Honeymoon. Phase. The. On her first major tour, Ariana Grande gives her fans what they re looking for CONCERTS

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1 CONCERTS Copyright Lighting&Sound America June Honeymoon The Phase On her first major tour, Ariana Grande gives her fans what they re looking for By Sharon Stancavage 56 June 2015 Lighting&Sound America

2 She s one of the greatest singers of all time I ve been doing this for 26 years, and there are very few artists who can actually sing. She s one of them. So says production designer/manager Chris Gratton. She is Ariana Grande, and The Honeymoon Tour is her first major tour. Gratton became involved with Grande when her manager, Scooter Braun, asked him to head up his touring division. Gratton accepted, and the first project out of the gate was Grande s show. She was extremely involved in the production, and she gave all of us direction, Gratton confides. Working along with Gratton in the early phases of the project was set and show director Nick DeMoura; later, Chris Kuroda came on board to assist with the production and lighting design. They created a multi-tiered stage with geometric shapes with WinVision Air 9mm fascias. When you re looking at the entire stage as a whole, we can do cascading video tricks with the layers of video on the stair fascias, explains Kuroda. Located upstage is a 56' x 24' bi-parting WinVision Air Photos: Todd Kaplan Kuroda s lighting rig works in perfect harmony with the lavender confetti seen during The Way. 9mm LED wall, provided by VER s Los Angeles office. Director Richy Parkin, one of Gratton s team, explains, For the camera package we are using the Grass Valley 3ME HD switcher with five Sony HXC-100 and four Panasonic AW-HE120KP PTZ cameras. Catalyst is the server we are using to run the two layers of content. All signals run through the [Grass Valley] Kayak switcher and get distributed via the desk s aux matrix, allowing us full video versatility. The majority of the video content is provided by Nick Militello, of Los Angeles-based It Factor; Parkin created the rest. Gratton explains, The set design was based on giving enough open areas for the dancers. There are so many times that I ve seen shows where there s no flow for the artist and dancers, because there are only a few entrances and exits. We have ten entrances and exits off the stage, and we also have three lifts and elevators and four toasters. So there are actually 17 entrances and exits. The stage and lifts are provided by SGPS ShowRig. As the scenic design developed, Gratton says, Scooter wanted more layers, so we went from a three-layer stage June

3 CONCERTS Lasers and CO2 jets from Strictly FX add drama to the production. to five layers. Because [Grande is] selling so well, we shrank a little bit, just to open up sight lines. We re [in an end-stage configuration] and we started at 210 ; we re at 230 or 240 now. Much to the delight of her fans, Grande takes to the air during the production. The fly gags are very important to her; at one point, we tried to ask her to let them go and she wouldn t, Kuroda confides. During Best Mistake, the LED wall parts in the center, and Grande flies above the stage on a cloud via a SGPS fly system; a bit later, during Right There, the wall parts again and she appears on an ornate LED-laden chandelier. After Ariana comes down to the stage through the chandelier, it goes back up in the air, and becomes a scenic piece for the next couple of songs, Kuroda adds. Lighting The automation in the rig naturally affected the lighting. Kuroda says, We had to design the lighting rig around the air space that the fly gags were going to take up, and we had to be very careful with the placement. I had to work with SGPS, going off of their plot to see where I could place lighting trusses and lighting fixtures. Since Grande is a fan of diamonds, Kuroda designed the lighting rig to include small and large diamond-shaped pods. The smaller diamonds live inside the bigger diamonds, and they are hung a little lower to create a chandelier-type vibe, the lighting designer says. There are 12 pods in the rig; Kuroda added four medium-sized diamond pods to fill in the spaces over the stage. The rig also includes several straight trusses. He notes, We wanted to be clever about the way we distributed the lighting, so certain pods have certain fixtures, while others have different fixtures, to keep things less cluttered. Kuroda also likes to keep his lighting instruments focused so to speak so his gear list isn t a garage sale of fixtures. I like to have four or five instruments that have the functionality that I m looking for and stick to that, he says. Consequently, he is using Clay Paky A.Leda B-EYE K-20s, Robe BMFLs, Robe Pointes, and Philips Vari*Lite VL3500 Spots. The VL3500 Spots were specifically spec d to be stage key light because of the shutter function, and they worked out great, he says. Lighting was supplied by VER. The B-EYE is an important element of the lighting rig. Kuroda comments, The cool thing about the B-EYE is it does double-duty it s a wash light and has all that pixel functioning, so we wrote a ton of pixel effects when they were called for. When we need it to be a wash light, it is a wash light. Photos: Todd Kaplan 58 June 2015 Lighting&Sound America

