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WIDE ANGLE
PROJECTION LIGHTS & STAGING NEWS
George Michael
25 Live Tour
Photos & Text by SteveJennings
You don’t have to be that old to be surprised with
the fact that George Michael, frontman for the
1980s pop band Wham!, has been performing for
more than a quarter of a century. The first leg of his 25
Live tour, which supports a greatest hits album by the
same name, traveled though Europe in late 2006. The
North American leg that began earlier this year represents
the artist’s first live tour in the U.S. and Canada in
17 years.
Benoit “Ben” Richard, lighting designer and director,
and Richard Shipman, video programmer/director/
department head, say Michael played a significant role
in coming up with the ideas for the tour’s visuals, where
video dominates and lighting plays a supporting role.
“I’m sad that the tour is almost over,” Richard said.
“All great things must come to an end. But I’m ready
for the next big challenge.” In little more than a blink
of an eye, that might just be a George Michael tour
called 50 Live.
George Michael marked 25 years in the music biz with a tour that lasted almost two years longer.
Video Steals the Show
Benoit “Ben” Richard: “Late in 2005, Vince Foster was the original lighting and set designer
for the show but when he had to leave for another tour, I was brought in to take over after the
first dozen shows in Europe in Oct. 2006. Willie Williams and Ken Watts worked with Barco to
develop the MiStrips for this highly visual show. George Michael himself actively participated
in all aspects of the design process and everything you see during the show comes from his
original ideas. There’s no doubt that the video screens are the main highlight of the show. The
lighting system serves as a ‘supporting role’ to pump the beat in the dance numbers and make
the slower songs more theatrical. We also programmed the show to time code, which makes
the whole experience even more impressive.”
The tour represented the artist’s first tour in the U.S. and Canada in 17 years.
Support from the Crew
Benoit “Ben” Richard: “To my right at
front of house is Blake Rogers, who has been
my right hand man forever. On this tour, I
needed him to be at front of house during
the show to monitor the system and to deal
with me moaning about broken gear. Thanks
to his hard work and dedication to the project,
we’ve had great shows during this North
American leg. Kevin Forster, the account rep
at Ed & Ted’s Excellent Lighting put together
a great crew for us on this tour. Richard
Shipman started at front of house and used
Zookeeper to communicate with his three
Green Hippo Hippotizer media servers backstage.
Once everything was programmed
and locked to code, he moved backstage and
monitored the show from a SpyCam feed at
the front of house.”
A large video wall dominated the center of the multi-level set, flanked by video screens on both sides. Lighting played a supporting role.
50 PLSN SEPTEMBER 2008