Blake Shelton - Live in Las Vegas

"For the Blake Shelton residency at The Colosseum, as the lighting and video vendor, 4Wall provided the lighting floor package, LED ribbon, and I-Mag screens, Disguise GX3+ media servers, and a full control package. We have been collaborating with Steve Cohen on many productions crom conception to execution, so it is always a pleasure to work on new designs with him. We started working with (PM) Chris Alderman on a Blake Shelton tour many years ago, and we have continued to support him for whatever he needs since. He is incredibly organized and always treats everyone in an appreciative and respectful way. Truly on of the best. For this residency at Caesars Palace, 4Wall was brought in because we have we have provided the lighting, video, and rigging equipment for Blake's tours as well. We knew what they wanted and also having our shop right down the street in Las Vegas makes it very easy to support residency shows like this." Brad Hafer, Executive VP of Production at 4Wall

This article was originally posted on PSLN.com and can be found here.

In January, Country superstar Blake Shelton returned to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for his Las Vegas residency, Blake Shelton, Live in Las Vegas. When the show was announced, Shelton told the press, "We had so much fun earlier this year, I figured-why not do it again." With much of the design aesthetic based off Steve Cohen's production and lighting design for Shelton's Back to the Honky-Tonk arena tour that hit the road back in 2023. [Read more about the Back to the Honky-Tonk tour In the April 2023 PLSN] For that tour, Cohen, along with Visuals Designer Bob Bonniol, created an immersive concert environment with virtual set extensions. The format changed for the residence to fill the wider stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace's theater. Back as Lighting Directors were Felix Peralta and Scott O'Connor, as well as Video Director, Nate Fountain Jr., who all spoke with PLSN about the changes for this residency.

Lighting
Felix Peralta, Lighting Director, peraltaPRO
Scott O'Connor, Lighting Director, Four Shadows Inc.

Talk about how this residency builds off the Back to the Honky-Tonk tour design.

FP: I jumped into this Blake project with Steve Cohen and Bob Bonniol in 2022 when they were designing the tour. This camp likes to do a design and tour it for a few years before doing another design. Last year they decided to try a residency model in Las Vegas. We did that with great success with that first incarnation of the residency. We had Bob with us to prepare as we were transferring basically the arena show to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. That was a great launch, and Blake decided to do more shows in Vegas, so this is round two of our Vegas residency.

SO: Felix and Steve brought me in early, and together we developed a creative language that's continued to evolve ever since. The Back to the Honky-Tonk concept has really been the foundation for the past four years, with refinements to the set and overall presentation along the way. It was a strong idea from the start-Steve had a clear vision for what it should be, especially the whole notion of dropping a honky-tonk bar into the middle of an arena. For the residency, that bar element is on pause, but the core identity of the show is still very much intact. What's been especially rewarding is having the chance to keep building on that original framework, while also collaborating with Blake and expanding the concept in ways that feel fresh for this room. I've been fortunate to be part of it, and to work alongside Steve and Felix, who I've respected for a long time.

How is the design different in The Colosseum?

FP: The arena design wasn't that wide; the production design was more north and south. It had the stage at the upstage end, then the long ramp with the bars alongside the runway, and the little B-stage out in the house. So, from a production design standpoint, the arena show was more like a honky-tonk bar, including the TAIT barstools they created for the tour. It was hard to sit there and find a wide shot because the design extended out to front of house. So, now we have moved to The Colosseum, and the audience can now appreciate everything all in one wide shot; one big landscape. More of a 16:9 type of image. In a lot of ways, this design photographed a lot better. The volume of the design weighed a lot more in that landscape image because it was all right there on top of the viewer.

What were some of the solutions for this one?

FP: Blake had a handful of songs that he wanted to introduce, so with Scotty and I leading the charge, we spent a few days of previz at the 4Wall shop in Las Vegas. We did four additional songs. The first time around, the biggest challenge always was, because we were reimagining the arena show, how we would recreate it in The Colosseum as best as we could. Keeping what Steve and Bob had designed, but ultimately it is a reimagining because the environment is different enough. There's a giant screen in the background and we were limited mostly to the existing fixtures of The Colosseum. We brought in the floor package of Chauvet Strike Ms from 4Wall and adapted the show to the Colosseum package. Through that exercise we did find some happy accidents, that actually, in my opinion, there are some looks that translate better at The Colosseum than in the arena version. So, that was refreshing to see.