4 Bang Bang, the first song of the show, includes pyro on the stage and on the WinVision video wall. Kuroda isn t a fan of the full beam B-EYE look, however: When the entire fixture is on, it looks too big and chunky to me. So when we use it as a wash light, we take the outer ring of 18 pixels out, and that gives it a much smaller, cleaner look in the air. The B-EYEs are among the shin kickers Kuroda has placed at stage right and stage left, as are Solaris Flares, distributed by TMB. The latter gave Kuroda and his lighting team associate designer Andrew Giffin and lighting director Nick Van Nostrand something unexpected. Kuroda says, There are four Solaris Flares on each side; we thought we d do strobe effects, and there s a bunch of B-EYEs in them that are for side washes. In the middle of programming, Nick looked at the Solaris Flares and said, They re LEDs, they re not strobes, they re not going to fizzle out. Just turn them on and use them as light. A metaphorical light went on over Kuroda s head; he did a quick test, and indeed, the Solaris Flare can be used as an actual light, rather than simply as a strobe. And all of a sudden, we had a new trick up our sleeve, he says. It s a wonderful light, it gives great coverage, it s bright, it can put out nice saturated colors, and it punches and it s a different look. It makes you wonder why they market it as a strobe light, because just by saying those words, it ingrains it into the designer s head that it s a strobe light, when really it s an LED block source that can strobe. Also, Kuroda says, We have roughly 170 Martin Rush PARs, all dedicated as truss toners. We ve also written effects for them and created wipes to and from the stage. The production also includes glowing RF-controlled LEDs from Glow Motion Technologies, which resemble cat ears and are worn by audience members and, occasionally, by Grande herself. Working closely with Kuroda was Giffin, who brought another artistic view to the project, thanks to his theatrical background. I have always been a huge believer that the more sets of eyes, and the more heads, the better your final result is going to be, says Kuroda. The pair programmed the show on two MA Lighting grandma2 consoles. During pre-viz, designers usually find a color palette that suits the songs. This time, it was a bit more challenging, Kuroda notes: Coloring this show was the most difficult job I ve ever had. We really, really had to think about it. It was a fantastic challenge I embraced it and loved every minute of it. Key to the process was Grande herself, who had very specific ideas in regards to her songs. There is a part of the show that she refers to as the 1920s, Kuroda says. It includes the songs Right There, The Way, Pink June

5 CONCERTS Top: Video, confetti snow, low smoke, and Kuroda s lighting set the mood for the ballad My Everything. Below: SGPS provided the automation that allows Grande to fly during Best Mistake. 60 June 2015 Lighting&Sound America

6 Photos: Courtesy of Scooter Braun Management Champagne, and Tattooed Heart. We would go back and forth and would write these songs over and over again, trying to get the color schemes right. Grande kept pushing them, and eventually, they found a palette that reflected her aesthetic. These songs came out looking so good in my opinion the color schemes are so fantastic and they are not what I would normally do, he says. The result is a section of songs that have a Great Gatsby vibe to them. Effects Ariana loves, loves, loves special effects, and she wanted to make sure we had certain effects in the show, notes Gratton. We have pyro laced throughout, a lot of LSG smoke, a fair amount of CO2 jets. We kind of have a little bit of everything. To provide those effects, he called on the experts at Chicago-area-based Strictly FX. The overall pacing of those effects is critical for Gratton: I don t like to be bombarded with everything at first. Even though we start with a big intro and there s a lot of pyro in the beginning, the whole show develops and grows as it goes. Consequently, the effects are spread throughout the entire production. Effects appear early on, during Bang, Bang. There are seven stage pyro positions, eight side truss positions, and an airburst truss, explains Tony Alaimo, lead pyro operator. The product includes sparkle cannons, comets, and airbursts in colors ranging from silver to aqua to purple, supplied by Next FX and Le Maitre. At the end of Honeymoon Avenue, Grande is framed by sparkling gerbs on two levels of the stage. During Pink Champagne, We re shooting Le Maitre VS pink mines and gold glitter mines from our side truss positions, as well as Next FX gold glitter airbursts, reports Alaimo. The production also includes a variety of confetti units. Alaimo explains, Problem the finale has Next FX black and white confetti airburst and cannon simulators, with Le Maitre gerbs, and white mines. The song also Kuroda s use of lighting pods brings the show out into the audience. features Confetti Cobra blowers from the ground. During the ballad My Everything, Grande sits upon a grand piano, with low smoke from four Strictly FX LSG units gently caressing her feet and tiny pieces of white snow, from ten Strictly FX Deer Feeder confetti machines, falling dramatically to the floor. Alaimo adds, The Way uses four of our truss-mounted confetti units blowing lavender confetti at the end of the song, while CO2 jets are used in Be My Baby, Break Free, and Problem. Gratton notes, It s all placed and utilized in a very classy way, instead of over-the-top. We also have four 36W lasers and three 30W lasers they re a huge part of the show and look just amazing, Gratton says. Programmed by Lauren Nelson and Grant Sellers, of Strictly FX, using Pangolin Beyond software, they are featured extensively throughout the production. They provide amber accents in the retro-feeling finale, Problem. During Break Free, cosmic blue, white, and fuchsia laser beams grace the stage, while All of My Love features magenta, blue, and purple lasers that match the content on the video wall. Grande and her dancers are also surrounded by white laser beams that utilize a mirror trick during Hands on Me. Ted Maccabee, partner and visuals director at Strictly FX, notes, It s a privilege working and collaborating with this talented team of designers their combined vision has created an amazing production that perfectly reflects the essence of Ariana s music and persona. Sound Sound engineer Toby Francis was originally supposed to be with Grande for two high-profile shows only. After the first show, Ari s mom, Joan, asked Chris Gratton why it sounded better. He pointed at me, and she said, I think we need to keep him all the time. Francis daughter happens to be a huge Grande fan, so he decided to stay. For the production, VER Tour Sound provided a Meyer PA. I used it on a couple of one-offs on the Kanye tour, June

