Mike Berger and Travis Hagenbuch light up the Ford Center for annual ACMs
The 60th edition of the Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM) saw a return to the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas—hosted by country legend Reba McEntire for the 18th time.
Co-lighting designers Michael Berger and Travis Hagenbuch both have a long association with the event, starting out as interns many years ago. “It’s been a nice full circle experience working with Travis in this capacity since he really took me in during that first year,” credits Berger. This year a vast armoury of over 160 GLP fixtures illuminated artist performances (with a nod back to highlights of the last 60 years). Leading the charge were 73 JDC Lines (500s and 1000s), which edged the band risers, the award presentation stage and other areas.
The latest generation of the popular hybrid strobe—the JDC2 IP—also made a high-profile appearance, with 25 heads cleverly interspersed among Kelsea Ballerini’s suitcase dominated stage set for her performance of Baggage while five Force 120s—GLP’s high-speed, variable direction LED fan unit—featured in Jelly Roll’s performance of Heart of Stone.
In addition, 48 of GLP’s impression X5 Compact were split evenly between the house and the base of the B satellite stage, as well as around the arena for audience backlight. Finally, nearly 50 impression X4 Bar 20s and X4 Bar 10s featured in the side walls and centre plunger of the main show set.
Streaming live on Prime Video on the night (and then available for replay), the ACM’s ran as a conventional broadcast event. However, the lack of commercial breaks created its own challenges. “This complicates things like stage reset time between performances,” states Travis Hagenbuch, “and makes us mindful of how much can realistically get set up while designing.”
Unlike many pop-focused shows that bring in outside design teams, the ACM performances are largely produced by Raj Kapoor, Patrick Menton, and their team in house. “Once they have booked an artist, we sit with them to develop the concept further and specify fixtures/placement,” say the two designers. “We are responsible for the programming and lighting design of the whole show, using the same base rig and augmenting it with floor packages that fit the aesthetic of each act.”
Both Berger and Hagenbuch have long been familiar with GLP’s build quality, features and performance, having been early adopters of the impression X4 Wash, X4 Atom and X4 Bar 20. “As the technology has evolved, and its availability has increased, we’ve been moving into the X5 engine on a lot of these fixture types,” they say. “GLP has always been synonymous with quality and support and we have the utmost confidence spec’ing their product; based on the history it’s an easy choice.”
However, they are mindful of the fixtures’ awesome power. Mike Berger: “We often play to the lowest values on these products so as to not blow out on camera! The JDC2 IPs now have a much more developed low end than we’ve seen in the past which helped with our scenic use of them.”
He singled out Kelsea Ballerini’s cameo among the highlights. “Once the concept of the large baggage sculpture landed, Travis and I looked for ways to activate it. The JDC2 IP did a great job of fitting in with the scenery, almost as if it were a piece of luggage, but then providing the lighting energy and support for the music as the song required.”
And as for the deployment of the Force 120 with Jelly Roll, he explained, “We were specifically looking for an industrial look to balance against the warm look that his second song would have. I tend to reach for the newest tech, and also some of the older stuff that hasn’t been seen in a while—such as the PAR64s on the Miranda [Lambert] performance to give variety.”
Consequently, all fixtures performed flawlessly, and the event’s dynamic was fully captured in the TV presentation, produced by Dick Clark Productions.
Lighting vendors were 22° in LA, supported by PRG and Kinetic Lighting (for the Force 120s).
Mike Berger and Travis Hagenbuch credit their team, including truck lighting director, Jeff Behm, who was responsible for cue list, show structure and follow spots; floor lighting director, Hannah Kerman who handled focus and metering; Ryan Tanker, Erin Anderson and Grey Nicholson, who handled programming, working within a unified show file but with different responsibilities. “Then there was our tireless PRG rep Tony Ward,” commends Hagenbuch. “He was also the gaffer on the show, supported by PRG chief tech and networking guru, Jason Trowbridge and six PRG techs, in addition to eight traveling best boys and four travelling spot ops … along with the local Dallas crew.”