SO: One of the biggest challenges for Felix and I was taking the existing house system and pushing it as far as possible within the limitations of the room and the schedule. It was a very fast-paced process, so the goal was to integrate key pieces of the honky-tonk visual language into a system that was already in place. The Colosseum still has a number of legacy fixtures in the rig-VL3000s, VL3500s, and Coemar Infinity XL Washes-but to the venue's credit, the house team has done an excellent job maintaining them, and the rig performed well. A big part of the process was figuring out how to make that system really deliver for this show. We supplemented it with a substantial floor package, VL3600 key lights from 4Wall, and GLP impression Bar 20s for additional texture and effects. That combination let us carry over some of the stronger visual ideas from the tour and layer them into the residency in a way that completed the overall story.

Talk about the split in Lighting Director duties.

SO: Felix and I split the Lighting Director responsibilities pretty fluidly, with both of us contributing on the programming side. Felix has been central to much of the programming work, particularly as the show file has evolved alongside the MA3 platform. We originally built this file in 2023 when MA3 was still at version 1.8, and since then the software has matured significantly, which has led to a number of updates in both structure and workflow. More recently, we've shifted further into MA's Recipe-based workflow, and Felix has really led that transition. At the same time, both of us have been involved in the design side, shaping looks and solving visual problems in real time-figuring out what serves the moment best, how to use the space effectively, and how to address areas that need more depth or support. At the end of the day, it's a very collaborative process, and the final look of the show is very much the result of that teamwork.

FP: Scott manages the day-to-day activities for the tour, Blake's one-off shows, and the residency shows. Scott has been very diligent in managing the shows as well as recreating the shows for festivals or a one-off. He's been with the camp for three or four years already. We're thrilled that he's here and is a great part of that camp; and a big part of this recipe for success. When I join in with him, we're looking at the show again with a fresh set of eyes. We're collaborating and making sure that it's a Blake show and making sure that it's going to translate the way it should to all of his fans. I've been mentoring Scott for many years. He understands the workflow, the aesthetic, etc. The nice thing is when we're working together, he'll kind of let me drive the car and get things ready. Then he absorbs it all and gets ready for me to hand the keys back to him.

Is the show run on timecode or manually?

SO: It's a hybrid of both. Blake has a deep catalog and will often call audibles, so the show needs to stay flexible. We do have certain elements on timecode, mainly to support video integration, but roughly 75% of the show is still operated live.

Talk about working with Video Director, Nate Fountain and blending lighting and video for these shows.

FP: Nate is great to work with; he's been with us from the beginning. He knows the show so well already. That's one of the nice pluses that we had, a lot of returning members of the Blake family. Nate is very easy to work with; he's very collaborative. He is great at capturing the moments. Having seen all this before, Nate knows where to put the cameras, he knows how to shoot people, so it was pretty straightforward.

SO: It's very much a collaborative process across all departments, with everyone working toward a cohesive execution of the overall story. Nate has been great to work with and is always looking for the strongest possible shots, so we're constantly thinking about how lighting can help support that. Before each show, we'll review any changes and talk through what can be improved from the previous performance. There's a real give-and-take in that process. On the technical side, the video content and virtual set extensions Bob created are triggered from my console. We're running Disguise media servers through SockPuppet, which allows me to handle playback from front of house. That setup has worked well because it keeps playback tied directly to what's happening onstage, so if the show shifts in real time, I can respond immediately and keep everything aligned.

Tell us about working with Production Manager, Chris Alderman.

FP: Chris is great; I wish there were more Chris' around in all these camps. He is such a team player and really takes care of his crew. He's one of my favorite people. He has been with Blake for two or three tours before I came onboard. He's a seasoned professional and it all starts at the top and trickles down. Blake's energy is great and so is Chris'. That all makes our job easy. We're able to come in and collaborate. We're able to solve problems without stress hovering over the whole camp. The Blake family is one of my favorites.

SO: Chris is great to work with. He does an excellent job making sure every department has what it needs and that the whole operation stays on track. More broadly, the entire camp has been fantastic, which is a big part of why this has been such a rewarding project to be part of. Everyone is pulling in the same direction and committed to putting on the best show possible, and you can feel that shared focus the moment the house lights go out.

