Usher World Tour 2004

One of the summer’s hottest tours, if not the summer’s hottest tour, has got to be Usher’s “Truth” tour. Enjoying a CD release that has catapulted him to new heights, Usher remains - in his own words - "the master of the moment.” A superstar in the making, he has sold twenty-four million albums worldwide.

Lighting design for Usher’s “Truth” tour is by Peter Morse with lighting direction and lighting programming by Eric Wade on a Martin Maxxyz. Set design is by Steve Cohen.

Maxxyz programmer Eric Wade
Eric, who already has two years of Maxxyz experience under his belt, again turned to the Martin console for a tour that saw the “master” tour Europe (including four sold out nights at Wembley Stadium), before hitting North America and Australia.

Eric was an important Maxxyz Beta programmer and influential in several aspects of the console’s development. “If you want to build a console the way you want it, and have some input, you have to be there from the beginning,” he stated. Eric has also used the Maxxyz on the Disney/Pixar Monsters Inc. on Ice tour, as well as George Strait’s latest outing.

Usher tour
After two weeks of rehearsals in LA, Usher opened in Europe this past spring for a six week run before recently returning to the States for a leg that will continue into the fall. “We are using the same set up here as in Europe,” Eric states. “Initially, we set up in the States then we airfrieghted everything to Europe which eliminated a lot of prep time.”

Eric describes the Usher rig as being made up of four arched trusses, all 50-80’ long running across the stage from right to left like a band shell. There are two additional trusses plus four truss spots and a spot bridge at FOH, which Eric really enjoys as it houses their own followspots. “It eliminates the guesswork behind dealing with different house spots at each venue and keeps it consistent for video, which is nice.”

Maxxyz-controlled rig
The Maxxyz handles approximately 70 MAC 2000 Wash, 30 MAC 2000 Profile, 30 VariLite 2202, 30 HES Studio Beams, Sychrolite 3Ks, and about 100 Par Cans. There is also Color Kinetics ColorBlast LED in the scenery. The lighting gear, also for the European leg, is from Steve Cohen Productions sub-contracted from PRG/Fourth Phase’s Toronto shop. Steve Cohen Productions also handles video and scenic elements.

Eric, who controls the rig from his own Maxxyz consoles, took the time to conduct Maxxyz demos throughout Europe on the tour. “It was amazing how people didn’t think the console could function enough to do a show,” he commented, “but then they’d watch the show and it’s doing everything it should do. We really convinced some people. They could see that it’s not a year away; it’s working incredibly.

“I’ve had no problems with the console - it was perfect and 100% stable. It never crashed once, and I was never not able to do the show. It’s as good as any desk I’ve ever had, if not better.” Eric also had the chance to play with the new Maxxyz Playback Wing. “It’s going to be incredible. I’m already specing one for this tour for October when we go to Australia when the rig will look different.”

To say that Usher is hot is an understatement. He is in extremely rare territory being the first solo artist to land three hits inside Billboard’s Top Ten chart in the same week, matching The Beatles in 1964 and The Bee Gees in 1978.