THE BEACHES ’ ELIZA ENMAN-MCDANIEL ON DRUMS
two more for side lighting . On each of those pipes were four Robe Spikie LED WashBeams . The backlight pipes also included Chauvet Strike 1 LED blinders and GLP JDC1 hybrid strobes , with six Martin Mac Aura XBs on the ends for side washes . Anything up in the air was venue lighting that Bhogal incorporated into the programmed show .
“ I have used the Robe Spikie often recently because their versatility for the size is incredible . It really only was with that fixture that the design could take shape , everything else would have put the trailer overweight and made the scale I was looking for impossible . So , when we were able to secure those as the cornerstone of the design , the whole idea really took off ,” says Gorton .
Bhogal says that he and Gorton would get on the phone every so often to chat about the tour , vendor news regarding product availability , and the evolving design / programming ideas , and these would often turn into long , enthusiastic conversations .
“ Anytime one those changes would happen , George would be like , ‘ Oh , now we can just do this instead of this ’ and it would always be this super fun chat . I ’ ve never , ever gotten that before with a lot of other folks , too . So , it was really fun ,” he says . He notes one conversation in particular that got him real excited , which is when Gorton fortuitously received a large complement of Spikies .
According to Bhogal , the first design for the tour he received from Gorton had Elation ACL 360i in the pixel-like role that the Spikies eventually filled . The JDC1s and Strike 1s were already in that initial plan . “ The Strike 1 is a very signature George Gorton move . I really liked them too , for the same reason he does , which is he really likes the amber tone to it and I can see where this really works well in the whole rock and roll-type world … That ’ s basically how the rig started out . I also want to say we had four to six MegaPointes on the ground ,” adds Bhogal .
That was their starting point , before also figuring out what limitation they had in terms of weight and space for transport .
“ Somehow it miraculously turned into we could get a whole bunch of Spikies now , so we might have to take out some of the MegaPointes for weight and space . I was like , ‘ This is the best problem we could have ever had for this rig ,’” Bhogal says . “ I remember when George called me about it , he was like , ‘ Dude , the weirdest thing just happened … You ’ re going to get 60 or so Spikies and you ’ re going to be the only guy that has this package in Canada .’ My jaw dropped because this is the coolest thing that could happen for one of my first big creative projects .”
“ Ha ! It was a great phone call ,” Gorton adds when PL & P recounts what Bhogal had said . “ Spikies are becoming a more widely available fixture and certainly benefit from being used in large quantities . Size and weight were an issue on this run as it had to fit into a full bus trailer . The vendor for the tour , PRG , was tasked with developing some mode of transport that allowed us to double the number of Spikies we could usually carry . Their team did an absolutely fantastic job designing and fabricating custom carts for this tour . These carts allowed us to carry many more fixtures without making compromises on space and weight , which opened the door to the final iteration of this design .”
It was determined early on it would be a timecoded show , which the band hadn ’ t done before . Bhogal says the four musicians were total
ISHDEEP BHOGAL MANNING THE MA LIGHTING GRANDMA2 CONSOLE
professionals and very quickly adapted to playing to a timecoded show . The only adjustments needed were in early rehearsals when there were a couple songs where the band played slightly out of sync with the lighting .
“ We had listened to the initial recorded tracks with the girls and they were like , ‘ Oh , no , that ’ s on us , we ’ re a bar off .’ I figured it ’ s usually on my end or something with timecode coming into console , but they were like , ‘ Nah , we just need to count in another bar , or wait a few more beats ,’” Bhogal says , adding there were still a few select spots in the show for him to manually operate it . “ But as soon as they heard what they needed to change , they were good with it . It was cool for them to also see that in rehearsals , too , that while they play a song , I could walk away from my console to fix something and the whole rig is still going . That every snare hit , any riff , is still emulated through all these lights . They were just like , ‘ That ’ s is a pretty sweet thing !’”
In how he used the canvas that Gorton gave him , Bhogal says the band ’ s charisma and look drove the lighting looks . It helped that The Beaches , during this Future Lovers era , have an identifiable aesthetic defined by the band ’ s outfits , which are in solid red , green , yellow , and blue as seen on the EP ’ s cover art .
“ The big focus was making sure their outfits are really well-lit and seen and make sure they ’ re pronounced . You could even put an open white light on them and they ’ re already coloured enough that they give you that pop of colour instead of the light doing it all . The show just won ’ t be bland , no matter what , because they already come as this fashioned-out idea ,” says Bhogal .
The band mostly left Bhogal to his creative devices , only telling him it would cool to have something unique for the show ’ s intro and interludes . “ So , what I did was I took that colour aesthetic and sort of emulated them through the lights . The intro would be their backing track and each of my JDCs would be their different colours , as if that was kind of representing them through lights , fading in and out . It was a really , really cool vibe that people dug .”
Each night , as the band launched into the show , Bhogal would adjust the exact hue of the lights to make them complement that band ’ s outfits , which could be very vibrant or more pastel .
In the end , the entire process , from their initial collaboration to working with a band they love , plus a vendor that really came through in the clutch , Gorton and Bhogal were both thrilled with the end result and excited to get back in the swing of things .
“ Ish was an invaluable force on this project , from massive creative contributions to flawless programming ; it was a pleasure working with him on this . We had done a number of other projects together but this one was particularly rewarding as we could tackle it head on ,” says Gorton .
The admiration is mutual as Bhogal is effusive in his praise for Gorton and the fun they had working together . “ Plus , I know the girls have put in a ton of work into the band ,” he adds . “ So , I only wanted to reciprocate that same energy . I felt I need to do everything I can and worked pretty tirelessly , because I genuinely wanted to make the thing look the best that I can .”
Michael Raine is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Lighting & Production . Fall 2022 | 29