A Landslide Success for Fleetwood Mac and Chaos Visual Productions

	Fleetwood Mac in concert with Chaos Visual Productions. Photo: Paul "Arlo" Guthrie

Fleetwood Mac is one of those very few bands who have truly transcended the decades. Formed in the heady musical melting pot that was the London of the 1960s with the likes of John Mayall, Eric Clapton, and the fledgling vocalist, Rod Stewart as their peers, Fleetwood Mac knows more than a thing or two about survival. 2013 has seen one of their most prolific line-ups embark on a huge tour of the USA and Europe that encompasses the large arena-size venues with the likes of Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY, the beachside theatre that can require some creative planning from a production team to load-in a full show rig. At the time of writing, the fourteen date leg of the tour in Australia and New Zealand has been cancelled to allow bassist and founder member, John McVie to receive treatment for cancer.

Not for the first time, Chaos Visual Productions supplied the production with the video hardware. As lighting designer, Paul "Arlo" Guthrie remarks, "Video features in almost the entire set so getting the balance between lighting content and IMAG was crucial. Incorporating video successfully is always something of a balancing act. I feel we have brought a modern look to the visuals without distracting from what happens on stage." This show is all about the four members of the band -- all very involved in the production process themselves -- so it was important to create a look that kept the focus on the musicians yet still enhanced the audience experience of the iconic set list.

The central screen element of the set is a WinVision 12mm wall stretching 51' upstage of the backline. The 30' high screen is used for custom content and IMAG where possible as Guthrie explains, "For the European leg of the tour, Barco FLM R22+ projectors were used for the IMAG screens. One output from the MBox Extreme went to our video director, Jerry McReynolds as a source for the wall. Content was triggered from the grandMA2 at front-of-house with everything manually controlled rather than using timecode."

McReynolds, a veteran of the likes of Santana and Ozzy Osbourne, joined the video team to cut cameras; three manned Sony HXC100 cameras, two Sony BRC700 robocams and two Bradley Engineering HD10 minicams for the keyboards and background vocals. "In addition to the large LED wall there are some LC 2140 LED screens along with side screens for IMAG which was projected using Barco FLM R22+ projectors," comments McReynolds himself, "So video is pretty central to the look of the whole production. Chaos supplied us with a Grass Valley Kayak 1.5ME switcher which I have used in the past. It was needed here as some footage had to go to the LED wall as well as the side screens."

With a band whose back catalog evokes so many emotional memories in their audience it is important to remain true to the original content while updating the visual content for today's technology. "I already had content from Stevie Nick's solo outings but wanted to bring in a more modern edge to it without losing the mystical and ethereal nature of her work," remarks Guthrie. "Lindsay Buckingham's work needed more dynamic images; altogether I think we created a look that is more contemporary but still maintains the ethos of the original songbook."

After forty five years in one incarnation or another, Fleetwood Mac's 2013 tour remains testament to the lyric: "You can never break the chain..."