Karol G Electrifies on Historic Manana Sera Bonito World Tour with Assist from Elation PROTEUS

	Rosenberg sought to convey the show's positive message through colorful lighting. Photo: Chris Cornejo

Colombian music sensation Karol G recently concluded her historic Manana Sera Bonito" World Tour with four incredible stadium shows in Madrid. The year-long run, the first stadium tour headlined by a Latin female artist and the most extensive European tour by a Latin artist in history, featured an ambitious production with lighting design by Lightswitch senior director Ignacio Rosenberg, working with lighting vendor PRG. At the heart of the design were Elation PROTEUS luminaires, which played a vital role in both the stadium and arena shows.

The tour began in August 2023 and spanned the US, Mexico, and Latin America, with the European leg launching on June 8, 2024, in Zurich, Switzerland. Rosenberg used the PROTEUS MAXIMUS and PROTEUS HYBRID MAX across Latin America and Europe for their IP-rated durability, which was essential for the challenging outdoor environments, particularly in South America. "We can find PROTEUS around the world, and we know it is reliable," LD Rosenberg states. "In regions like South America, where you can sometimes feel isolated, having dependable gear is critical."

The stage design, by tour production designer Travis Shirley, was based on a one-off show in Puerto Rico that Ignacio expanded upon to become the basis for the show. "Because of the shape of the design, there wasn't a lot of traditional lighting points," Rosenberg states.

"It's a semi-flat structure with no overhead ceiling so everything was very exposed to the environment. Having a rig that was 100% IP rated became a necessity." Rosenberg needed a fixture that could handle the unpredictable weather conditions and still deliver the high level of performance required for such a large-scale production. "The PROTEUS HYBRID MAX provided the consistency and power we needed to maintain the integrity of the show across different venues and continents."

The tour's lighting design was intricately tied to Karol G's narrative, unfolding in three visual chapters that echoed her path in the music industry. Rosenberg sought to convey the show's positive message (Manana Sera Bonito translates to "Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful") through colorful lighting, first in blues centered around the character of Karolina the Mermaid, then in magentas, pinks, and whites as she evolves into the confident La Bichota, then to Manana Sera Bonito. In this uplifting scene, the stage explodes with color and light.

A key element of the tour's success was the use of lighting to create an immersive and intimate experience for fans. Karol G is passionate about the lighting of her shows, and Rosenberg actively collaborated with her on the design. "She really cares about what the experience is like for the audience," he states, having lit three Karol G tours and witnessed her stratospheric rise from small venues to stadiums. "Trying to keep some of that intimacy was important to her so she can keep the connection with the audience."

Lighting the audience, therefore, played a significant role and, he says, served dual purposes. "One was so the audience could connect with her and feel involved, and she with the audience. The other is to bring the party out to the audience so they're not just watching a show but are a part of the show. It's really a 3D show in terms of the audience being in the midst of it."

When transitioning from stadiums to arenas, the design team worked to preserve the stadium show's essence as closely as possible by resizing the stage and reconfiguring the lighting design. The transition was successfully executed, thanks in part to the versatile PROTEUS fixtures, the company says, which allowed for quick adjustments without reinventing the lighting scheme, save for a few adjustments.

"We didn't need the horsepower we had with the stadium show but we needed to be able to clone relatively fast without having to invent a whole new show," says Rosenberg, highlighting the history Lightswitch has had with the PROTEUS HYBRID as one of the reasons why they chose the PROTEUS HYBRID MAX for the tour. "We wanted consistency and a very beamy look and having the PROTEUS HYBRID MAX really helped."

Over 140 PROTEUS HYBRID MAX worked from a series of arches that form the backbone of the design, with additional fixtures on the floor and on mobile units that PRG built, which rolled into place. Rosenberg remarks, "We're very camera friendly -- we try to control the environment as much as we can so it looks good on camera so we used a lot of beamage, but also used them in spot mode with gobos in certain songs."

The European leg of the tour ended in July with four epic shows at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. Here, Rosenberg utilized additional fixtures to enhance the live-stream broadcasts. He replaced the PROTEUS HYBRID MAX with 190 PROTEUS EXCALIBURS, selected for their ability to cut through the extensive LED and IMAG setups. Complemented by PROTEUS MAXIMUS, PROTEUS BRUTUS, and PROTEUS BRUTUS FS fixtures, the lighting design achieved the necessary punch and consistency needed across all camera angles, the company says, adding a three-dimensional quality to the performances.

The PROTEUS BRUTUS is a weatherproof LED Wash FX fixture with a 75,000-lumen output from a 1,200W peak field LED engine. Also used on the Madrid shows were PROTEUS BRUTUS FS, an IP66-rated 1200W long throw followspot offering high intensity and color quality at long distances. Rosenberg explains, "We required a fixture with a long throw, so we used the PROTEUS BRUTUS as front light and followspot for the stadium shows. It was crucial to balance the light levels between Karol, the dancers, and the band. I prefer having more light than necessary and the option to adjust it, rather than being unable to reach the required intensity."