Another great that I had the privilege of being asked to light ... LITTLE RICHARD! He was an amazing performer and had the room on their feet all night!
After the soundcheck, a guy from Little Richards crew told me that he wanted to see me in the dressing room. I went in and sat down across from him and he asked me if I was the "Lighting Man". I told him I was, and he said " I have only one request ... Make me look good!" I assured him that I would and we then sat and exchanged pleasantries and he even told me a few stories about Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis "back in the day". It was nearly surreal. Such a great person with such a mind-blowing history. Truly one of the Fathers of Rock and Roll!
Chuck Berry at B.B. King in Times Square.
Chuck Berry jamming at B.B.s
I was so excited to be asked to come up to b.B King and light Chuck Berry.
www.elviscostello.com
Steve Nieve. He is an amazing musician and a really cool guy. A really cool factoid about him is that he is one of the ONLY people in the world that is allowed to play the pipe organ at the Royal Alpert Hall in London ... and he did so when we played there! It was awesome!
Pete Thomas. Aside from his ability to keep up with Elvis constantly changing the arrangements and going off into unplanned tangents ... he has one of the most perfect meters the ability to .not speed up/slow down) I have EVER seen in a drummer! Even after playing for 3 hours!. It was a joy to watch him play each night. Totally tasteful, he never overplayed or constantly tried to drop in unneeded fills or signatures. Such a nice guy too.
Davey Faragher. One talented Bass player. He and Pete Thomas the drummer) have a really cool Rockabilly-punk band called "Jackshit". They are awesome! Check them here: JackshitTheBand.com
This was the walk-in look before the show started. Occasionally, especially in the theaters in Europe, we had a curtain reveal to start the show.
Yet another of his "Lids".
Napoleon Dynamite kicks off his show!
Jamming one out!
Yet another of the gags in the "Game Show" atmosphere was the "Hammer of Songs" where an audience member could whack the plunger and pick a genre from which Elvis would pick a song to perform. This entire show took audience participation to an ENTIRELY new level!
Elvis has quite the collection of hats ... or "Lids", as he refers to them.
Melissa jams out in the Go-Go cage.
The shows could, and often did go on over 3 hours! He has SUCH a huge collection of work!
Elvis hamming it up in the cage. As I said earlier, even though I lit the show as a "game Show", mostly, it did, as you see here, have rock-show elements and moments.
The excitement never stopped from show opening to the last encore.
Early in the show, still keeping the "Game Show" look.
Such a spectacle. With all the different elements, especially the wheel, I never approached this show like a "Rock Show". No smoke/haze machines or pyro, or lasers, etc. I lit it as though you were watching a gameshow on TV> I did have Rock Stage elements with all the different colors from the conventional lighting flown in the truss, and even had some movement, heavily saturated colors and flashing/strobing from the moving LED lights on the ground. The wheel even had a ring of red, yellow and blue lamps that could bve chased in different patterns and dimmed as well. So the stage took on many looks during the show. It was a unique challenge and I loved every minute of it.
Melissa could make that cage come alive!
Having a 16-foot wheel taking up the entire stage left was a unique challenge. It's not like you can just ignore it! Throughout the show, I lit it in different ways and colors to fit the mood of the song. I even used the lamps along its perimeter to give motion by chasing, flashing or bouncing them around the wheel. I was really proud of how it all came together.
Steve Nieve and Valentina Valentine sit around the bar watching the madness that was our stage every night. After bringing audience members up to spin the wheel, they were then invited to sit at the bar, have a drink and watch the band perform the song that they had spun up on the wheel!
This telecaster was one of his mainstay g0to guitars on this tour.
One sequence in the show was Elvis, downstage-center, solo. He did both electric and acoustic numbers from popular hits reworked to classic vaudville tunes. Never a dull moment!
Napoleon Dynomite working his room.
During some moments in the show, I would, according to the music, transform it into a Burlesque or even sinister appearance.
Such an entertainer.
Elvis was also notorious for putting the audience members in the Go-Go cage to show their stuff as the band played. Good times!
Elvis and his beloved Jazz Master. His name is even inlaid on the fretboard in mother-of-pearl!
Pete Drums) and Steve Keys) have been behind Elvis for DECADES! Add in Davey on bass and you have one of the greatest bands of all time. These guys are ALL nothing short of AMAZING!
Daniel Johnston
If Im not mistaken, this was either the first or nearly his first, show in America.
James Blunt at Highline Ballroom.
Meshelle Ndegeocello
Meshell Ndegeocello
The Tiger Lillies blew me away. Think Pre-war Berlin Burlesque meets punk! A really great show! As a lighting guy, a great joy to light, as well! See them here: www.tigerlillies.com
The Tiger Lillies! These guys are unreal. If you get to see them ... GO! You will NOT regret it! Find them here: www.tigerlillies.com
Stephen Page from Barenaked ladies) at Highline Ballroom.
In an ironic twist ... The very same week I got to light Stephen Page, I also got to light Barenaked Ladies on the same stage at Highline Ballroom. Such a strange twist of fate. I LOVED doing both shows.
Steven page has one of the most amazing baritone voices ever. He was really cool, really funny and a great joy to work with.
Stephen Page formerly of barenakedLadies) at Highline Ballroom.
A soulful Lauren Hill at Highline Ballroom.
This Lauren Hill show at Highline Ballroom was nearly canceled because of a BLIZZARD!
Lauren Hill hypnotizing Highline Ballroom
One of the two shows L[auren Hill did at Highline Ballroom. After all the stories, I was a prehensive the first time. But she was a total sweetheart to work with. I had lit Fugees many years before, when they openedt for Bone, Thugs & Harmony at Nassau Coliseum.
