Volume 8 Issue 12 The Behind the Scenes Magic of mobile production monthly 1 CONTENTS Volume 8 Issue 12 Cover pg Features THE BEHIND THE SCENES MAGIC OF CHICago’S LOLLAPALOOZA MUSIC FESTIVAL 6 COMMUNICATIONS DIRECT: 28 SUPPLYING RADIOS FROM THE DEAD TO THE POPE 8 MARVEL UNIVERSE LIVE! FELD ENTERTAINMENT, INTERNATIONAL TOUR, 2015-18 11 LOLLAPALOOZA CELEBRATES 25 YEARS WITH FOUR DAYS OF MUSIC 17 SCREENWORKS OPENS UP SHOP IN MUSIC CITY, USA 18 NEARLY 400 ROBE FIXTURES CATCH THE BEAT AT 2015 AMSTERDAM MUSIC FESTIVAL 20 CMA’s TOURING INDUSTRY CELEBRATION PRESENTS SRO AWARDS IN NASHVILLE 28 THE SECOND CHAPTER FOR LIGHTING AND STAGING COMPANY PREMIER GLOBAL PRODUCTION 30 THE BEHIND THE SCENES MAGIC OF CHICago’S LOLLAPALOOZA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2 mobile production monthly mobile production monthly 3 Notes from the Publisher On the edge of the city of downtown Chicago, nes- SM tled between skyscrapers and Lake Michigan, is Grant Park, home of the Lollapalooza Music Festival. Pro- duced by the expert team, C3 Presents, Lollapalooza invites over 100,000 people every summer for three mobileproductionpro.com days of music, art, and culture. As members of C3 Presents expressed to us, it’s like building a temporary PUBLISHED BY city, complete with catering from the cities most pop- Anvil Productions, LLC ular restaurants, art vendors, medical personnel, and 740 Cowan Street, Nashville, TN 37207 ph: 615.256.7006 • f: 615.256.7004 not to mention the numerous stages and the grounds prep and maintenance required. mobileproductionpro.com tourlinkconference.com C3 Presents invited us out to talk to their pro crew about the what it takes to make Lollapalooza hap- HOME OFFICE STAFF pen every summer—an event that takes at least a years worth of planning up to the very last day before Publisher: Larry Smith gates open. And like everyone else in the crowd, our crew experienced first hand a storm evacuation, [email protected] successfully executed, setting a precedent for other festivals and their severe weather plans. Director of Operations: Lori DeLancey [email protected] Included are some additional stories on some recent announcements, mostly pertaining to our home Editors: Shelby Cude base in Nashville, Tennessee. Music City welcomes the new rehearsal hall at Premier Global Produc- [email protected] tions, as well as a new shop for Screenworks—not to mention the CMA’s Industry award show, the SRO Accounting: Sharon Baldwin Awards. [email protected] Writers: Shelby Cude As we close down this wonderful year for not only Mobile Production Monthly, but for the Industry, Photographer: Shelby Cude we are excited to announce that as we retire the Mobile Production Monthly brand, we will be launch- Cover photo by Shelby Cude ing a new publication first of the year at Tour Link Conference 2016—Tour Link Magazine—available on all app stores starting at Tour Link as well as in print. As the saying goes, “out with the old, and in Layout / Design and Website Design: with the new!” We look forward to what the new year brings and hope you continue to join us on this Warehouse Multimedia wild, wild ride. ph: 615.420.6153 • f: 866.929.9651 3050 Business Park Circle Suite 500 Goodlettsville, TN 37072 www.warehousemultimedia.com Larry Smith FOLLOW US Tour-Guide-Publications / Tour-Link-Conference Publisher @mobileprodpro / @TourLinkConf ADVERTISING INQUIRIES For advertising inquiries: [email protected] or ph: 615-260-6699 ©2014 Anvil Productions, LLC. Nothing may be reproduced without writ- ten permission of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit any and all editorial content included in this publication. The publisher has made every attempt to insure accuracy and consistency of this publica- tion. However, some listings & information may be incomplete due to a lack of information provided by various companies listed. Please send any inquiries to the attention of the publisher. All advertising appears at the paid solicitation of the advertiser. Anvil Productions, LLC, can not be held liable for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies appearing in this journal in the form of editorials, listings or advertising. Member of: Maximize savings for your entire production crew. united.com/entertainment-travel 4 mobile production monthly mobile production monthly 5 © 2015 United Airlines, Inc. All rights reserved. Job Number 5UA031b Headline encore friendly (seats) Publication Tour Link & Tour Guide 2015 English Event Language 8.5 x 11 Vertical/Portrait [email protected] Client United Trim Horizontal/Landscape Art Director DC Bleed 8.75 x 11.25 16858 Royal Crest CMYK RGB B&W SPOT (PMS) Houston Texas 77058 Copywriter UA Safety/Live 8 x 10.5 281-480-3660 Traffic MR Ad Style SMILE Full page bleed 1/29/2015 collectively rewrite maintaining those client relationships for the software over- years down