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A Chat with Tom Marzullo

Tom Marzullo played a key role for Justin Bieber's 'Believe' tour. That 2012-2013 trek included more than 150 shows around the world. Photo by Andrew Giffin

A Chat with Tom Marzullo

Reflecting on his Parnelli award, Tom Marzullo, production designer for Justin Bieber’s Believe tour, tells PLSN, “To get that recognition, especially with the caliber of people on the list with me, people I have worked for and looked up to was surprising and very rewarding.” The caliber of people Marzullo works with is a key ingredient to his success in this business, as he often points out in this recent interview. PLSN revisited aspects of his 40-plus year career, which covers the spectrum of concert, corporate, sports and movie productions. Along the way, he just happened to create the largest site on Facebook for the live entertainment industry.

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The focus is on the artist and on bold colors as the band plays in silhouette. Photo by Steve Jennings

Tori Kelly “Unbreakable” Tour

Tori Kelly’s “Unbreakable” tour, in support of her June 2015 album release, Unbreakable Smile, trekked across the U.S. and Canada from April 5 to May 21. Designer Chris Kuroda was initially contacted by talent manager Scooter Braun and Allison Kaye, general manager of Scooter Braun Projects, to design the looks for the tour. Kuroda has a longstanding working relationship with Braun and Kaye, having worked for them on world tours for Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. Allison is also a fan of Phish, a band that Kuroda has lit, as LD and lighting director, since 1989, and that design work played an influential role as well.

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A horizontal strip of video flew in and out adding depth. Photo by Steve Jennings

Disclosure ‘Caracal’ Tour 2016

The English electronic music group Disclosure, whose second album, Caracal, was nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album at this year’s Grammy Awards, consists of brothers Guy Lawrence and Howard Lawrence. The show design, lighting and production for the Caracal 2016 tour is being done by Will Potts and Okulus (James Scott and Louis Oliver). Potts, who is also directing the tour on the road, programmed the show with Scott. After performing in Europe in February, the tour headed for a series of shows in the U.S. and Mexico from March through May. The Lawrence brothers will be performing in the U.K. and Europe again this summer.

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The video monolith is the size of a small apratment building, and it rotates and splits open on Beyonce's Formation tour.

Beyonce’s Video Monolith: A Collaborative Achievement

It takes a lot of planning and coordination to realize the designs of some of todays’ biggest concert tours with their massive structures, complex automation and immense video walls. If you are among the supplying production companies on these tours, success is in the details and all about collaboration. A perfect example of this production reality is the incredible four-sided LED video structure, known as the Monolith, on Beyoncé’s Formation world tour. The centerpiece of Es Devlin’s production design for the tour, it is the result of a collaboration between Stageco, Tait and PRG Nocturne.

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East Coast Lighting and Production Services (ECLPS) provided the video and lighting for the event. Photo by Nelly

The International Portuguese Music Awards Go High Tech

The International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA) for the past four years has been produced in New Bedford MA, a city that is heavily enriched with the culture of all things Portuguese, especially its rich music. The live-to-air show covers all genres including rock, country, rap, hip-hop and most importantly traditional Portuguese music.

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The setup included a wall of PixelFLEX’s 3.9mm FLEXLite Plus that stretched across the stage deck.

Church of the Highlands Hosts the ARC Conference

Birmingham Church Engages Attendees with LED Video Enhancements

Dedicated to working with house of worship leaders and founders, the Association of Relational Churches provides the support, guidance and resources needed for worship communities to take root and grow. As part of their mission, the association hosts semi-annual ARC Conferences at different locale around the country.

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The company played a big role at the Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) earlier this year. Pictured here, Ford’s booth.

ROE Visual Expanding in U.S., Europe Under New Ownership

ROE Visual is increasingly creating video products that are grabbing the attention of big concert tour designers among others in the live event world. When preparing for the current Jason Aldean “We Were Here” tour, for example, designer Mike Swinford says he “wanted something a little different.” Part of that puzzle was found in creating four LED tile configurations shaped like diamonds, and to make them he used Roe’s Hybrid-15, equal parts LED video display and spotlight, released just last year. They are wowing audiences everywhere, with four configurations flanking the big center video screen.

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Eric Bernstein of Intelligent Lighting Services steered the club's owners toward Bat M1-391 LED Display Panels from Dicolor/Mega Systems Inc. for the nightclub's main video wall. Photo by Holy Mountain/Demian Becerra.

1015 Folsom’s Video Facelift

San Francisco nightclub 1015 Folsom planned to undergo a massive remodel to commemorate its upcoming 30-year anniversary, which will happen on Oct. 15, 2016. Along with its remarkable staying power, the 20,000-square-foot nightclub is known for hosting big EDM headliners. With so much attention being focused on the San Francisco area during Super Bowl 50 weekend in February, 1015 Folsom Owner Ira Sandler decided to get a jump start on the renovations. He called on Eric Bernstein of Intelligent Lighting Services in Austin, TX to upgrade the club’s lighting and video system with gear from Mega Systems, Inc.

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