CONCERTS Copyright Lighting &Sound America September 2010 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

uitar Heroes

A top team gets together G to support Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Centre

By: Sharon Stancavage

t’s the best show on the more, it’s hard to argue his point. Clapton’s tours), with technical planet,” says associate The event is the Crossroads Guitar direction by Upstaging’s John production designer and Festival, which took place at Huddleston. The event was created “I programmer Eric Wade. With a Chicago’s Toyota Park in late June. by Eric Clapton to support his lineup that includes Eric The event, which was produced by Crossroads Centre for the treatment Clapton, Steve Winwood, Jeff Upstaging Inc., of Sycamore, Illinois, of addictions in Antigua. The event’s Beck, John Mayer, B.B. King, ZZ Top, featured production design by Dave main stage featured more than two the Allman Brothers, Buddy Guy, and Maxwell (also known for his work on dozen performers; the Guitar Center n i k t a N l u a P / g n i g a t s p U : s o t o h p l l A Above and right: The main stage by day. For this year’s event, Dave Maxwell was responsible for the graphics as well as the production design.

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especially live festivals, manage to used them,” notes Wade. “It’s a very “Compared to the Clapton tours that consoles, they adjusted the front-of- achieve: Everything went ahead of cool light, which we used for stage I’ve been doing both in the US this house and monitor footprints accord - schedule on every level that day,” and audience washes. It was one of year and in Europe—which were ingly. And when the 13-hour show Maxwell reports. the units that Upstaging recom - arena tours—the side array was began, the space was necessary. mended to Dave.” significantly bigger: 12 boxes high, as “We had up to three consoles at a Lighting The spotlights were the final major opposed to eight per side,” says Bob time, so they just rotated through— The design was based on what element of the lighting package. “We Weibel, a Clair system engineer. you were always at least two bands Maxwell and Wade were doing with used 14 Lycian spotlights—eight in “Amplifier-wise and speaker-wise, it’s ahead in terms of what was actually Clapton before the event. “We more truss, or six upstage and two pretty much a standard patched in.” or less doubled the touring system, downstage—and some Gladiators out arrangement,” he adds. Each side of To make sure that everything went then added a bunch of video front,” notes Maxwell. the main PA contained 12 Clair I5 smoothly, Weibel took part in elements, side lighting, and audience From a lighting standpoint, the cabinets, 12 I5bs, and 12 BT-218 extensive pre-production planning. “I light,” notes Wade. The audience show had three phases tied to subs. Eight I3 cabinets were used as made it a point to be in touch with lights—Martin Professional MAC different times of day—daylight, front fills. everyone in well in advance of the 2000 Washes—were hung in the twilight, and night. “During the day, In addition, says Weibel, “We show, and collected all the input lists stadium on two 100' trusses. In we used pastels and light colors, arranged for Mountain Productions to for all these bands,” he says. “I also addition, there were “three curved things that would read on camera; provide two delay towers, which we had a checklist to work down in The video, which consisted of 32 Martin Professional LC Panels, extended into the trusses stacked on top of one basically, we just painted a picture for used to make the back of the venue regards to inquiring about micro - wings. another,” explains Maxwell. daylight on TV,” says Wade. As the work a bit better. We had six of our phones, wireless, monitors, in-ear A variety of lighting gear was weather changed throughout the day, R4 four cabinets on each tower.” The monitors, and so on.” Village (see sidebar) included a out soon. found on the stage. According to so did the lighting: “When we had key to making the delay towers With so many artists on stage, variety of vendors who let patrons “We got together a great team,” Maxwell, the rig “consisted of a shadows, we could go with nicer, happen was management, he notes: the list of microphones was long and literally play with their gear, and take says Huddleston. Key to the team quantity of [Philips Vari*Lite] VL3000 richer colors.” Twilight was a “Production was not only willing but varied, and not all of them were part in guitar clinics; this area also was Tim Rozner, the site and stage profiles and washes, VL3500 FX transition time where “we did a few committed to doing whatever it took supplied by Clair Global. “Vince Gill featured another stage, sponsored by manager. “Tim handled the show Washes, and a large number of more looks with the automated lights to get the best sound possible.” brought in his stuff complete, from Ernie Ball, the maker of guitar strings with military precision—backstage, it [Martin Professional] MAC 2Ks dotted to give it a bit more depth, and did a For the show, Clair Global top to bottom; John Mayer was on and accessories. The event was also was like the flight deck of an aircraft throughout the audience and the little more on the video screens,” provided two DiGiCo D5 consoles for tour, so he brought his complete filmed, and had limited cinema carrier. The sold-out show achieved stage, as well as low-to-medium- Maxwell says. The nighttime acts the front of house and two for package, and Robert Randolph had release in July; a DVD is expected something that few shows, resolution Martin LC panels.” The featured full-on lighting and video monitors. In addition, says Weibel, his own stuff,” says Weibel “The sizable equipment list also included with all the bells and whistles. “We used a Midas XL88 at the front Allman Brothers were not on tour, Altman single-cell cyc lights, ETC During the almost 13-hour show, of house as the master summing but they managed to bring in some Source Four PARs, and a bevy of Maxwell and Wade divided up their console, and there was a smaller mics that were unique to their Molefay fixtures. As for the rest of the duties. “Dave basically handled all the Midas Venice, which served as a setup.” The microphones used for gear, Maxwell and Wade relied on the key lights and the audience, and I did production console.” The XL88 Clapton were, of course, the tour vast inventory at Upstaging, creating all the main stage and video,” accepts only line level inputs, and is microphones. Overall, the workhorse a winning combination of hard-edge explains Wade. commonly used in festivals like of the microphone stable was a and wash fixtures to fill in the stage Maxwell and Wade ran the show Crossroads. “It is a four-rack-space product from Shure. “You can’t go and audience. on two High End Systems Road Hog console,” adds Weibel. “We could wrong with a Shure SM58,” he says. One new unit that Wade Full Boars, the console that was used combine it into a rack with some CD The length of the show was a bit discovered during Crossroads was originally to program Clapton’s tour. players and CD recorders; we had the of an issue for Weibel and his crew. the Robe 2500 AT Spot. “It’s a really “A lot of the stuff I do is on the Hog,” Venice console on top, basically for “it probably represented the single nice hard-edge light; I was very says Maxwell, “Eric likes to use a walk-in music.” biggest challenge of the day— impressed with it,” he says. The [Martin] Maxxyz a lot, but he’s very Despite the available gear, Weibel dealing with a 12-hour sound check Robe units, working along with some good on other consoles as well.” It says, “Quite a few of the bands were day and then a 13-hour show day,” units from Philips Vari-Lite, were an was, in fact, Wade’s first time on a on tour and brought their own he concludes. integral part of the camera lighting. Road Hog. “It did great,” he says. “I console and/or monitor system.” “The Robes and [Vari-Lite] VL3000 have no complaints about it. I’ve run Just how many artists did so? “It Graphics and video Profiles were on the side towers and the Hog III a couple of times and it’s looked rather like a console Maxwell, a veteran of several the PA towers downstage—we used the same as programming that.” showroom,” he adds. The models Crossroads Guitar Festivals, had an them as camera key lighting in brought in by various artists included expanded role in the production this CTO,” Maxwell says. Sound a DiGiCo SD8, three Avid Profiles, time around. “For this one, I was The design team also had BB4 The sound rig, provided by Clair and an Avid Venue. responsible for all video content for LED fixtures, made by the UK-based Global, of Lititz, Pennsylvania, was Because Weibel knew how many show and the sponsors,” he explains. company i-Pix. “It was the first time I also based on Clapton’s current tour. artists were bringing their own He also was responsible for 100% of The stage by night, as seen from the front-of-house position.

