Clearly Human Lighting for Todd Rundgren Tour posted: 27/04/2021
Artists continue to be creative and inventive in presenting themselves during these pandemic times, and legendary musician, singer and songwriter Todd Rundgren's ground-breaking new virtual tour' concept took imagination, technology and lateral thinking to another level to bring fans the most exhilarating experience possible! The 25 shows were broadcast live over a five-week period from Radius Chicago, a cool new 3,800 capacity cutting-edge live performance venue in an old Pilsen steel factory. Each day was orientated towards a particular city, complete with special locally related video content, and people living in the relevant area able to access advanced tickets before the box office was opened further.
Lighting designer Hans Shoop utilized Robe BMFL Spots, Spikies and a RoboSpot system controlling three BMFL Follow Spots to great effect on the rig - among other lights - fulfilling a brief to create as much normalcy as possible for a live band show! They specifically didn't want the production looking like a video shoot nor a band in a void' recording scenario, a mission for which he worked closely with Alex Skowron.
Alex - also an LD in his own right - had been the production designer on Rundgren's 2004 Liars' tour. When he heard about this virtual tour project, he reached out to the production team headed by production / tour manager and monitor engineer Paul Froula and asked if he could assist.
He explained how the mission was to make the space appear nondescript and neutral so the audience could think they were actually touring. The last thing we wanted was to have the same architectural features coming up show after show, so we blacked out any features that would give away the fact we were in the same space for 5 weeks and turned the room into a black box.
Alex became involved on the lighting and visuals production, sourcing kit and crew and crunching logistics which included keeping the equipment supplies as local as possible. He was also indispensable in materializing the design explained Hans, adding that Alex's vast fund of experience and attention to detail freed him up to concentrate on finessing the lighting design.
Having worked with the artist for the last 12 years, he knows what he likes and in this case was given a relatively open brief together with a few key constraints, and in response submitted a variety of design ideas which were finessed by Todd Rundgren himself.
Hans' fundamental task was to ensure the artist was well lit at all times and from all angles - so the RoboSpot system helped enormously providing a key, a fill and a backlighting BMFL Follow Spot tracking him constantly. These three luminaires were all controlled by one operator with the RoboSpot Base Station located near the FOH area.
RoboSpot duty was split between five stagehands working in daily shifts throughout the week for the two-hour performance, and they were all kept animated throughout the set tracking Rundgren's many moves!
As well as the tight key lighting, Hans also kept the background elements looking interesting and relevant from all angles.
The full lighting rig was supplied by Upstaging, who rigged 12 trusses above the Radius' stage - seven for lighting, four for scenics including two kabuki drops, and one upstage supporting the LED wall.
The 24 x BMFL Spots were rigged all over the lighting trusses and on the deck used for the key light and specials across the 12-piece band, as well as for lighting scenic elements, keeping the quality of the light and the gobo set consistent .
The 32 x Spikies were lined up along the vertical bars of two pods flown each side of stage and were an essential visual piece filling the wing voids on camera. They became more apparent as the show arc unfolded, explained Hans, initially backlighting the kabuki cloths during the early stages of the show, then after these dropped providing punchy, piercing beams firing through the haze towards the end of the set.
While he had originally spec'd LEDBeam 150s, the little Spikies were in stock at Upstaging and came into their own!
The zoom, prism and Flower effects and the 360 continuous pan-and-tilt gave me multiple tools for crafting a diverse array of looks, stated Hans.
It was his desire for elegant and efficient follow spotting that initially led him towards the RoboSpot system, and from that he decided that adding BMFL Spots would add continuity. He likes many things about these luminaires including the color mixing and the excellent range of color corrected whites.
Hans often specs Robe for his projects and sees them on numerous festivals, house rigs and rental company stock lists. I'm always happy when I see Robe on the kit list! he confirms.
While lighting this show was just like lighting a live performance in many ways, it also required an extra layer of thought and intelligence and considering things like keeping contrast levels appropriate for the cameras.
Alex highlights the cruciality of the human factor' in this project. Gear is gear but it takes the right staff to keep it running smoothly and properly. I tried to use all my regular vendors as I knew they would be hugely enthusiastic and help make it a successful show.
The thousands watching remotely on a device somewhere - also visible to the band on video tiles at the front of stage - and the 30 in-person (masked and tested) audience allowed in the venue each night were treated to a sensational set featuring music from the seminal 1989 Clearly Human album plus many others from Rundgren's prolific back catalogue.
Like everyone, Hans absolutely relished being back at work after the longest break in his professional career as well as seeing a living breathing show every night with great music
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
Clearly Human Lighting for Todd Rundgren Tour posted: 27/04/2021 