7 CONCERTS and was really blown away by the clarity, how far it throws, and the low end; the sub is phenomenal, Francis says. For this tour, he has per side 16 Leo-M linear line array loudspeakers with four Lyon compact linear line array loudspeakers on the bottom of the main hang and 14 Lyons for the side hang. Francis says, It is by far the easiest PA I ve ever used and the best results I think I ve ever gotten. Anybody who uses it and takes the same approach will be equally satisfied. With this system, Francis says he has achieved an incredible clarity on stage: I m hearing stuff I don t normally hear; I ve never heard a hi-hat sound so natural. He credits the sound of the hi-hat to the engineering of the Meyer cabinet. Leo is a two-way box, it has two 15" longexcursion cone drivers and two 4" compression drivers, and the crossover point is lower than it would traditionally be, more in the 700Hz range, which is really low. I think that s part of the reason that the upper mids are so natural-sounding. Francis also has six 1100-LFC subs ( LFC for lowfrequency control element ) per side hung behind the main hang at a 15 angle. On the indoor Kanye tour with a different sound system, I had some 40 subs per side, he recalls. We use 12 per side out here, and it s a very comparable amount of low end. Francis has a caveat regarding the Leo/Lyon PA: It is crystal-clear, so if you have any issues, they re going to shine through it s not forgiving, like some PAs are. The volume is also turned up to high for the show. At Ari s request, it s a loud show, Francis says. When we started, we were over 105dB, which is loud, and at times, it s more like 108 or 109dB. The Meyer PA can easily handle the dbs, he adds: Every time I guess how loud it is, I m off by at least 2dB, and I m pretty good at guessing. Francis runs the show on a DiGiCo SD7 console. We re running it dual-engine, he says. I have totally redone the digital engine and I ve totally redone the Wave plug-in server. If anything gets weird with the console, I can switch over; if the engine were to crash, the B engine would automatically take over. He adds, The only issue we ve discovered is that, if you re using two Wave servers, the device that picks between the two engines causes problems. But we seem to have sorted it out. Grande recorded her own backup tracks on her albums, and it was decided to keep it that way on her tour. For her backup vocals, we are running Pro Tools in kind of a unique way, Francis says. We are using two Pro Tool systems running in native at 96K with tracks that have been up sampled to 96K from the original form. Francis unique Avid Pro Tools system has several other components. He says, We use an Antelope Orion Interface we come out of the MADI of the Orion into a DOTEC [DirectOut Technologies] EXBOX.BLDS it s a very unique box. It takes two MADI strings and picks between the two. If anything is off one sample, it will switch to the other. So we feed two Pro Tools in together, it picks the stronger of the two streams, sends it to an Optocore DD4MR convertor, and it goes into the Optocore loop and it shows up as a stage rack, which gives us the cleanest path. The results are stunning. All the vocal parts her live vocal and the double parts all sound the same. It s Courtesy of Scooter Braun Management 62 June 2015 Lighting&Sound America

8 Tattooed Heart features Parkins video work and Kuroda s lighting. really amazing doing it this way. On stage, Grande is on a Sennheiser 5235 mic. It just sounds so pristine but it s a dynamic mic, remarks Francis. For the band which includes a full string section Francis has a variety of microphones. For the drum mics, I ve got the Telefunken M82 it s their kick drum mic I ve got M81s on the top snares there are three snare drums and the bottom snares are AKG 414s. He uses AKG 414s on the overheads as well: The 414 is the only mic I m using today that I was using when I started. I love the way they sound. As for the rest of the drum kit, The hi-hat and ride are Neumann 184s and the tom mics are Sennheiser 409s, he adds. Francis is confident of the skills of the rest of his crew. The sound crew we have could not be stronger, he says. Ariana Grande s The Honeymoon Tour continues in the US through October. June