Rob Koenig Connects Metallica to Crowd with 144 Chauvet Professional Color STRIKE Ms

	Koenig has nine of the Color STRIKE M fixtures wrapped around the top of each tower, and nine wrapped around the bottom. Photo: Getty Images

Necessity is the mother of invention. The time-worn adage might sound a bit trite to modern ears, but its validity is being vividly demonstrated to sellout crowds across Europe and North America on Metallica's M72 World Tour. The eight distinctive towers that lend a dramatic flair to the production came about when production designer, Dan Braun, had to find an alternative to his initial vision of creating tensegrity structures for the show.

"I have been interested in tensegrity sculpture for a while and was working on this concept for an indoor show," says Braun, who's worked closely with lighting designer Rob Koenig on the production. "Our world changed, when the tour went to stadiums in the round. My first thought was 'we can't do that.' But after careful consideration, I said 'why not?'"

Adapting to the necessity of working within the parameters of an outdoor 360° stage, the designers dropped plans for a tensegrity rig and combined "a study of proportion with paramount engineering," to arrive at the eight-tower design. "That left us with a way to do the show absent a roof, and meeting all of our production requirements," says Braun. "We didn't get to a tensegrity structure, so next time..."

What the team did create though, was a stunning, soaring design that underscores the magnitude of Metallica's contribution to metal music, while reflecting the intensity of their relentless performance.

Enhancing this heady atmosphere is the bold, vividly colored light from 144 Chauvet Professional Color STRIKE M motorized strobes, which like the rest of the rig, were supplied by Premier Global Productions of Nashville.

Koenig has nine of the Color STRIKE M fixtures wrapped around the top of each tower, and nine wrapped around the bottom. "They're giving us a great level of audience lighting," he says of the fixtures. "We looked at quite a few units and we felt these were the best performers, given their brightness, DMX refresh rates, and IP rating. It created a winning combo for us."

Greens and yellows are dominating the color scheme in the show's design. "To me, green and metal music are inextricably linked," says Koenig. "I always got a kick out of Nook Schoenfeld's views on green, but I do wholeheartedly understand his sentiments when looking at almost any other type of performance. I certainly wouldn't vibe with this much green on a typical pop show.

"As for the yellow, it's thematic with the band's album," continues Koenig. "When we started putting together the tour, the thought process was we typically don't use much yellow at all in the live shows, so it wasn't a stretch to utilize it as a feature color to help define all of the new songs from '72 Seasons'."

For Koenig, one of the highlights of the tour has been working with a great crew, including his Premier Global account rep James Vollhoffer, project manager Anthony "Geddy" Kordyjaka; lighting programmers Joe Cabrera and Cat West; and LX crew chief Mat Gass.

There are also many moments in the show that have been especially memorable for Koenig, such as those in the song 'If Darkness Had a Son,' one of his favorites.

"It's ominous. It's dark. It's a bit unsettling," says Koenig. "It's a very unique look for a Metallica song from any time frame." And on this tour, it stood out, as did all the other songs in the set, with help from a design modified out of necessity, but brough to life with a great deal of ingenuity, creativity, and passion.

Learn more about Metallica's M72 World Tour in the September 2023 edition of Lighting&Sound America.