Getting to work with Ray Manzarek was surreal. His performance and the stories he weaved into the show were mesmerizing. He was very approachable and a very nice guy.
Somewhere, I have a picture of he and I standing around and discussing a mirror ball. It is one of my favs and when I find it, I will post it here. He was a very cool guy.
Ray Manzareks piano playing has aged like a wine. His playing was as groove-filled as ever. He even treated us to a few imrovs, as witnessed by the rest of the band checking him as he broke away and then following along with him as consumate professionals.
Ray Manzarek, formerly of The Doors, at Highline Ballroom.
I kinda pulled out a few tricks for Ray Manzarek at Highline Ballroom. I wanted to do stuff that was worthy, ya know? Here, I used one of my old "dressing room mirror on the floor reflecting the moving light up from behind" trick!
A magical night with Ray Manzarek from the Doors at Highline Ballroom.
Company of Thieves is one of my all-time favorite bands. I met them on their first trip to NYC and we became fast friends. I am a really jaded "old timer" in the music biz. I have seen, done and heard them "all". It takes a special band to truly impress me. To say that they impressed me would be the understatement of the century. I was so proud and so happy to have their friendship and to get to see and work with them each time they came to NYC.
Genevieve and Marc on the acoustic tour of Company of Thieves. This was taken at Highline Ballroom. It was a show I had waited over 5 years to do. I lit them all over NYC, but it took that long to get them in my venue, under my light show. Ironically, they came as a duet and not a full band, so I never really did get to use my whole "light show" on them. But just having them there for this acoustical show was simply magic.
Genevieve from Company of Thieves. Years before this picture was taken and over a decade before I even found this picture, I wrote a poem about her called "This Burning Girl". All I can say is "Wow". This was their first and only performance at Highline Ballroom.
One of two shows I lit with Rihanna at Highline Ballroom. She was professional and really nice to work with.
This sassy Basian pwned Highline Ballroom. Her performances are always electric!
I always loved STP and this guy fronting them. Such tragedy. He was really great.
It was really cool working with Scott Weiland. TWICE before, I was slated to be their lighting director for two different tours ... BOTH canceled at the last minute because of Scotts legal and substance issues. It was just not meant to be. But this kind of made up for it. What a showman.
Scott Weiland reigning them in at Highline Ballroom.
The intro to "Dead and Bloated".
R.I.P. Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland was like a chameleon during the show. His looks changed nearly as much as the light show!
Getting asked to light this show was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. He was everything you would imagine, and more. What a great night.
David Johansson at Highline Ballroom.
Circle Jerks! Stage-diving, moshpit MADNESS! TOO FUN!
I really enjoyed working with her. Very kind, very focused, very talented.
Suzanne Vegas show was very dynamic and had some really moving moments. She is an amazing songwriter.
STanb Ridgeway from "Wall of Voodoo" did many newer solo songs as well as some Wall of Voodoo tunes at Highline Ballroom.
Stan Ridgeway from Wall of Voodoo" He was fun to work with and a really nice guy.
John Legend
John Legend at Highline Ballroom.
John Legend at Highline Ballroom.
John Legend with the Roots at Highline Ballroom.
The Roots at Highline Ballroom.
John Legend with the Roots at Highline Ballroom.
The Roots at Highline Ballroom.
Janelle was always great to work with. The first time I met her, she handed me notes ... NOTES! ... on her show with ques and colors, she wanted me to do during the show! So rare to have an artist so intent on their show being a certain way. Her presentation showed too. Her shows are always leaping out at you and she is always good fun!
Try and look away ... I dare you! Janelle Monet at Highline Ballroom.
Janelle Monet at Highline Ballroom. A consummate entertainer.
You have never met a more focused or driven performer. Janelle was always great to work with.
Lisa Loeb at Highline Ballroom. Her stories were as good as the songs themselves. Such a sweetheart.
Lisa has lived a very interesting life. Such a great songwriter.
Lisa Loeb at Highline Ballroom.
My brother Jake, fronting up Tragedy! These guys really do rock Sweet Balls!
I really enjoyed working with these guys both times that I had the opportunity.
The man ... Fee Waybill. The frontman of The Tubes. One interesting person and a great joy to converse with.
Fee Waybill ... hamming it up as the "Creature From The Black Lagoon" with the Tubes at B.B. King in Times Square.
Another of Fee Waybills outrageous costumes for the Tubes at B.B King NYC.
YES!
Man, these guys were so intense!
Never a dull moment with the Misfits.
I was so excited to finally get the Misfits into Highline Ballroom! They ended the show with their cover of "Science Fiction-Double Feature" from "Rocky Horror Picture Show"!
The Misfits in NYC. I really loved doing this raucous show.
Misfits at B.B. King in NYC
I actually wore my old Misfits shirt to go and light this show. It was a circle being completed, as I had been a long time fan, but had never seen them before!
The misfits are so intense.
Dr. John at Highline Ballroom. Another of my favorite moments. Such a living legend.
Dr. John on guitar at Highline Ballroom.
Dr. John at Highline Ballroom.
Suzanna Hoffs. The Bangles at Highline Ballroom.
Nearly ALL the pictures within this gallery were shot by my dear friend Dino Pertucci and his partner Ali. They are truly amazing. His ability to capture "life" and emotion within his shots is breathtaking. he has taken pictures of nearly every band you could EVER name and all of them are works of art. He is really fun to chat with and a really great guy. Look carefully ... he is hiding in there ... inside one of my mirror balls!