Magnetic METALLICA Part 1: Production And Lighting Design
April 2, 2009, 15 years ago
Livedesignonline.com has issued a report on METALLICA's latest world tour, in support of album Death Magnetic through the eyes of designer John Broderick, who has been working with the band since 1988.
The design for the tour includes an in-the-round setup, complete with 2-ton hanging coffins that double as lighting rigs positioned above the stage. “We were heading for an in-the-round design the whole time; we had done it several times before,” says Broderick. Originally planning to include video, band management nixed all the video just three weeks prior to production rehearsals, after fans and critics loved the lighting-only version during some early previews in Europe. “Some reviews actually said the show was refreshing without video,” adds Broderick.
Tweaking the design, Broderick wanted to make the lighting work for every seat in the house. It still had to be a big arena show, but he could expand the lighting outward for coverage without video. “This helped, because the original video was pushing the lighting back anyway to become too much like backlight, which was worrying me.” To ensure it all worked according to plan, Broderick has a regular practice at the beginning of a tour. “We always go to the highest seats to make sure it looks good from everywhere. We watch those people, and we knew for this tour that we actually didn’t even need I-Mag video.”
Read more here.
