Luke Combs World Tour – PLSN
Country superstar, Luke Combs is out on the road playing to sold-out stadiums. In fact, his self-titled World Tourhas been selling so well that the schedule is expanding with additional dates at many stops. A tour this size requires detailed planning and reliable support that is a team effort, especially between the Production Manager and the vendors. The vendors for this tour—all hailing from Nashville—include SES, Gallagher Staging Nashville, Premier Global Production, and Moo TV. The Production Manager on the tour is Jerry Slone, who has been with Combs since 2018. He generously took some time at the start of the tour to speak with PLSN about the logistics and vendor support for the Luke Combs World Tour.
When asked how the tour was going in those early days, Slone’s short answer is, “It’s fantastic, man. We’ve started hitting our rhythm. We’re selling well adding dates; everything’s been sold out for six months. Luke is even setting some stadium ticket sales records. We’re just clicking right along.” Having moved from playing arenas to stadiums for this tour, Slone talks about some of the considerations in changing venue types. “Well, staffing is number one,” he says. “We’re looking at larger teams of people. You’ve got to think about transportation and the logistics of moving larger amounts of people—buses, hotels, planes, etc. Also, the acquisition of gear. Not just the type of gear or what might be different, but the amount of gear. Obviously, we’re playing to 60,000 people versus, 15,000 to 20,000 people, so you’ve got to take all of that into consideration. The planning’s also way more involved because we’re carrying a stage. You’ve got to think about floor coverings, that you don’t need at most arena gigs. We’re comfortable using arena power that’s on site, but going into stadiums now we’re carrying two trucks of power. It’s way more involved all around.” The tour has 40 trucks of production—audio, lighting, video, staging, flooring, barricades, towers, etc.
The Design
For Combs’ World Tour, management brought in Production Designer Oli Metcalfe to bring a different perspective to the shows. Slone had worked on past tours with Lighting Designer/Director, Kevin Northrup designing Combs’ shows. “When it was decided to go out of house for the design and bring in a production designer, we looked at several different renderings and Oli’s design was favored by everybody. It was interesting having ideas coming in from an outside perspective since we’d worked in-house for so long. However, regardless of who the designer was going to be, there were some things that were already implemented in the design plan that they would have to take into consideration—the stage thrust system and I-Mag screens. I had pencil sketched a stage with a thrust, refined it, and got it approved by Luke before we put the show on sale. The way it looked; its dimensions, were all in place before a designer was chosen.”
In terms of the I-Mag video screens, the plan was to sell seats 270¡Æ around the stage, so there were added screens set at 40¡Æ off stage right and left. “All of these elements had to be implemented into the design,” continues Slone. “I sent all the dimensions to the designers we were speaking with, and they returned their rough renderings so we could get an overall look at the design. I think Oli’s concept was really clean and looked fantastic. Kevin Northrup, whose been Luke’s Touring Lighting Director since 2017, also became the Lighting Programmer. Oli did the design with a little bit of programming in previz before coming in. Then onsite, during rehearsals, Kevin was able to program Oli’s vision; stay in the palette of Oli’s design and make it to look like a Luke Combs’ show. Kevin’s history with Luke paid off big time. He would say, ‘this color scheme won’t work. This color scheme would work better.’ Kevin was Luke’s touring LD from before I came on board.”
Going into his 31st year of touring, Slone notes that he likes to build personal relationships with his production vendors. “I’ve had some of the vendors say, ‘man, I wish we had this much early involvement with X, Y, and Z clients. I wish we’d have known three months ahead of time instead of three weeks.’ So, communication is my bottom line, that’s why I like to work with them very closely. We include them on a lot of things that may seem redundant, maybe not important to them at the time, but I’d rather have too much information and sort through it than leave them in the dark on anything.”
High Give a Damn Factor
Special Event Services (SES) supplied the lighting and audio equipment, along with a G2 Structures K2i HD stage (with the 80’ W extension kit and custom extended video wings) for this tour as well as trucking through its sister company SET. They were already supporting Combs before Slone came on board as PM. “Mike Brammer is just a sweetheart of a guy,” laughs Slone. “In fact, I can call Mike on a Sunday and he answers the phone. I know I can call him up and ask, ‘what about this versus that?’ or ‘Do you remember that one crazy idea we talked about six months ago? Well, how do we do it.’ His ‘give a damn’ is really high. I would say that about all of our vendors—Moo TV, Gallagher, PGP, SES, SET, G2, CES Power, All Access Coach and Guardian Barrier Services. Everybody really cares. I tell all my vendors, ‘You’re in these roles for a reason—because your passion and excitement about what we’re doing is equal to mine.’”
