ST. LOUIS – On the weekend of July 10, Live Nation brought live music back to three sheds here, Nashville, and Indianapolis. But by “sheds” we mean the parking lots. But these lots could hold a thousand cars, so full-blown productions including delay video screens and speakers were involved. Live Nations turned to local vendors to supply it all except backline.
Here Chip Self of Logic Sound and Production got the call to supply lighting, audio, and most of the video. It was Brad Paisley Friday night; Pink Floyd Tribute band El Monstero on Saturday; and rapper Nelly on Sunday. Shows had no openers, started at 7:30 pm. El Monstero brought in pyro by Gateway Pyrotechnics.
“The primary challenges were to design a single system that would work for three very different artists, and be relevant in daylight,” Self says. “We had to contend with sunlight directly onto the stage for at least half of each show, so I wanted something that would ‘reach out and touch someone’ on that scale.” To do it his team built four pods, each with six Phillips Showline 640 strip fixtures in a grid, resulting in a full color, giant audience light that allowed them to present color that read in daylight from a long distance. “By controlling individual cells, we were able to create some cool movement effects that were visually interesting, even from a long distance.”
Another goal was to make the Stageline SAM 550 feel larger than it was. “We did a row of Chauvet beam fixtures across the downstage edge, including the two work wings to give us an over 100′ wide ground row that could reach out beyond the edge of the stage roof, and push beams into the sky. When the wind wasn’t blowing all of our haze away, the effect was pretty cool – with beams showing several hundred feet into the air.”
Video was no walk in the park either. He says a 40x lens was barely enough when FOH is 180’ from the stage. Needed were fiber feeds to the delay video trucks – 1,000’ worth. “We coordinated closely with Live Nation to be sure all the safety and sponsor messages got the necessary screen time. Full screen slides were used to communicate things like face mask rules, how to order snacks, and how to purchase merch.”
All crew and attendees were required to complete a COVID screening questionnaire and have a temperature check before entering the site. All staff were required to wear a mask while in proximity to other workers. Meal catering was split into shifts.
“There was a huge amount of pent-up energy for the artists, crews, and audiences,” he says. “On the planning end, and to some extent the audience end, we all knew that the eyes of the world were on us to prove the concept so that others can follow. Live Nation did an exceptional job creating a plan that worked for everyone, and for that I applaud them. I hope that people appreciated the effort, passion and anxiety that the entire crew put into making this successful.”
Crew:
- Chip Self
- Michael McCuddy
- Ben Schulte
- Eric Holshouser
- Erin Wolf
- Tanner Douglas
- Kris Trgovich
- Jorden Murray
- Gabe Stroup
- Pyro Company was Gateway Pyrotechnics – Kevin Paglusch