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The artists on stage weren’t the only attraction at the Crossroads Guitar Festival. The Guitar Center Village—a retail main street featuring vendors like Dunlop, Marshall, Ibanez, Roland, Gibson, Fender, and more—was a big part of the Upstaging Crossroads experience. “It is very similar to a trade show with a couple of major anchors,” explains Village project manager Jerry Swatek. In other words, there was merchandise for sale, and gear was available for patrons to demo. There was also, of course, entertainment, courtesy of the Ernie Ball stage. The Stageline SSL100 mobile stage is “where they did musical clinics, which had various artists from the main stage as well as those who didn’t perform there,” Swatek notes. Another anchor in the village was the Guitar Center Legends Tent, which contained two vintage guitars from Clapton—the Blackie and the Martin 335—as well The This preliminary drawing shows the highly graphic approach by Maxwell, who ultimately retained 22 banners featuring guitars. Stratocaster on which Stevie Ray Vaughn wrote the song Maxwell’s graphic-design brief extended to the street signs in the “Lenny.” “We did use some PAR 56s to light up the three Guitar Center Village. guitars and to create some ambience to create a museum- the graphic content. had the success we did. They were have a say about what’s going to like atmosphere,” says Swatek. One of Maxwell’s first acts was to fantastic in every aspect.” show up on the DVD,” he adds. change the overall look of the stage. Graphics could also be found in In the end, the event went off “In previous years, we used a lot of some unexpected places as well. perfectly; Wade and Maxwell have banners on the stage; this year, we “We used banners on the walls of the nothing but good things to say about kept them to a minimum and broke turntables, which were mirrored on Upstaging and its staff. “They are an up the video panels on stage,” he both sides,” Maxwell notes. The 50 ' incredibly good firm, I just can’t say says. The video, which consisted of turntable, provided by Accurate enough nice things about them,” 32 Martin LC panels, extended into Staging, of Los Angeles, “took four Wade comments. “We don’t have to the wings; there were also two Barco minutes to turn completely,” ask for anything. It’s all just there, so D7 14mm 15' x 27' side screens for reports Huddleston. you don’t have to worry, and it takes IMAG, provided by Nocturne If Maxwell cut down the number a whole level of stress away from Productions Inc. of DeKalb, Illinois. of banners, he did not eliminate you. When you get on site, all you The video content was managed via a them; there were 22 on the main really have to think about is the Catalyst PM V4 media server. stage. “When we were creating the show.” Maxwell adds, “John Although the show day was sunny banners for the event, we started Huddleston and the staff at and warm, there were storms the with guitars—our big sponsors for Upstaging—it was an absolute night before, and, unfortunately, the the event—manipulated them, and pleasure working with all of them.” weather did affect some of the video came up with some nice branding,” Another key element to the gear. “The weather hit so bad, the LC he notes. success of the project was the group panels that were exposed to the For Maxwell, this aspect of the of people behind Eric Clapton. weather out in the wings were festival was in some ways more “Peter Jackson, Mick Double, dying —so, in the middle of show on arduous than the production design. Hannah Charlesworth, and the rest Saturday, the crew started dropping “Getting the graphics approved was are the iron behind the scenes; these panels, fixing them and quite challenging,” he admits. And without them, the event wouldn’t replacing them; once we hit the sponsors weren’t solely concerned happen,” says Wade. evening hours, we had every panel about the live event. “There were Crossroads Centre can be found up,” says Wade. “I have to say, many sponsors generous enough to online at www.crossroadsantigua.org. without the hard efforts of our spend their time on the show, so they From the US, it can be reached at 1- Upstaging crew, we would not have should be in the loop and they should 888-452-0091.

