USA - Commissioned by tour direction company, The Beehive LA, Michael Brown’s production design for break-out indie singer Gracie Abrams' The Secret of Us tour initiated an atmosphere of intimacy and fan connectivity, despite being in large-scale venues.
Clearwing, a Clair Global brand, worked alongside Michael to bring his design to life, blending a mix of lighting technology, custom fabricated hardware, and vendor partnership to the forefront.
Michael worked closely with co-lighting designer/programmer Zach Sternberg, lighting director Taylor Glatt, Clearwing sr. account executive Steve Harvey, and Clearwing lighting crew chief Sam McKeown.
Michael states: “My approach as a designer is always focused on the artist side of the equation. I want to design shows that are beautiful and unique while also making the tour operate as efficiently as possible. I want every artist I work with to succeed – not only in the creative intent, but on the financial side. I make a deliberate effort to work alongside production managers, tour directors and production teams to ensure that ideas, budgets, and timelines are all met.”
Tour director Vinnie Ferra is the founder of The Beehive LA. He comments: "Over the six years I've had the privilege of working with Gracie, we've watched her career grow from intimate theatres to full-scale arenas. When discussions around production vendors began, everyone understood how intentional we are about surrounding Gracie with the right people.
"When Michael Brown, our production director, recommended Clearwing, his confidence in their top-tier staff and equipment immediately put me at ease, and they did not disappoint. When you partner with a team that knows how to collaborate and support one another on tour, you save invaluable time and energy. Clearwing allowed us to focus on what truly matters – delivering an incredible show."
Originally conceptualized for smaller venues, the public demand for Gracie to play arena shows, coupled with festival appearances, meant the show design was adapted as needed, as lighting crew chief Sam explains: “Any time Micheal Brown reaches out to collaborate with us, we get excited. We have built a 10-year working relationship based on trust, and the results consistently come down to intelligent and proficient touring solutions. We knew this tour was going to be something special, but the scale grew at an astounding rate. Part of the process of working with Michael is the fun of creating systems that do work as a smarter touring vision.”
One logistical hurdle was the large floor lighting system which had to work effortlessly for both arenas and quick change-overs at festivals across North America, such as Lollapalooza, Osheaga and Outside Lands.
Sam furthers: “We worked on a custom floor sled that allowed us to maximise truck space, minimise load-in time and ensure the deck was always tidy. Working alongside [bespoke truss fabricators] Texas Structures to create the right solution enabled us to deliver a phenomenal product; a stackable touring cart that travels with fixtures just 8” off the floor.”
Deployment speed was key. With almost 800ft of GT Truss on the tour, every minute of the load-in and loud-out was calculated to the second. Sam continues: “The new Tyler Lighting Ladder system for our side light torms and the Tyler v2 Light Rack built out as large dimmer barges helped to make speed and tidiness go hand in hand.”
The tour is programmed and operated on MA Lighting grandMA3 and utilises almost 200 Martin Professional units, most of which are latest additions to Clearwing’s state-of-the-art inventory. The MAC Aura Raven XIP, Martin MAC Aura XIP, and Martin MAC One units make seamless colour matching and rapid movement effects possible.
“I’m so pleased we had the opportunity to use the new Aura Raven fixtures; it’s nice to finally have an aura/lens element bright enough to translate in arena shows and they possess great colour rendering abilities,” reports Michael.
Other fixtures included GLP Impression X4 Bar 20s, Vari-Lite VL3600 LTs, Vari-Lite 3600IP Profiles which allowed for crisp optics and a clean colour system, Elation Professional Pulse Bar L and Pulse Bar S, Astera AX5 and Chauvet Professional Color Strike Ms, aided by an impressive 100 x CM Chain Hoists.
The tour deployed 11 new VL3600IP LT fixtures, some integrated into Spotrack Evolution v4 systems which proved to be another simple solution for the desired outcome.
Sr. account executive Steve Harvey confirmed the results of Michael’s design expertise: "Michael Brown's shows captivate you; he can hold a look, a defining theatrical moment. He plays into the audience's reaction, and it makes the show.”
Clearwing also designed a robust lighting network backbone. The Luminex network drove a near 100-universe touring system.
Clearwing’s lighting crew for The Secret of Us tour was completed by Robbie Scott, Derek Frenz, Pedro Pradenas, Zach Lipo Zovic, Bart Freed and Jeff Jann.
