Chauvet connects Metallica to the crowds
- Details
“I have been interested in tensegrity sculpture for a while and was working on this concept for an indoor show,” said Braun, who has worked closely with lighting designer Rob Koenig on the production. “Our world changed when the tour went to stadiums in the round. My first thought was ‘we can’t do that.’ But after careful consideration, I said ‘why not?’”
Adapting to the necessity of working within the parameters of an outdoor 360-degree stage, the designers dropped plans for a tensegrity rig and combined “a study of proportion with paramount engineering” to arrive at the eight-tower design. “That left us with a way to do the show absent a roof, and meeting all of our production requirements,” said Braun. “We didn’t get to a tensegrity structure, so next time…”
What the team did create though, was a stunning, soaring design that underscores the magnitude of Metallica’s contribution to metal music, while reflecting the intensity of their relentless performance.
Enhancing this heady atmosphere is the bold, vividly coloured light from 144 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorised strobes, which like the rest of the rig, were supplied by Premier Global Productions of Nashville.
Koenig has nine of the Color Strike M fixtures wrapped around the top of each tower, and nine wrapped around the bottom. “They’re giving us a great level of audience lighting,” he said of the fixtures. “We looked at quite a few units and we felt these were the best performers, given their brightness, DMX refresh rates, and IP rating. It created a winning combo for us.”
Greens and yellows are dominating the colour scheme in the show’s design. “To me, green and metal music are inextricably linked,” said Koenig. “I always got a kick out of Nook Schoenfeld’s views on green, but I do wholeheartedly understand his sentiments when looking at almost any other type of performance. I certainly wouldn’t vibe with this much green on a typical pop show.
“As for the yellow, it’s thematic with the band’s album,” continued Koenig. “When we started putting together the tour, the thought process was we typically don’t use much yellow at all in the live shows, so it wasn’t a stretch to utilise it as a feature colour to help define all of the new songs from 72 Seasons.”
For Koenig, one of the highlights of the tour has been working with a great crew, including his Premier Global account rep James Vollhoffer, project manager Anthony ‘Geddy’ Kordyjaka; lighting programmers Joe Cabrera and Cat West; and LX crew chief Mat Gass.
