Tour Lighting

  After twenty years of doing shows for many great artists like Ringo Starr, Chris Isaak, Dwight Yoakam, Pat Benatar, and many others, the most important thing I can recommend is to be versatile. Because of the wide range of venues that you have to light, some times you find your self in a small club, other times you will be in a large arena. Almost half of the shows we do are out doors, which require a different approach to compete with surrounding unwanted light from streetlights, buildings, ect. Indoor venues require much more delicacy and you can create many different moods and effects to enhance the artist performance.

     When designing a lighting plot or set design there are many things to consider. The first thing is budget, some artist have much more money to invest into a design, also the actual band logo or persona that they have for there most recent record. Sometimes they want to include artwork or logos in set pieces or backdrops. Once you have come up with a general design you need to find out what type of venues you will be doing on that particular tour so that you can create a versatile look that can be set up in that range of venues. Many places have different trim heights, stage depth and width. Outdoor venues have wind and sometimes rain that may create problems.

      The lighting of an artist is a very personal thing, no two people like the exact same thing so you have to go with you own heart and create a look the makes you feel good. There are a few things that you may want to achieve to add to your overall look. Most places we play have around 200 conventional lights and 8 to 20 moving lights. There are a wide variety of both moving and conventional lights, so many that I cant mention them all. The conventional lights I use are 60 par 64s upstage and 30 par 64s down stage. The primary use for these lights is to wash the stage and set. Also on the upstage I like to use ACL racks to create a fan that can be used to complement the par 64s. On the down stage I like to use lekoes as band specials and 8 light mole fays for audience lights. Moving lights can be set up many places depending on your design.

    Depth is important, by layering your set pieces and colors you create a look that can be spectacular and it allows you to have a wide variety of color combinations and feels. When creating a look you need to think about the actual song that you are lighting. A slow love song may want to include a more romantic feel and a fast rock song may want to be flashy and wild. A slow look may include a combination of dark blue and Congo blue, my favorites are Lee filters 118 blue and 181 Congo blue, a slow rotating gobo in the moving lights may complement this soft feel. Moving lights have a wonderful ultra violet color that can be used to create an aura around the head and shoulders of your artist. Moving lights also have so many patterns and colors to choose from the possibilities seem endless. You can make different looks like ice and fire. When making a fire look I will use Lee filters 106 red, 22 amber and 101 straw. Then I add various patterns rotating in yellows and reds with the moving lights to create a warm and sometimes flashy look. The moving lights can sweep, rotate or strobe on a particular verse or solo in a song. I concentrate most of my moving lights on the backdrop and will use a wide variety patterns and colors. The rest of the moving lights backlight the stage and band.  I like to hit the backdrop from many different angles. Behind the set pieces you can use a fiber optics curtain or star drop as well as a black sharks tooth scrim, which creates a doubling effect and adds depth.

 Spotlights and lekoes keep the artist highlighted and its important keep a normal flesh color on the face, I prefer a Lee 111 or Roscoe 33. You should always have a color correction in the spotlights for TV or video cameras that may be used. Another thing I should mention is the use of hazers and foggers for atmosphere, they are very important but if over used can create problems with singers or audiences. I prefer a hazer called the Roscoe DF 50, it creates a mild atmosphere without interfering with a singers vocal abilities.