COMPACT COMPLEMENTARY
&
COMPACT COMPLEMENTARY
THEORY ’ S LIGHTING & VIDEO PACKAGE
MA Lighting grandMA2 ultra-light Console
16 x PR Lighting XLED 336 Beam RGB LED Moving Heads
12x Elation Cuepix Strip Tri RGB LED Bar
Luminaires 6 x Martin MAC 2000 Profile Moving Heads 4 x Martin Atomic 3000 Strobe Lights
44 x Microh 7.5 mm LED Video Panels ArKaos Pro Media Server ArKaos Media Master Pro
While he ’ s a fan of “ a good , old par can rig ,” it does limit the provision of more nuanced dynamics that a moving light system provides . “ So , for me , the show can come out a little more flat feeling if it ’ s a par can rig , but luckily most clubs have moving light rigs . In the past three or four years , I ’ ve seen a big change as far as how much I run into par can rigs to what I used to , which is nice on the design end .”
The band ’ s music has undergone a continuous evolution over the course of their nearly 17-year career , and given that wide array of material they have to draw from – which ranges from acoustic to heavy rock and incorporates diverse influences , including some country tinge – the lighting design comes together on a song-by-song basis .
“ So my approach to the design is to place fixtures in places where I can use them for lots of different things , and then develop all kinds of different feelings and moods for the songs in the set ,” Jeffrey shares .
When it comes to choosing which fixtures to use for a tour , the LD says he typically looks through a given provider ’ s inventory for technology that is , as he puts it : “ Kind of new to the world , but not a budget breaker .” Tour Tech East became their provider after Jeffrey came up with his initial design for this tour . “ So I just tried to match as close as I can to what I had before so I didn ’ t have to reprogram the whole show ,” he offers .
Again , scalability was key , and that ’ s confirmed by Tour Tech East ’ s Founder and President , Peter Hendrickson . “ We ’ ve done a bunch of one-offs with Theory when they ’ ve come through [ the east coast ] and needed extra PA or lighting , but this is the first time it was a constant run and we were able to offer them a package that was attractive both from a financial and packaging perspective ,” he says , adding that , “ One of the things Tour Tech is known for is putting 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag and making it work .”
Hendrickson has known Andy Deveau , Theory ’ s production and tour manager and FOH audio engineer , for years , and also provided the audio package for the current run . In every way , mobility on tour has become increasingly important . “ A lot of people bring innovations to the table and then we help them realize their ideas and provide guidance ,” Hendrickson says .
The band ’ s video system is comprised of 44 Microh 7.5 mm LED video panels running content from an ArKaos media server that the band purchased rather than rented .
“ They actually bought the Media Master license so that they could have a server with the content on it in their possession all the time and that ’ s what I ’ m using to drive all the content . That links up to the grandMA really well and it ’ s really easy to use ,” Jeffrey says . “ They were originally looking at renting [ the server ], but when they looked at costs they went , ‘ Well , we do six months of touring and we can pay this off .’”
Again , like the lighting floor package , the video needed to scale depending on the venue . A large-format touring rig wouldn ’ t do , Hendrickson explains , both in terms of the tiles themselves and their packaging . “ The Microhs are a smaller tile – 22.5 by 22.5 inches , roughly ,” Hendrickson says . The rig can be scaled up or down , thus providing flexibility on stage and for loading .
SYNERGY
Given this is the first time Theory has incorporated video into an extensive tour – and , subsequently , that they ’ ve carried the related equipment – Jeffrey collaborated closely with the band to determine how they ’ d use it and what the content would consist of .
“ The four guys and I sat down one afternoon and just chatted through thoughts and ideas of what they might like per song , or if they wanted video or not in a particular song . They came up with a bunch of ideas and then got connected with Katia Spivakova , who built the content , through management .”
The resulting content ranges from abstract imagery to a hybrid of live and animated characters and scenes to text that emphasizes lyrics or themes that the band wants to accent .
While the entire band had thoughts on what role video should play , frontman Tyler Connolly was a major player when it came to providing input . “ When we had the brainstorming sessions , he had a lot of the initial thoughts about what we could do , and when Katia was developing [ the content ], he definitely had a lot of input artistically in terms of what he was feeling for a particular song . That was interesting for me because , until then , the band just kind of gave me carte blanche . It was just , ‘ Make the lights happen . We like what you do .’”
The 44 Microh panels are arranged in such a way to allow for maximum impact while also tying the various areas of the stage together . “ We ’ ve got a 6-ft . by 8-ft . drum riser at centre and just beside that [ on either side ] are the first upright pipes of lighting . Then there ’ s a 4-ft . wide by 12-ft . high video section and then another lighting pipe and then a 2-ft . wide by 10-ft . high video panel , then another pipe . Then , downstage , we have 2-ft . by 8-ft . video panels – a mirror image on both sides of the kit – and finally four panels in front of the drum kit to draw the content across the kit and make it all cohesive .”
20 | Spring 2018