Tears For Fears

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TEARS FOR FEARS

The band once again joined forces with Alex Reardon to create a contemporary visual feast. TPi spoke to the designer about this latest labour of love.

Formed in Bath during the early ’80s, Tears For Fears were one of the predominant forces in redefining a decade of pop-rock. Thirty years later, the band’s influence is as present as ever. Indeed, when the band walked onto the stages during their 2019 arena tour, the entrance music chosen was Lorde’s recent rendition of Everybody Wants To Rule The World before jumping straight into their own classic version of the song. For the UK and European tour, the band welcomed fans to revel in some of their famed back catalogue while offering a fresh new stage show.

Tasked with creating this latest performance was Lighting Designer Alex Reardon. Although native to the UK, Reardon has been residing in Los Angeles for the last 20 years. In January of 2018, he joined the creative design practice, Silent House Productions. With the tour coming to an end, the creative spoke from his west coast office about his experience with the tour.

“For me this project was really a labour of love,” he began. “I was 21 when Tears for Fears had their initial flourish of success and it was a band that I grew up listening to. As well as all the memories I have from their songs, all there material is a pleasure to light. It’s very dynamic going from more trippy tracks to softer beautiful moments. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years and I can count on one hand the number of gigs that have really had a lasting impression on me – I would count this project as one of them.”

Aiding Reardon in the creative process for the tour was Lighting Director Richard White along with programmer and long time collaborator Joe Cabrera. Reardon explained how one of the main goals for the design was to create a lighting rig that would immerse the band. One of the predominate fixtures present on the set were a selection of Martin by Harman VDO Sceptron 10s. “We essentially created a 3D layer of

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TEARS FOR FEARS

Sceptrons,” he explained. “There were two that surrounded the band with another layer above and below the LED screen. It’s a fixture both my programmer Joe Cabrera and I have used many times. They give you a great deal of control, especially when using them in DMX mode as we were for this show. Also, the fact we ran them in DMX, opposed to video mode, meant we were given the option to continually adapt the look of the show as the run went on.”

However, the proliferation of Sceptrons created an interesting challenge for the LD. “The amount of universes we used the one show was a bit bonkers, especially as this was only a 5 truck tour. We ended up running our MA Lighting grandMA2 at 95% capacity with 163 DMX universes going into it!” The high demand for a robust system to handle this much data led the creative team to Neg Earth. “Honestly, it was one of the best prepped rigs I’ve ever seen,” enthused the LD.

Also present on the rig were a plethora of Robe fixtures, namely 66 Robe MegaPointe moving lights. Thirty were rigged on 3 overhead trusses, with some being positioned upstage behind a row of LED video pixel battens. There were also 3 per side on the deck for low-level cross lighting and another 6 in the air each side for high level effects. Reardon described the MegaPointe as “the perfect size and choice for multiple lighting tasks” on this design.

The fixtures flexibility meant he could use them for a soft-edged front light and a hard-edged beam effects, having both the necessary punch and being compact and adaptable enough to work in arenas of all sizes. “MegaPointes have the functionality to give me the style and looks I needed. They are available in sufficient numbers to check the ‘logistics’ box and are nicely priced as a rental item to please even the most stringent tour accountants!” he exclaimed.

Reardon also specified 2 BMFL Spot fixtures which were used with a Robe RoboSpot system. “I’m a huge fan of the RoboSpot” he commented. “The simplicity of operation and the smooth motion of the system is stunning.” He and his lighting director on the road, Richard White, left the targeting and iris control to the spot operators, with all other parameters running through the desk. This enabled the creative team to achieve perfect fade in and outs along with interesting colour bumps while keeping the operators focussed on accurate pick-ups and following trajectories.

Adding to the stocked lighting rig was a selection of GLP JDC1s. “Again, just like the MegaPointes, the biggest advantage of them is their flexibility,” commented Reardon. “From washes to blinders they’re a really useful fixture to have in your rig.”

Reardon also worked closely with video provider Stu Mercer from Vis-A-Vis Video who supplied the LED screens for the run, adding a camera package for the London O2 Arena gig, which Mercer also directed. Mercer presented several “thought-through solutions” according to Reardon, to ensure that the two mediums of lighting and video worked optimally together.

Following the sold out run, Tears for Fears took a brief break from the stage. However the group will soon be back on the road with a packed schedule of festival appearances through the summer on both sides of the Atlantic. TPi Photo: Lindsey Cave @loosplat www.tearsforfears.com www.silent-house.com www.negearth.com www.visavis.video

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