LD Dave Herrman with the Gipsy Kings
Tour: April-December: U.K., Canada, U.S., Europe.
Design: “It is all ‘big picture’ stuff. Other than my console, we are not carrying gear, so every night is a different show — it may be all par cans one night, moving lights the next or a mix of the two. I take a theatrical approach, trying to keep a consistent look for the Gipsys, lighting the stage of 11 musicians and highlighting vocals or a guitar break as needed. It’s not flash and trash.”
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Roger Waters 2017 Us + Them Tour
Roger Waters, the co-founder of Pink Floyd, is out on his “Us + Them” tour in support of his new solo album, Is This the Life We Really Want? His live set included five cuts from the new album, with topics ranging from President Trump, climate change and racism. Those things are magnified with the tour’s production visuals — which includes a massive video wall and a truss that lowers down from the rafters in the center of the arena to reveal a replica of the Battersea Power Station from Pink Floyd’s Animals record cover (including smoke chimneys).
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LED Video from Overseas, Part 2: What Works, What Doesn’t?
Let me start by thanking all of you that commented on Part 1 (PLSN, June 2017, page 75). I had no idea so many of you were so interested in this stuff. My wife is very happy that I finally have some new friends to talk to about these things. A few of you were thrown off by the eight-year life cycle comment, but I think you got confused between LED and line array.
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Lightronics Architectural Dimmers
Lightronics got their start building dimmers, plain and simple. Founder Kevin Nelson was introduced to theater while a young man in school down in Virginia Beach, where he got involved with the audio and lighting gear he used. Eventually he was hired on by a local music store and got hands on work repairing lighting gear. Along the way he started using gear for shows, working long into the night before loading out his gear and going to the next venue the next day. At a point, he realized that dimmers needed to be constructed a bit more ruggedly to endure the rigors of being travelled in a van and be able to perform consistently every day.
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The Light Source
The Light Source epitomizes the American family-owned business, fabricating quality original products in their shop in Charlotte, NC. Officially entering their 30th year in business in 2017, they show no sign of slowing down as they continue to fabricate unique items that stem from client needs. PLSN sat down with Eric and Joyce Von Fange to talk about their company.
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Berklee Commencement Concert
Lighting Co
East Coast Lighting & Production Services (ECLPS)
Venue
Agganis Arena
Boston, MA
Winching in the Wings
Mark Thompson Solved a Scenic Puzzle for Broadway’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Broadway’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been dazzling audiences with its fast pace, dazzling set pieces, and the buoyant energy of a nearly 40-person ensemble; notably, charismatic star Christian Borle as eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka, who offers an exclusive tour of his factory to five lucky children.
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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The “40th Anniversary Tour” Kicks It Up a Notch
For Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 40th Anniversary Tour, lighting designer/director and set designer Stanley A. Green is at front of house, enjoying how the audience is reacting to tour visuals that have grown in size, shape and overall visual impact from previous tours. One index of the growth in production can be seen in the parking lots outside the arenas, stadiums and sheds on the tour’s itinerary: Yep, that’s 12 semi-trucks of gear.
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It’s Simply Data Entry
Automated lighting programmers must be very skilled at programming for various types of productions and designers. In most cases, there is a great collaborative working relationship that allows the programmer to share in the creative vision along with the LD. However, there are some shows and LDs that require the programmer to simply enter data into the desk without regard to the end result on stage. In many cases this will occur in theatrical environments, but it could also occur as part of a programming session with any production. It is very important for programmers to be ready to switch to a working format that is purely data entry.
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