Crowds gather around the Ernie Ball Stage.

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The sound requirements for the tents were essentially and their display at any time, and have it arrive at a non-existent. “Most of them had their own sound warehouse and then get loaded it into our truck. It was because of amplifiers,” explains Swatek. And although sitting at the vendor’s tent waiting for them to arrive on there were musicians picking up guitars and playing in Friday morning to set up,” explains Swatek. He even sent most of the tents, the amp levels didn’t cause any confirmation notices to the vendors when their gear issues. “In our pre-advance show book, we addressed arrived. “Because the Village closed at 6:30, they all tore the issue of being respectful of the people next to you down very quickly, and got all of their product and with your sound,” he reports, noting that everyone display back into a secured truck, which went back to heeded the warning. our warehouse until Monday when a common carrier Event sponsors Guitar Center and T-Mobile had their could pick it up.” own branded tents; the rest of the vendors had three- The village was located on Toyota Park’s north sided 10' x 10', 10' x 20', or 10' x 30' white tents as part concourse, which meant Upstaging had to arrange power; of the Crossroads vendor package. “Even though they the company called on Peter Mitchell, at Moveable Power were promised a back wall and two side walls, we made of Chicago. “Peter Mitchell is one of the best power guys sure that the tent company brought front walls for in the entertainment business; whenever we had a power everyone—so, on Friday, the day before the show, the issue come up, he took care of it whether it was part of his vendors could set up, and they could close their front scope of work or not,” Swatek says. walls. That way, if it did rain, which it did, it would provide Branding was also part of the experience provided by some level of protection,” says Swatek. Dave Maxwell, who handled all graphic designs for the The key to the project was, of course, pre-production: event, including street signs for each vendor in the village. Swatek paid an advance call on each vendor, to confirm “The signs kept everything nice and clean; you didn’t everything that was needed. “We also provided pre- have ten million vendors providing their own banners and warehouse shipping, as well,” he says. Upstaging has an flags,” Swatek notes. extensive warehouse that can accommodate plenty of While Maxwell cut down the number of banners in the space for freight storage, and often provides pre- and stadium, “We took abstract banners from 2004 that were post-event storage for its clients. “Because we were at 40' and 50' long, and cut them down to 30', and took 20' Toyota Park, and some of these displays needed to come down to 10',” explains Swatek, who adds that the idea in early, it would be difficult for Toyota Park to start was to distract viewers’ attention from a large sign for the receiving all these trucks,” he says. Instead of worrying Chicago Fire, the soccer team that plays at Toyota Park. that expensive freight was unsecured at the venue, or Upstaging’s seamstress then re-hemmed the banners and having to hunt for it at the venue Saturday morning, added grommets; Swatek and his team put them on poles Upstaging handled it all. “They could ship their product and hung them like pipe and drapes. The biggest challenge for the village team was, in fact, Mother Nature. “You know that you’re going to have bad weather when the seagulls on the railroad tracks on the other side of the venue decide it’s time to leave,” Swatek says with a chuckle. The week before the show there were tornado warnings; the night before, there were torrential rains that bought Swatek to the venue at 4am. “For the most part, there was only one issue, and that was a couple of graphics that had blown down— that was the worst of it. Thankfully, all the tents stayed in their upright position.” In the end though, “We wanted to make sure that everybody could see the show, so we closed the Guitar Center Village at 6:30,” concludes Swatek .—Sharon Stancavage The above graphic was placed to block out a sign for the soccer team, the Chicago Fire.

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