The staging is being provided by Gallagher, with Tye Trussell as the account manager, for the Luke Combs tour. “I’ve been doing business with Tye and the crew over there since before there was a Nashville Gallagher,” Slone comments. “I was at a Christmas party when Tye told me that Gallagher would be opening a Nashville division and he was moving over there along with most of the crew from another staging company. I told him that once it was official to send me his new email address and I would bring my business, because I do business with people, not a company. I’m less worried about what the name on the invoice is versus the people that are sending me the invoice. Tye is ever present and answers the phone when I call. He has seen probably everything at least once. I’ll often say, ‘so I’m thinking about this kind of an idea,’ and he’ll go, ‘I saw that in 87 with Kiss.’ You can’t stump him.”
The truss and motors are provided by Premier Global Production (PGP) with Steven “Creech” Anderson as the account executive for this tour. “I’ve known, and worked with, PGP for a long time. I didn’t meet Creech until a few years ago. There’s a gentleman at PGP named Scotty Chamryk, we’ve known each other for years. While my history with Creech is shorter, we’ve talked about logistics since the first shows that PGP were involved with for Luke; when we did 360¡Æ in arenas. My knowing that they had worked that many times with Metallica was very enticing. They know how to put super truss together; how to balance the load weights; and deal with the challenges of touring 360¡Æ shows. Creech is really on top of things, he’s at rehearsals, he’s at shows, he makes a point of being there. Again, it all comes down to customer service and being present. When I go to Creech and tell him what we’re thinking about, if they don’t have it, they get it; they find it. They will either have it manufactured or cross-rent it; whatever it takes. That’s why they handle all the rigging for us.”
The video requirements are being handled by Moo TV, led by account manager, Travis Walker. “I’ve had a history of working with Moo TV for years,” says Slone. “When you live and work in Nashville for so many years you know Moo, and I’ve known Scott [Scovill], the owner since his days touring with Alan Jackson. When the tour grew to a point where the video vendor needed to be as big as the tour, I just personally had more history with Moo TV than any other and knew they were right for the tour. It was much the same story as with the other vendors, I would present our take on what we wanted, they would interject what their spin was on it, and we’d adapt to that. We talked about gear, cameras, and staffing. Plus, Travis is just a good soul. We talk just about weekly about everything. If there is something that will work better, they will switch it up.”
All Team Luke
Slone feels that he’s surrounded the tour with the right vendors who properly support the tour and the team that makes it all work. “The good thing about all of our vendors is I never feel challenged,” says the PM. “I always feel that it’s a team. They want Team Luke to succeed. We’re all—even my role—are in customer service. All I’m doing is providing my team with the tools and the staff that they need to do their jobs. I might make suggestions from time to time, but if I have to tell them how to do everything, then I’ve got the wrong people in those spots.”
For Slone, the good camaraderie of Team Luke starts with the artist himself. Slone initially met Combs when he was the first opener on a tour that Slone was the production manager for in 2017. He happily notes that Luke is still the same down to earth person he was then. “It was his first big tour,” recalls Slone. “He was the first to play at seven o’clock and all he had was 12’ of stage space. He was funny and extremely personable. I watched him connect with the audience every night. And today, he’s the same guy. It’s been really fun for a guy like me, that’s been touring as long as I have, to see a down to earth guy like Luke get the success that he’s got in that relatively short window. He really deserves it.”
THE VENDORS’ VIEW
SES – Lighting
“Luke’s team has always been a great team to work with,” says Michael Brammer, for SES/SET/G2. “This was a big year for us going from arenas to a true stadium tour, as well as bringing in a new outside designer with Oli Metcalfe. We’ve been supporting Luke since 2016—we were the first vendor his manager Chris Kappy hired to support Luke touring. Jerry Slone has been with the tour since 2019 and when he came in it was a very easy transition. Jerry just brings a sense of professionalism and coolness to the entire organization. You never hear him raise his voice. He never gets angry. He’s truly just a great production manager to work with. Everybody on the tour is great to work with. We are proud to have been a part of the ride for Luke’s entire journey.”
This one was also special for SES as they had in 2020 laid out a goal to go all LED with its lighting inventory. While the Covid shutdown pushed that timeline back, “the Luke Combs tour is the first to go with a 100% LED rig,” notes Brammer. “That speaks volumes considering it’s a full-blown stadium show with close to 550 fixtures on it. We have some Ayrton Domino LTs as long throw followspots, 300’ from the stage, that are LED fixtures. It’s a beautiful beam of light, with a very flat beam—no hot spots, and the colors are great.”
