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Drawing on his experiences from his inaugural year in 2016 , he did add a ground row of fixtures upstage for some lower-level effects , but otherwise , the rig is similar to last year ’ s iteration .
“ One of the big considerations is , being an outdoor show that happens rain or shine , a lot of the gear lives outside from load-in to strike , which is two-and-a-half to three weeks , so we need things that are robust , mechanically sound , and relatively easy to fix .”
That ’ s where Ploss and his onsite team from Q One – Terry Mueller , Jarret Borodenko , Brad Wagg , and Corey Ellis – were indispensible allies . “ I ’ ve been doing this show for so long that we ’ ve kind of got it down ,” he says , “ but it ’ s still a very unique beast .” Working with a few different companies , Ploss has been the Grandstand Show ’ s rental rep since the early 2000s , and in that time , he ’ s seen the show in sub-zero temperatures and as hot as 40 degrees ; he ’ s seen the stage hit with rain , hail , and snow . But most impressively , he recalls the 2013 show that went on despite the disastrous flooding throughout the city in the weeks leading up to the Stampede .
Even in the best of conditions , he says , “ You ’ re still in the middle of a horse track , full of everything you find on a horse track . It really is one of the hardest gigs I ’ ve ever done . I mean , you ’ re talking hundreds of fixtures – Guns ‘ N Roses territory – in a very unpredictable setting .” Illustrating his point , he explains how there were 10 foggers and 10 hazers on the deck for 2017 , which were deployed in various configurations based on the wind conditions on any given night .
“ It ’ s just a huge spectacle ,” he says . “ Knock on wood , our failure rate is very minimal , but that ’ s because of experience and preparation . Everyone there knows their job and does it well . This one isn ’ t for the weak-hearted .” On that note , like many of his contemporaries , Bouckley has been incorporating more LED fixtures into his work in recent years , though says that the Grandstand Show isn ’ t necessarily the best venue for them . Still , he did rely on some Martin MAC Auras and GLP impression X4s in addition to more standard offerings like Vari-Lite VL3000 and VL3500s and Clay Paky ’ s ubiquitous Sharpys .
The VL3500s were put to good use at FOH to wash the stage , as Bouckley says “ more front light ” is something of a mantra for this show because of the many young performers gracing the stage .
Another significant component of the programming for Together touches on a very important and topical issue : Canada ’ s relationship and path to reconciliation with its indigenous peoples .
As Caron explains , “ We collaborated on creative with indigenous designers , consultants , and artists from Treaty 7 . It was important to present this content in a fashion that resonates an experience to showcase contemporary indigenous art and design that is true to our nation ’ s history and presented in a fresh and honest sense , free of stereotype and pedantic presentation .”
Adds Bouckley : “ I personally think this is an element that set our Canada 150 celebration apart from many others .”
This mandate informed his choice to add some SkyPans to the rig . “ These lights were envisioned and used primarily to bring a non-digital connection to the First Nations music and performance ,” Bouckley explains . “ The pulsing incandescent light possessed a lovely visual cadence with the drum beat as it naturally fades , and their broad , soft focus ensured the whole grandstand was bathed in their light when used .”
Michael Wilkinson was the programmer and operator for the Grandstand Show ’ s lighting , working behind an MA Lighting grandMA2 during the run . “ He ’ s an amazing programmer that ’ s always open to figuring things out with me ,” says Bouckley . “ Or if I ’ m being ambiguous with anything , he ’ ll try different things to get to where I ’ m coming from , and that makes for a great working relationship .”
Bouckley reminisces about some of his personal highlights from the 2017 show , including a sequence with trapeze artists flying around the stage with LED-integrated costumes that played on the idea of the Northern Lights . “ So we had a combination of the Sharpys panning through the air to fill in the space while these artists in the lit costumes were spinning and flying around ,” he explains . “ We created a lot of depth as a team of designers , and it was a really beautiful moment in the show .”
Of course , he ’ d be remiss not to talk about the opening number , which includes all of the performers onstage at one point . “ It ’ s very overthe-top , which is a great way to start off a show like this ,” he says , “ so it was about making sure there was a lot of light , but also that we were really in sync with the music , which was multi-layered and very dense . I thought it ended up being a great way to bring everybody in .”
Video was also a significant component for this year ’ s show , with Multi-Vision Inc . ( MVI ) supplying the substantial video rig . MVI ’ s Phil Cane has been the company ’ s project manager for the Grandstand Show since 2003 .
The massive downstage video wall on the Queen Mary was primarily used for custom content to support the various acts , while the screens on each wing of the stage were mainly for IMAG . What ’ s more , there are trailers with screens flanking the stage for even more IMAG support .
“ The stage layout and audience layout is quite unique here ,” Cane begins . “ It ’ s a really wide audience area , so a lot of people are off-axis for the show . The distance from the centre line of the stage to the edges of the stands is significant , so we rely on IMAG pretty heavily to show people ’ s faces and to make sure everyone can catch the finer details of these performances .”
Cane recalls that , when MVI first started supplying the Stampede with screens , they had two portable screens comprised of about 25 panels apiece . “ And we thought bringing 50 panels out was a challenge . Now we ’ re up to 840 ,” he says with a laugh , referencing the 18-mm pitch product deployed for this year ’ s show .
Video load-in begins two-and-a-half weeks before the show ’ s opening night , allowing the full rig to be installed before the audio and lighting arrives and in time to support the full 10 days of onstage rehearsals . A crew of five MVI representatives works alongside the local crew during this period .
20 | Fall 2017