne’s new HD Flypack systems that includes Grass Valley’s Karrera-S Switcher and four GV LDX-80 Premiere cameras and Fujinon 99x long lenses. The video playback employs two Spyder X20 video processors.
The lighting package is supplied by PRG and the video is supplied by PRG Nocturne for this tour. Kenny talks about the support that his vendors have provided for him on this tour. “PRG has been fantastic. Michael Curbishley, who is a really old friend of ours, is looking after the lighting and Valdis Daukst is looking after the video part of it. We’ve all know each other for 25 years. The crew is just fantastic. They have top-notch service from the start of this production to all the other events. They’re helping us out with some of the huge shows that we are going to be doing in Europe. Nothing but great support from PRG and PRG Nocturne it has all been fantastic, great partners.”
Kenny concludes, “I think the show is the best rock ‘n’ roll show you’ll see. I’m very lucky to design the last shows The Who are doing, where it’s just going out with a bang at the very top. We always really appreciate it, and it’s a very emotional at the end of the performance every night. It’s a great thing to be a part of and to see.”
The Who Hits 50! heads for Europe in June for summer dates along with a big show at Hyde Park in London. They will close out the Glastonbury Festival too. The tour will be back in the U.S. in September for dates through November.
The Who Hits 50! Tour
CREW
- Production/Lighting Designer:Tom Kenny
- Lighting Director/Programmer: Jim Mustapha
- Programmer: David “Fuji” Convertino
- Lighting Co: PRG
- PRG Account Executive: Mickey Curbishley
- Lighting Crew Chief: Iestyn Thomas
- Dimmer Tech: Corey Tom
- Moving Light Tech: Scott Amiro
- Climber: Dave Hernandez
- Video Co: PRG Nocturne
- PRG Nocturne Account Rep: Valdis Daukst
- Video Engineer: Sebastien Lamoureux
- Video Director: Mathieu Coutu
- Spyder Operator: Mathieu Giroux
- Video Crew: Adam Dragosin (crew chief/lead LED tech), Krystena Rice, Lee Shull
- Video Content Programmer: Giani Fabricio
- Video Content: Chris Rule, Des Murphy/ShinyEye Studios, with input from Peter Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Tom Kenny
GEAR
Lighting:
- 2 grandMA2 full consoles
- 4 grandMA2 NPUs
- 68 Robe Robin 1200 LEDWashes
- 53 Vari*Lite VL3500 Spots
- 10 Vari*Lite VL3500 Washes
- 56 Chauvet Nexus 4×4 LED RGB panels
- 18 MR16 Sunstrips (10-Light)
- 53 Martin Atomic strobes
- 2 Lycian M2 2.5kW followspots
- 4 PRG Series 400 power/data distribution racks
- 1 Motion Labs 20Ax12 power distro rack
- 16 PRG BAT Truss (15”x24” 8’)
- 32 PRG BAT Truss (15”x24” 10’)
- 38 Columbus McKinnon 1-ton hoists
- 3 Columbus McKinnon ½-ton hoists
Video:
- 336 PRG Nocturne VR-7 7mm LED tiles (42’x32’ screen)
- 4 Barco FLM-HD20 projectors (I-MAG side screens)
- 1 PRG Nocturne Karrera S-series SD/HD/3G Video Flypack, including:
- 2 ME Karrera-S switchers
- 2 Spyder X20 video processors
- 4 Grass Valley LDX-80 Premiere cameras
- 2 Fujinon 99x Long Lenses