the road. night in order for the show to go on. www.commdirect.com 866-91-RADIO “You have to think, what’s the best way to cover the beast,” Cokee said and went on to mention that his systems are completely “modular, rather than static.” Having been recom- mended by the Di- Communications Direct: rector of Security for the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia, which Supplying Radios From requires radio coverage throughout a the Dead to the Pope larger radius than most festivals, they’re REHEARSALS • BACKLINE • STORAGE • CARTAGE able to roll in their systems into the el- Generally speaking, what radio rental evator of a 56 ft building, hook them up company, Communications Direct does to any Motorola tower, and do the same isn’t too far out of the ordinary. But hav- exact thing they would at any other ing been the sole supplier of radios for event. Soldier Field, the Washington DC and 750 Cowan St. 3542 -A East TC Jester 1901 E. 51st St. Stage 4 San Diego Convention Centers, 90% The team also runs dispatch. For Lol- Nashville, TN 37207 Houston, TX 77018 Austin, TX 78723 of all Microsoft shows, along with mu- lapalooza, Cokee started every day 615 - 726 - 1165 713 - 290 - 0335 512 - 444 - 0023 sic festivals that include Electric Forest, with an all-call alerting everyone on-site www.soundchecknashville.com www.soundcheckaustin.com Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza and that gates were soon to open. His team everything else C3 Presents throws their also closely monitors weather patterns way, Co-Owner, Eric Cokee knows a and makes the all-call for evacuations. thing or two about taking a basic need, “Guys gotta talk,” said Cokee, and the and going above and beyond the cause only way to do so is through effective for his clients. Sitting down with Mo- means of communication. bile Production Monthly at Lollapalooza S in Chicago this year, Cokee explained The long-haired, friendly face that is Eric more. Cokee started with the company years ago with only 39 radios to his name. N According to Cokee, it starts with the “If you ask me how many radios we product. “We’ve got the highest level of have, I have no idea. Thousands and any equipment available,” even down to O crew thousands and thousands,” said Co- the repeaters, which Cokee explained kee. Cokee has been asked to speak I were a government grade product. In at Chicago’s IEG Conference which is the words of Cokee, “better product, focused on new inventions and modern T better chance for success.” The com- innovations about how he’s been able to pany recently invested in a second mo- take a basic service and maximize it’s bile trailer, adorned with a 50ft antenna C one potential. He’s also pretty proud to say and 25ft extender, along with its own that his team worked on the last shows office that can support over 2,000 Mo- of The Grateful Dead at Soldier Field in torola radios. 1995, and again this summer in 2015. U TEXAS But Cokee and his highly qualified team As Cokee told us, “there’s different ways D take it a step further. His partner in to skin a cow and a goal can be accom- crime, Tim, is a “Motorola programming plished a number of different ways.” genius,” with a direct line to the Motoro- Flexibility is key for Comm Direct and O GEORGIA la programming team. As they monitor it’s arguably one of the main reasons, the frequencies, there have been times besides having an outstanding prod- when new software needs to be written uct and knowledge base, that they’ve R for a festival the next day and Tim will grown as rapidly as they have, servicing get on the phone with Motorola and will events all over the country regularly, and P TENNESSEE 6 mobile production monthly mobile production monthly 7 Photos ©2015 Marvel ©Feld Entertainment Marvel Universe LIVE! Feld Entertainment, International Tour, 2015-18 Our design integrated with the state-of-the-art spotlight What It Was: Comics come to life in Marvel Universe tracking system that allows the lighting to follow the char- LIVE! The new, live-action arena production brings some acters during the complex action sequences. To help of your favorite Marvel Super Heroes, like The Aveng- the audience distinguish between the many characters ers, Spider-Man and Wolverine, to the stage for an epic on stage, we lit the heroes with bright, symmetrical, full- battle between good and evil, with evil villains, including range light, while using asymmetrical, shadowy illumina- the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Red Skull, Madame tion on the villains. The lighting also enables the actors to Hydra and more. Produced by Feld Entertainment, the see clearly as they perform dangerous stunts. nearly two-hour-long show combines exciting, live-action stunts with an original story in a dynamic, stage show Why It Worked: We drew on our expertise in theatrical touring production.