Lighting and Sound America Magazine

See full article here: https://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/reprint/DreamTheater.pdf

“The combination of lighting and video imagery works for both the up-tempo numbers and the ballads. Talking about the frequently kinetic lighting cueing, Baird says, “I’m a drummer myself, so I follow the band. There’s no timecode in the shows; it’s all me, working old-school. I trigger the videos, too.” With so much busking, a busy evening is all but guaranteed. “I’ll have 100 cues in a cue list,” he notes. “On top of that, I’ll do a lot of punting, including a lot of strobe and blinder hits. I’ll also build chases that I’ll trigger at certain moments.” In terms of keeping light on each band member, he adds, “We do not use followspots, so I create a big front wash, with Martin MAC Encores, and everything’s zoned in the areas.” Baird can work this way, he says, because “I know every little moment of their songs. You have to dissect each of them. You have to be a musician to follow this path. I suppose you could do it if you time-coded the show, spending hours and hours per song, but I love to run it live, although it’s exhausting. The 40th Anniversary Tour is a three-hour show! We’ve all been doing it for so long that we’re used to it.”

Not that Baird is against timecode: “The former drummer had playback, so we were able to time-code the show, so if I had to go off and deal with Norah Jones’ show or whatever, they still had my show because I had programmed it that way. But Mike Portnoy plays live. It’s real life, old-school.” And he prefers to busk it that way, too. Discussing his gear choices and the rig’s layout, Baird notes that the side units are Martin Aura PXL wash lights. “They’re really nice,” he says. “I love the colors, and they have some cool effects; I take advantage of them periodically in the show.” Overhead, the video truss also has a set of GLP JDC1 strobes. “Also overhead are [Robe] MegaPointes plus a couple of PXLs. On the floor, upstage, are more PXLS, and downstage are more wash lights.

The show’s laser complement is provided by Meganne Money, aka “The Beam Queen.” It includes six 24W Kvant Lasers. Control is Pangolin Beyond, triggered by an Akai Professional APC40 mkii MIDI controller. The tour was supported in North America by Christie Lites; Baird worked closely for many years with Denis Richard, a key account handler for Christie, who died unexpectedly in March. “He was my best friend for 30 years,” the designer says, noting that Richard’s son, Matthew, is carrying on the family tradition as a member of Christie’s staff.”