Metallica treated their fans to two concerts at San Francisco’s Chase Center in December to celebrate four decades touring the globe.
Lighting Designer, Rob Koenig collaborated with Production Designer, Dan Braun to devise a production featuring 45 large multi-layered and overlapping video surfaces. While the screens were key for showcasing video, interviews, artwork, and other archival material spanning the past four decades, lighting highlighted the band and their audience.
Koenig and Braun selected 148 Robe BMFL WashBeam moving lights at the heart of the lighting rig, plus another 16 BMFL WashBeams run on four RoboSpot systems.
Lighting Programmers, Joe Cabrera and Cat West prepared a pool of 36 songs. However, with no definitive setlist available ahead of the first couple of weeks of previsualisation, and a selection of wildcards played for the first time in over a decade, a few curve balls flew. By showtime, Koenig found himself improvising portions of the set.
The starting point for the lighting design was the physical and structural layout of the video elements flown from the venue roof on a series of elegant elliptical-shaped trusses. As the video design evolved, discussions revolved around lighting placement, with Koenig requiring enough lights at different angles and levels to hit the stage and illuminate the audience, without blinding them or touching the screens.
Around 24 BMFL WashBeams were deployed above the stage, wrapping around one of the smaller ellipses holding the central cylindrical-shaped video monolith, with another 48 on one of the larger ellipses that was also broken up by PA elements.
In the audience, three levels of BMFL WashBeams added depth and dimension to the picture, one batch of 24 at the ice (floor) level, another 24 fixtures at concourse level, with the third and highest set of 24 BMFLs flown over the audience at optimum positions for hitting the stage, a 44ft diamond-shaped construction in the centre of the space.
Koenig, Braun and Video Director, Gene McAuliffe collaborated closely on crafting a ‘metaphysical’ aesthetic. “Being a 40-year landmark, that vibe was embraced in the lighting but all the time retaining vital Metallica intricacies and characteristics,” Koenig remarked.
The songs were delivered chronologically from the oldest first on the first night and in the reverse order for the second which offered further chances for spontaneity, keeping all on their toes which was “way, way more fun”, Koenig declared. “I loved it – so far from the norm of knowing what might happen next. We used every possible BMFL trick in our arsenal to keep the energy and vibrance high.”
Follow spotting is critical to lighting an in-the-round show effectively. The format is favored by the band for getting them closest to their fans, and while it is always more challenging for productions, the results of in-the-round are always worth the additional creative and technical efforts.
Around 16 BMFL WashBeam Follow Spots were positioned along the larger ellipses, spread out to take advantage of some of the negative space up in the roof as well as for beam separation and depth, with four units tracking each band member.
Apart from the continuity and perfect colour matching, with the BMFL WashBeams on the rig, Koenig could control follow spot parameters – colour, intensity, iris, etc. – from an MA Lighting grandMA2 console, allowing the operators – positioned on the venue catwalks amidst all the PD and processing – to concentrate on following the band.
Gaffer, David Hunkins looked after setting up and balancing the spots of the livestream live and recorded 21-camera shoot. “He completely embraced me breaking rules to make things absolutely pop on camera,” Koenig reported.
Lighting equipment was supplied by Nashville-based Premier Global Productions, supervised by Account Handler, James Vollhoffer. The two visual departments, lighting and video, merged and co-managed all their cabling and other basic infrastructure.
According to Koenig, the four-day load-in was galvanising as the kit needed to be spread out across the venue. Video was rigged first as lighting waited patiently until the screens were all flown into place under the supervision of PRG Project Manager, Eric Geige; Crew Chief, John Moore; Premier Global Productions Project Manager, Anthony Kordyjaka; Crew Chief, Jason Lanning; Head Rigger and “all around magician” Chad Koehler.