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Shania Twain’s “Rock This Country” Tour

Shania Twain 'Rock This Country' Tour photo by Steve Jennings

Shania Twain’s “Rock This Country” Tour

It’s been a dozen years since Shania Twain has hit the road on tour. She picked up right where she left off with a gorgeous production design for her current “Rock This Country” tour. In 2004, she stopped singing to heal her throat and stayed silent up until she took up residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 2012. Ten months before that run of 105 shows, the artist met with show director Raj Kapoor to come up with a production for those distinct shows. A good relationship was formed and, once again, the singer looked to him and his company for a vision on this tour, which launched in June and wraps later this month.

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The Smashing Pumpkins co-headlined with Marilyn Manson.

Smashing Pumpkins 2015 Tour

The Smashing Pumpkins + Marilyn Manson co-headlining tour was out this summer with the Pumpkins set designed and directed by Lawrence Upton and Manson’s set designed and directed by Jon Eddy. PLSN spoke with Craig Gaff, lighting designer and director at UV Lighting, about the Pumpkins side. UV Lighting, based out of Chicago, is Gaff and Upton’s design and consulting company. The tour’s lighting provider was DPS Inc.

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Mary J. Blige sang at the foot of the Statue of Liberty on June 21, 2015.

Designing a Portable Pub

Mary J. Blige Sings, and VIP Guests Imbibe, at the Foot of the Statue of Liberty

The Budweiser Made in America Festival, presented in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend, is sponsored by Anheuser–Busch and produced in partnership with Live Nation. This year, the pre-festival kicked off the with the first ever event in Budweiser’s Monument Series, which was a free, private concert on Liberty Island by nine-time Grammy Award winner, Mary J. Blige.

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Production designer Sooner Routhier (of SRae Productions) and touring lighting director Aaron Luke put a priority on easily scalable scenography.

Justin Moore 2015 Tour

The growing number of country artists emerging from Nashville and crossing over into mainstream has brought with it a new discipline in lighting flexibility as production ramps up to 20,000-seat arena shows one night, immediately followed by a county fair. In the case of the Justin Moore tour, this has represented quite a challenge for production designer Sooner Routhier (of SRae Productions) and touring lighting director Aaron Luke in terms of carrying easily scalable scenography.

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The eight ModTruss stages were set up over a two-week period.

US Open Gets Flexible Staging Support

Filmwerks Turns to ModTruss for Broadcast Staging Solution

For the eighth consecutive year, the ModTruss product line has been selected for stage construction at the US Open Tennis Championship. This year, eight broadcast stages were built for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) using ModTruss’ Truss Series and its components. ModTruss continues to be the US Open’s product of choice for broadcast staging due to unique and challenging set positions as a result of spatial restrictions.

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Grace Potter Shines with Bandit and Pulse Lighting

Grace Potter Shines with Bandit and Pulse Lighting

NASHVILLE – Multi-instrumentalist Grace Potter is currently touring the country with songs her from her newest album, Midnight. Bandit Lites is supporting lighting design firm Pulse Lighting and LD Preston Hoffman. The setup includes four truss towers, each with three GLP X4s, two Robe Pointes and two Cuepix Blinders from Elation.

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Quantum Special Effects smoke filled bubbles

Quantum Multi-Sensory FX Adds Flavor to Live Events

Quantum Special Effects says its Multi-Sensory FX can replicate any flavor, from the latest soft drink brand to food combinations. It is then dispersed via a range of mechanics, visual and non-visual, including smoke-filled bubbles, mist, rain and snow. Pictured here are the company’s smoke-filled bubbles, developed for Katie Melua’s tour.

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SeaChanger Prodigy

SeaChanger Prodigy

The new Prodigy color engine from SeaChanger is engineered to provide color mixing for fixtures using a white LED light source. Prodigy gives users the same high color rendering and extensive palette achieved with traditional tungsten fixtures, while incorporating the energy efficiency of compatible LED technology. The new Prodigy also features a slimmer housing design and silent, fan-free operation with color changes in less than 0.3 seconds.

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LU500 Power Supply from SL Power Electronics

LU500 Power Supply from SL Power Electronics

The LU500 open frame AC/DC power supply is new from SL Power Electronics, a division of SL Industries. At 500 watts, the LU500 is well suited for LED and architectural lighting that requires a small form factor, high efficiency and wide input range. SL Power will be showcasing the new LU500 during the LDI trade show in Las Vegas, Oct. 23-25, in booth number 438.

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Robb Jibson crafted the looks for Fall Out Boy during the Boys of Zummer 2015 tour. Photo by Steve Jennings

The Boys of Zummer

“Odd Couple” LDs Jason Bullock and Robb Jibson on the Fall Out Boy/Wiz Khalifa Tour

Chicago-based Robb Jibson is the LD of punk pop group Fall Out Boy. He caters to cue lists and joneses for his Jands Vista lighting console. New York City-based Jason Bullock is the LD for rapper Wiz Khalifa. He prefers to slam though faders and chooses the Chamsys. When both artists toured together for the “Boys of Zummer” tour, it begged the question: Can two LDs, on competing brands of consoles, come together to create one cohesive production for two radically different musical artists, without driving each other crazy?

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Electric Forest 2015, set by Vita Motus. Photo by Adam Kaplan

The Design Process: Vita Motus

It’s too bad the name Industrial Light & Magic had already been taken by some obscure film producer named George Lucas. Otherwise, the terms would perfectly capture the work of Heather Shaw and her firm Vita Motus Design Studio. As she defines it, Vita Motus (vee-ta moe-tus) is Latin for “life vibration,” loosely connoting being attuned to and going with the flow. She describes her company’s designs as futuristic, with a focus on conceptual experience and immersive multimedia sculptures. Vita Motus fuses cutting-edge technology and pop culture into an entirely new world of its own.

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