How was the support from your vendor, 4Wall?

SO: 4Wall's support is always great. The gear always top-notch, and the crew is outstanding. That level of support makes a real difference when you're trying to execute at a high level.

FP: Impeccable as always; they're great. We're so happy to have 4Wall in our fold.

If you were speaking with an industry colleague, what would you hope that they would notice about this residency?

FP: I always pride myself that, for every song, you could say, 'wow, that looks really tasteful, purposeful, and pronounced'. I think that we had great success with this Vegas residency for Blake with putting together some incredible and unique looks for that room. Obviously, a lot of other artists have played here at The Colosseum, so that's a challenge. How can we make it look different? So, coming in with the staging that TAIT created for us, as well as the content that Bob and Steve provided; how we featured Unreal Engine a lot in the content. Really creating and trying to make the room look different. It was a nice challenge. I just think the way it looked and photographed, we're really proud of it. Scott and I thought that it was really smooth and built off the success of the first residency last year. It was a pretty rock solid show.

Video
Nate Fountain Jr., Video Director, Fake Video Co

Talk about the video systems you're using for this residency.

Caesars supplied us with their massive 110' wide x 43' tall Daktronics LED wall. Then 4Wall provided us with two 16:9 I-Mag screens as well as seven smaller banner LED screens going across the proscenium, all made from ROE CB5 panels. That helped keep the whole honky-tonk vibe from the tour. For the residency, I'm doing some of a standard I-Mag show. There are elements on the upstage wall where the I-Mag is content-supportive. Bob created content looks with mortices for my live camera feeds; it looks like a set within a set, basically.

Talk about cutting the show and blending your work with the content for the show.

Bob had created the content to be an immersive walk through a honky-tonk. Sometimes you're inside and looking up; sometimes you can look down from the roof; and there are times when you're looking in through an opening in the side or the front of the honky-tonk. I kind of imagine a kid that's too young to get in the bar peeping through and seeing the show. The challenge was that many of those cutouts were odd-shaped. Some of the elements protrude into the frame from the top; some had wider openings on the left or the right side. So, camera operators would have to frame extreme-left or extreme-right. Or have a lot more headroom than normal to make it look correct for the screens.

Tell us about collaborating with Steve Cohen and Bob Bonniol on the show.

I got the opportunity to work with Steve Cohen in the programming phase back in 2023 for the Back to the Honky-Tonk tour. That was pretty amazing for me. There are people whose names I've heard, and work I've seen throughout my touring career, but never met. So, it was a treat to be part of this process. I got to watch Steve's vision come to life along with Bob Bonniol at the helm using Unreal Engine. As we went through each song, Steve would let me know the camera framing he wanted as well as the feel of the cutting he was looking for to coincide with a particular song. Of course, Bob's a mad scientist; he makes these wild and crazy immersive worlds come to life. He knows exactly what he wants.

Talk about collaborating with Felix and Scott in blending lighting and video.

From a director's point of view, I felt I got lucky with this show because Felix and Scott do TV work. They made sure I always had key light on everyone in the band, at all times. There are some shows that I do where the LDs only focus on theatrical lighting, and the people in the background are not properly lit for cameras. It was definitely not a problem on this show. Everybody knows Felix is a very thorough lighting programmer; I never had to ask for anything; he just did it. Then, working day-to-day with Scott, who I consider a friend, was seamless. Both he and I were on the same page about the show every day, so it's a treat to work with him too.

How was the support of 4Wall for you on the residency show?

"4Wall was an integral part of the show. We got our Disguise GX3+ media servers from them, as well as ROE Visual CB5 for the I-Mag walls and LED screens and the Panasonic PTZ cameras. Working with 4Wall has always been great; both Account Exec Bob Suchocki and PM RJ Thomas were there to make sure that we had everything we needed. I've worked with Bob a few times and he's been nothing but amazing to me."

If you were speaking with an industry colleague, what would you hope that they would notice about this residency?

I would hope they'd notice my ability to represent all elements on the stage. Also, my timing and my placement. I have this saying, 'I'm showing people what they don't realize they were hearing. My directing style isn't just about covering the event; it's about finding a specific finger pluck, or that deep breath, or subtle glance that defines the moment that's happening. I constantly think about what I see when I listen to music with my eyes closed and headphones on.