After Covid postponements, Rod Stewart finally brought his The Hits! Tour to Australian arenas and wineries. The show was originally designed in early 2019 by Mark Cunniffe with rehearsals starting in March and the first shows in Germany during April.
Lighting Director Chris Sayce joined the tour once it resumed in 2021 and he describes the show as ever-changing with Rod having a lot of input.
“It can change daily!” he revealed. “You just have to adapt. The show has kept the integrity of Mark’s original design but the content changes regularly.”
With a catalogue of nearly fifty songs to draw from, plus other artists’ songs, the production team have a lot to get ready before each tour.
“He’ll have different versions of his songs too and you have to be on your toes during the show as he regularly changes things during it,” said Chris.
The show at Roche Estate, Hunter Valley, was a cut-down version of the main production but was still quite a spectacle as the show was designed to be scalable whilst keeping its design integrity.
For example, the show the day before (a rescheduled show for the one Rod had to cancel) had a different rig and design, whilst keeping the back wall and some iMAG, as the requested gear was not available.
“When you tour this show you have to be flexible, particularly with the lights although not so much the screens as generally, people stock the same gear,” explained Chris.
It has to be said that the show’s video element is the star of the show, well after Rod, of course. Created to be easily adaptable for the tour’s various venue types and sizes, a typical arena video package includes an impressive architrave of 300 ROE Carbon CB5 LED panels, powered by Brompton Technology Tessera SX40 LED processors, working in tandem with the manufacturer’s XD data distribution units. In Australia and New Zealand, this was supplied by Big Picture … along with a great crew.
The majority of the footage is from live cameras with occasional visuals designed by Mark and Chris.
“Mark is brilliant at integrating graphics and live camera work,” commented Chris. “Everyone who comes to the show comments on how the whole thing, including the lights, fits together. It’s not just putting stuff on top of stuff for the sake of it. It’s about creating mood and atmosphere … as well as something that Rod likes.”
The original lighting design featured a large mirror ball suspended in the middle of the stage with truss fingers pointing to the middle and a Kinesys system for movement. The Kinesys went and the truss fingers were straightened out to make them a bit more rock’n’roll.
“There are three elements that are important in this show,” added Chris. “The side iMAG screens, the banner and the lighting rig on the torms. We’ve had to play with one of these elements missing and it just doesn’t work.”
Chris is in charge of all the show’s visuals working closely with Charlie Harris, Video Director, on the tour. There were four HD cameras manned, two at FOH and two in the pit, plus two HD robotic cameras onstage. Charlie’s set-up included a Ross Carbonite switcher and the disguise d3 which he described as a very transportable and fairly basic set-up.
“Big Picture has been great, every time I come down here I always want to take the crew with me when I leave,” he remarked. “They shoot good cameras and whenever you ask for something, they give you a little more.”
Chris programs the d3 and the lights deciding which input goes with which, then Charlie will cut the cameras to fit. Rod is very dynamic and there are always people moving around on stage which can be quite difficult to light at times.
“With so many visuals you don’t have many options to put a front truss in so a lot of the front light comes from the followspots and that can sometimes be interesting to call when you have a local crew,” added Chris. “You have to listen closely to Rod as he will call for cues during the show and you get the setlist only 20 minutes before the show.”
Lighting-wise, there was a mixture of spots and washes on the torms with more on the back wall. The fingers used to carry Ayrton IntelliPix XT but they were changed for profiles as they were difficult to pick up touring. In Australia these fixtures were Martin MAC Quantum washes, Claypaky Scenius Unico spots and Ayrton Perseo profiles on the fingers. As there was a FOH tower on tonight’s show there were some PRG Best Boys providing front light.
Chris ran an MA Lighting grandMA3, in MA2 mode, which also triggered the disguise. He commented that the show is ‘kind of time-coded, but kind of not’ and that musically, it is very tight.
“You need to be prepared with this show,”[1] he added. “You have to know what you’re doing, you have to know the console, you have to know his songs and you have to know him. You get to know when he wants something by closely watching him.”
Many of the crew touring with Rod have been with him for years with Chris commenting that he is great to work with and that the production team are second to none.
The show is currently touring globally with frequent residencies at the Colosseum Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.
Close-Up Photos: Glenn Pokorny
