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ST Match Strike 2010 Venue Immanuel’s Church Silver Spring, MD Crew Promoter/Producer: Match Strike Lighting Designer/Director/Rigger: Brandon Eckstorm Lighting Technician: Mark Bollinger Gear 1 MA Lighting grandMA lighting console 10 Martin MAC 301s 6 Martin MAC 250 Spots 6 Martin MAC 700 Spots 4 Martin MAC 600 Wash fixtures 4 Martin Atomic 3000 strobes 3 Single-cell cyc lights 3 James Thomas Engineering 6-lighters 2 1.2k followspots 1 Reel EFX DF50 hazer 1 40’x25’ Main Light Industries fiber optics backdrop 2 CM 1/2-ton chain motors 35’ 12” Aluminum Truss Lighting Co. Showcall KiD CuDi ST Lighting Co. SCS Productions Venue Welsh Ryan Arena Evanston, IL Crew Promoter/Producer: SCS Productions Production Manager: Michael Lance Lighting Designers: Michael Lance, John Dacosta Lighting Director: Jake Broenneke Lighting Technicians: Anthony Nuccio, Gavin Oldigs Set Design: Michael Lance Set Construction: SCS Productions Riggers: Larry Kargol, Dave Fantis Staging Carpenter: Bob Orr Staging Products: Secoa Video Director: Jerry Church Video Company: Staging Resources I Gear 1 Flying Pig Systems Road Hog console 2 Barco/High End Systems Showguns 4 GLP Impression Zooms 5 GLP Impressions 15 Martin MAC 700 Profiles 15 Martin MAC 700 Wash fixtures 9 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles 36 Philips/Color Kinetics ColorBlasts 24 CM 1-Ton chain motors 1 Denka Atrium lift 1 12”x18” Tomcat truss 2 10.5’x14’ rear projection screens 2 Christie LX-120 LCD projectors 2010 DECEMBER PLSN 17
PRODUCTION PROFILE P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S Guns N’ Roses Tour Places Video Front & Center, and Director FOH By Kevin M. Mitchell Greg Shipley, left, with Chris Nathan and two of the four Vector Red consoles. While it’s not surprising that the current Guns N’ Roses world tour is a big old-fashioned three-guitar arena show with enough pyro to make you think you’re in Boston on the Fourth of July, it’s not the typical flash and trash lighting rig. And even though the increasing importance of video in rock shows is nothing new, this one stands out. Greg Shipley goes by the title of “show designer,” and his duties include production and lighting. But he’s also largely responsible for just about everything else, including the video and the sets. “It’s definitely a big show,” show programmer Chris Nathan says. Nathan drives the show using a Compulite Vector Red lighting console from his vantage point right beside Shipley at the FOH. “Sitting together allows for great timing, because both lighting and video cues can jump to beats and we can work offer each other,” Shipley says. They have a total of four Vector Reds on the tour, two main and two backups. (Camera switching and I-Mag work is still done in video world, handled by Peter Moll.) Big Vision, Big Budget Shipley says the whole tour started with a designer’s three favorite words: “Budget doesn’t matter.” “I was just told to design something really big,” he says. “For me, being from the wrestling background, which is known for a lot of video showmanship, I decided to start with a lot of that.” The extravaganza did initially feature 19 video surfaces, though time, logistics, and the economic realities of shipping overseas pared it down to 11. There’s one center main wall, two side displays for I-Mag and content, and four other video walls, plus a few other smaller ones. “Originally, the show had a moving motor system for the circle, and we were able to do creative designs with that,” Shipley says. “We also had three center video surfaces in the middle and also downstage, so when the circle split and moved, we ran video on it so people could see that it was moving — and we moved it frequently.” The tour, named after the album Chinese Democracy, started appropriately in Asia and then moved to Canada. Those shows featured the “full design, all the bells and whistles.” Then they went to South America where the rig had to be cut down significantly. “And once you cut it down, it’s hard to get it back!” But when they hit Europe they did exactly that, bringing back the circle elements and some of the video wall movement. But there were other challenges; sometimes they could bring their own gear to a gig (good!) and sometimes they had to grab what they could (not as good). Still, there’s no “A/B/C” show per se, but instead, Shipley pulls out his CAD and tweaks the drawing right there to fit the venue. “There are several different scenarios for different situations, but every show is unique. Some places we take out some video because of the restrictions to the roof. One time we cut all the video. Some other places had full high trim and we could see the moving motor system. We’re all very flexible.” Teamwork Shipley’s journey to big rock icon shows is not typical. He started out handling lighting chores on cruise ships and then he did some corporate work before landing a gig as chief lighting programmer for WWE for three years. He has also done a little rock ‘n’ roll work, but only two as the designer: Smashing Pumpkins and now Guns N’ Roses. Nathan has been around the business a long time. When he was a kid, his stepfather produced shows at a playhouse in New Fairfield, Conn. “When I was 17, I ran spots for different musicals,” he says. By 1997 he was working professionally as a lighting tech. He worked his way up through festivals and corporate gigs and was lighting director for Queensrÿche and K.C. & the Sunshine Band, among others. “I first hooked up with Greg and introduced him to the [Compulite] console during his time as lead programmer on WWE, sometime around summer of 2006,” Nathan says. “When Greg secured the Guns N’ Roses tour back in 2009, he asked me to join him on the road as a programmer and console operator for the media servers.” “When I was out on wrestling, I was trying to find consoles to ramp up that show. I needed more console to do more things,” Shipley says. “Well, lo and behold, when I found the Compulite Vector Red and I was interested in trying it out, who brought it out to me? Nathan.” The team’s approach to creating the concert follows no formula. “I don’t follow the start-small-and-build scenario,” Shipley says. “The audience gets 90 percent of what we have for them right off the bat. The first four songs are full throttle. Then we hit a slow song and dial it back, but it all goes from top to bottom. I would like to think it’s entertaining from start to finish.” “But this approach has a lot to do with the band we’re dealing with,” Nathan adds. “That’s how they do the show — they hit it hard right off the bat, so the visuals follow suit.” The band is built around Axl Rose plus three guitars, two keyboards, bass and drummer. All but Rose pretty much stick to their places on stage, though Rose makes up for it. He’s a non-stop speeding bullet, ricocheting around the stage so much that keeping the focus on him keeps everyone on their toes. “I designed the set so the drums sit on top of the riser, with a piano that rolls out underneath for certain songs,” Shipley says. “Stairs rise up and down around the drummer and there’s a lot of running area for Axl. He likes to run, and we’ve created space for him to do that.” For lighting the band, there’s a lot of backlight, plus a total of six followspots. Because of all the action, they light the whole stage, though there are specific moments, like during “November Rain,” when the piano comes out and there are very specific lighting cues. Otherwise, they go with what’s happening at the moment. “It’s a big, spectacular show, and it all moves according to what the song does,” Nathan says. He adds that, while it’s a bit of a Catch-22, because of all the video, it’s actually lit more for television. “He’s got a big look all over the place, but he’ll pull back for a bass intro or keyboard break and then push it back in.” And on big moments like “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” the guitarists doing the solos tend to end up in the same spot and “we like those!” The set was built by Accurate Staging based on Shipley’s CAD drawings using Vectorworks. He had never built a set before and says he just visualized it and drew it up. “All of the show is based on circles — truss, sets, video — all based on a curve.” There’s a mix of Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures and Vari-Lite VL3000 Spots, which they both like working with. “Even though they aren’t the newest fixtures out there, 18 PLSN DECEMBER 2010
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