Lenny Kravitz Baptism Tour

Little did lighting designer Bryan Hartley (www.bryanhartley.com) know, but Lenny Kravitz had studied his lighting design on the Kiss Symphony DVD...and he liked what he saw. The next thing you know, Bryan and Lenny were talking on the phone about lighting for his 2004 Baptism Tour. Kravitz had also seen the Kiss/Aerosmith tour, as well as the Kiss tour that Bryan is currently still out on (both MAC/Atomic rigs).

It seems the respect was mutual. "I’m really a huge fan of Lenny Kravitz and love his music,” Bryan says. “We talked on the phone and he said he loved the Kiss show and said he was studying the DVD for the lighting. He really liked the monochromatic look. I had a great time working with him.”

Named after his latest CD, Baptism, an effort generally described as an introspective look at himself, the current Lenny Kravitz tour features old classics such as “Let Love Rule” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” as well as songs from the new release.

Powerful rock looks
Bryan programmed the lighting looks for the Baptism tour at the Miami Arena over a three-week period in April. “Lenny wanted a rock show with powerful, strong looks - simple but awesome,” as Bryan describes it. Lighting gear includes 36 MAC 2000 Profile, 36 MAC 2000 Wash and 30 Atomic 3000 strobes, along with approximately 212 Par Cans, 40 with color changers for truss toners, some 28 Molefays, all equipped with Wybron scrollers, and another 10 Molefays without changers. Three mirror balls, pyro and six flame dragons are also used during the show. Production company is LSD/Fourth Phase from the UK. Pryotek from Toronto supplied the pyro for the tour.

Bryan has created an eye-catching show with a wonderfully designed rig that creates a real sense of depth and atmosphere. Four squares of vertical truss, two on each side of the stage, contain six bars of six Par Cans each, straight across the back hitting the audience. “When I do a chase, rows up and down, it’s quite intense and Lenny fell in love with that,” he states. “I’ve got the MAC 2K Profiles and 2K Washes going up vertically on those squares, 24 across the back vertical. It’s really a full look on the back. There’s also an amp line that’s pretty tall and that fills it up too.

“I’ve got MAC 2K Wash on the floor on the front edge of the stage as well. At first, when we did the programming the manager said that the band wasn’t quite lit enough so what I did was flip those lights over toward the band and these huge shadows appeared on the back amp line and it was just awesome. It worked out really nice.”

Colors yes, gobos no
Bryan states that Kravitz likes monochromatic looks and is especially fond of the color green. “As much as I’ve used the 2K and the 2K washlight it has the best green in it that I’ve seen. Lenny loves the Emerald green and that was a big relief because that’s one of my favorite colors. I use it all the time and it makes a good clash with the white. It looks brilliant actually.”

Kravitz may like his colors, but he isn’t a fan of gobo looks, which he calls ‘cookie cutters’. Still, Bryan feels it necessary to incorporate them. “There have been times when he wants a psychedelic and I have to put in a gobo and rotate it a little bit and take it out of focus, and he liked it. It was a little give and take on that. You obviously have to use patterns to a certain extent to break up the light, and not have solid light the whole time.” Lighting control for the tour is from a WholeHog II with wing.

Kravitz is on a five-week stint in Europe before returning to the States at which point Bryan will join the tour. Lighting Director Dan Cassar, who has worked with Bryan before on Trans-Siberian Orchestra, is covering the European leg. “That was a perfect choice,” Bryan concludes.