A wide selection of Ayrton lighting fixtures, a zactrack automated tracking system, Green Hippo media servers and grandMA3 consoles accompanied Lionel Richie this summer on his Sing A Song All Night Long tour across North America, where he shared the bill with legendary band Earth, Wind & Fire.
Both acts brought their greatest hits to arenas and large-capacity venues. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive North American distributor for all the brands mentioned.
The 26-city tour began in June in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and included stops in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, among other cities, before concluding on August 14 in Austin, Texas.
Eric Wade, partner and senior designer at Crossfade Design, which has offices in Garland, Texas, and New Albany, Indiana, served as production designer for the tour, alongside associate designer Keith Hoagland and Crossfade Design (CFD) designers and programmers Sam Brown and Brandon Wade.
Wade has worked with Lionel Richie for two decades and is also the lighting designer for the artist's ongoing residency at Wynn Las Vegas.
Crossfade Design owns an extensive inventory of Ayrton lighting fixtures. "Ayrton is my main workhorse. It's our first choice, and we only turn to other brands when we need specific types of lighting fixtures that Ayrton doesn't manufacture", says Wade.
A lighting design built around lines and beams
Brian Burke served as creative director for the tour, with Sagiv Karpel as co-creative director.
Brian wanted a linear aesthetic, so we kept the design focused on lines and defined beams of light, with fixtures positioned above the video screen and projecting their beams across it. We also placed fixtures at the front and rear of the stage, as well as in angled positions on both sides. We barely had to make any changes from one venue to another. When Keith and I started developing the setup, we figured that if we could make it work in the smallest venue on the tour, Madison Square Garden, it would work anywhere, explains Wade.
A multi-level stage set was designed with two raised platforms for the musicians. During slower songs, the band remained aligned with Richie, who played the piano on the upper level. During faster numbers, the guitarists and bassist moved down to the lower level to join the singer.
"The goal was to avoid having the piano visible on stage when it wasn't being used", Wade explains. "That's why we designed a system that allowed Lionel's custom transparent Plexiglas Yamaha piano to be concealed beneath the stage and raised or lowered whenever he needed it".
An LED screen approximately 19.5 metres wide opened in the centre through angled panels, revealing Richie in a tunnel-like entrance illuminated by a powerful beam from an Ayrton EagleStrike positioned at centre stage on the floor.
Ayrton EagleStrike and zactrack SMART for automated tracking
Four additional Ayrton EagleStrike fixtures served as followspots using an automated zactrack SMART system. All EagleStrike fixtures used as key lights were mounted on trusses at an average distance of approximately 42 metres from the stage.
"I love zactrack. We own several systems and also do a lot of rentals", says Wade. "In our industry, we're always dependent on the person operating the followspot, and there are very few truly good operators. That's why zactrack is the best option for us. Keith only needed 20 to 25 minutes to calibrate and set up the system before each show, and it worked perfectly. Its accuracy was extraordinary and, above all, extremely consistent, which is exactly what you need on tour".
Hoagland points out that the latest zactrack update made the system even easier to use. "The musicians simply carried the tracking devices in their pockets. We tracked four people using a total of eight tracking channels".
Ayrton Veloce Profile fixtures were also used as followspots for Richie and the band members. Six units were installed on the front truss, serving as static key lights to illuminate the musicians when they remained in their positions. Another Veloce, positioned on the rear truss, was controlled by zactrack to follow Richie's movements. In addition, twelve Ayrton Eurus Profile fixtures illuminated the musicians as they moved around the stage to perform alongside the singer.
Kyalami and Mamba for visual effects
A total of 40 Ayrton Kyalami fixtures provided the show's main effects lighting, delivering all the beam and prism effects. They were mounted on four-arm truss structures suspended above the stage, which fanned out to create two V-shaped formations.
Meanwhile, two Ayrton Mamba fixtures were positioned on the rear truss to create powerful backlighting effects around Richie's piano, including during the performance of "Lady", when the late Kenny Rogers appeared on the video screen. "The Mambas are huge, bright and spectacular, but we didn't use them to project massive beams into the sky", Wade explains. "We widened the zoom and used them as powerful backlights to create large silhouettes. The result looked fantastic, almost as if we were using a giant wash fixture".
Wade also highlights the reliability of the Ayrton fixtures throughout the tour.
When you can rely on your equipment, day-to-day work becomes much easier. Technical failures, on the other hand, make each day more difficult, put additional strain on the crew and create problems for the production team. When I specify Ayrton fixtures, I know I can count on them throughout the tour. Although we carried spare units, we never had to use them. Ayrton is probably one of the most reliable brands on the market.
Green Hippo Meuse media servers for content management
Crossfade Design also incorporated two Green Hippo Meuse MX Series media servers into the tour, installed in custom racks manufactured by Upstaging. "We were really excited about these units, and their performance was outstanding", says Wade. "They represented a major leap forward in processing capability and power. They were fast, completely reliable, and we didn't notice any latency in the live video feeds sent to the IMAG screens".
grandMA3 consoles for comprehensive show control
Crossfade Design also deployed numerous grandMA3 consoles during the preparation and execution of the tour.
"For an entire week, we brought together twelve or more members of the creative team in our large previsualisation studio, working with six grandMA3 consoles to program the lighting, video, pyrotechnics, lasers and stage automation through TAIT Navigator", Wade recalls. "With Sam as both lead programmer and designer, we left the studio with the show virtually complete, so we only needed to fine-tune a few details during rehearsals".
Two active grandMA3 full-size consoles and a third as backup were used for the show's lighting control. Two additional consoles controlled the Green Hippo Meuse media servers for media playback.
A grandMA3 compact XT, positioned at the side of the stage, managed all special effects and pyrotechnics. Another grandMA3 compact XT was installed at the front-of-house (FOH) control position to operate the lasers. The grandMA3 compact XT consoles were supplied by Las Vegas-based ImageSFX.
Hoagland compares working on a tour to building a small city in a different location every night."Everything has to work. The equipment we selected for this tour withstood truck transportation, handling by stage crews and constant load-ins and load-outs at the venues, and performed flawlessly every time. We want the show to be the same every day and to maintain the same level of quality. That's what Lionel expects from us".
Technical support from ACT Entertainment
Wade also highlights the support provided by ACT Entertainment throughout the project. "ACT Entertainment is always there when we need them. What matters is the people behind the equipment, and they have some of the best professionals in the industry".
Hoagland shares this assessment and emphasises the importance of technical support in large-scale productions.
We like ambitious designs, where we push equipment to its limits and use it in ways others may never have imagined. That's what turns a good design into an extraordinary one. If anything goes wrong, ACT is there to help us from early morning until late at night, even on Sundays.
Within Crossfade Design, Brandon Wade and Sam Brown played a key role in preparing the show, handling most of the programming, including the zactrack system.
The Crossfade Design team will work with Lionel Richie again in October and November, when the artist resumes his residency at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.
ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting fixtures in North America.
Image credits: © Toni Wade
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