Professional Lighting & Production - Summer 2019 | Page 20

“I hope there’s a future for this kind of design – especially if it’s even just a reminder of how
easily things can be reused and recycled.”
-George Gorton, LD
blinder. “Can’t say enough good things
about it. The fixture is gorgeous, really ro-
bust, and the red-shift LED just makes it so
versatile and nice to look at,” he says. “It was
super helpful for small venues with power
restrictions, too, as it offered a strobe and
a blinder, which are both big parts of the
show and difficult to live without.”
So positive was his experience with the
Strike 1s that he says he’s just spec’d 30 of
them for one of his next designs.
At this point in their career, thanks to
now having seven studio albums from
which to draw material, Mother Mother’s
set lists – and, subsequently, their shows
– can be incredibly dynamic, seamlessly
shifting from pulsing and powerful rock
to decadent, danceable indie pop to pas-
20 | Summer 2019
sionate, poignant ballads. That’s especially
the case with Dance and Cry, which, again,
spans the spaces between those musical
and emotional extremes.
That dynamism and juxtaposition
played perfectly into Gorton’s preferred
workflow and approach to this specific de-
sign, and looking back on the run, it’s likely
not surprising that, in his mind, one of the
standout visual moments relied on some
juxtaposition of various lighting, video, and
set elements itself.
“We had the Strike 1s positioned
behind the set, which created an amazing
effect with really unique shadows from
behind the set pieces that really stood
out for me,” he offers. “The juxtaposition of
projection on the set and then this massive
wall of light behind was pretty exciting.”
Over the course of their career thus far,
Mother Mother have become beacons for
commentary and criticism from the music
press in Canada and abroad, though as a
testament to their production team, some
high-profile reviews of recent shows have
specifically mentioned the lighting and
visuals and how they contributed to the
overall experience.
Weighing in on the Dance and Cry date
at the Phoenix in Toronto, Addicted’s music
editor, Aron Harris, called the lighting and
sound “top-notch,” and the opening line
of an Exclaim! review of a previous show
praised the “measured, dramatic lighting.”
Mother Mother has always displayed a