Brammer also takes his hat off to the entire lighting crew. “Kevin Northrup, the lighting director, and programmer has been part of the SES family now for nearly 15 years. He really stepped up to the plate and did an amazing job again this year. It’s been really cool to watch his progress with the Luke camp and see him develop into a true stadium lighting director, designer/ programmer. Our entire crew, they’re crushing it out there. They came up with some really cool solutions that have increased the efficiency of the tour.”
Moo TV – Video
Moo TV has been supporting Luke Combs for several years, starting out with the arena shows and now the stadium tour. “We provided all the LED screens that are hung on the G2 stage,” says Travis Walker. “We are doing all the cameras, switching, media servers, and have 10 crew guys out there along with Luke’s Video Director, Tyler Hutcheson. Tyler has a great eye to provide the audience with a great show every night. We have side screens and what we’re calling ‘side, side screens’ since they are selling the show in 270°. Each of the I-Mag screens is 24.7’ wide by 36’ tall. The main screen is about 20’ tall and curved and very wide. We’re using the Triton Black Widow CTS LED panels; some are 5.9mm and some are 7.9mm pixel pitch. We love the Triton tiles. They’ve been workhorses for us; they’re easy to work on, very robust, and we carry 40 tiles on a cart so it’s very efficient. They go up quickly and they’re climbable. We’re working with NovaStar 4K processing that our guys have set up wirelessly so they can walk around with a computer, talk to the processors and map everything from out front.”
The video is a mix of content and I-Mag and is managed via disguise media servers, and for switching, “We’re pretty much a Ross house,” comments Walker. “We’re running Carbonite with multiple inputs to disguise. There’s a lot of routing going on. We also use the Barco E2s as well. We’re managing a lot of redundancy through the E2s, and it gives us another backup in case we need to throw up a screen grab onto the screens if the server goes down. We always have backup plans. We can also ingest other people’s servers using the E2. It’s a very malleable system.”
Walker values working with PM Jerry Slone, stating, “His leadership style is excellent, and he leads by example. He likes to look at a problem as a team and sort them out as they come up day to day. The other thing about Jerry is that he lets us do our jobs, which is so nice. He trusts all of our guys. There’s very good communication between everyone, which is important because there is a lot of pressure with 70,000 people in a stadium. Jerry and the team know it will be a great show if you hire Moo TV.”
Gallagher Staging & Productions – Staging
Gallagher Nashville’s James McKinney explains, “The tour owns many decks from previous tours, so we took their existing gear, the design that they wanted, and built the onstage set with additional stairs and ramps. There’s also a subdeck underneath all of that, that connects to the ramp for the runway/thrust into the audience. We did custom painting, stripes, and logos. All the custom additions along with the overall layout/look, make an attractive and functional set. We built scenic ‘louviers’ that are behind the set as decorative light panels. Those have an aluminum frame with acrylic tubes that have been frosted so when light shines through them, the tubes pick up the various colors producing a brilliant display. We also designed and built custom angle adapters for the video wall to help create the curve, and custom angled stair units for the front of the set. We made sure that the packaging was right for the tour so that all parts of the set were easy to load-in and -out.”
McKinney, Tye Trussell, and the team now at Gallagher Nashville have worked together with Slone for years. “We started with Luke Combs when he was first starting to tour,” comments McKinney. “We’ve had a longstanding relationship with Jerry and with Luke’s management company. To be honest, it’s one of the top groups that we’ve worked with. Jerry’s been great to work with. He’s very understanding and gets that things don’t need to be overly complicated. If they are, then they need to be built. He understands that and wants to make sure things are done that are best for his crew and artist. Since we are local, it’s easy for them to keep tabs on all the custom fabrication that we’re doing for them. If they need to see it or to make a change, they are here, so that is nice. I will say that when we send gear out on their tours, they take care of it, and it comes back in great shape. If Jerry needs something he calls, and we get it taken care of. We work to give him the best product that we can so that he doesn’t have to call, unless of course he wants to say hi.”
Premier Global Production (PGP) – Motors and Rigging
“Jerry came to us and asked if we would provide motors for all the departments,” explains Steve “Creech” Anderson. “We have 90 1-ton hoists and 36 2-ton hoists. Those are divided up for all departments. The big challenge for us was that it was important to get the main video truss exactly at the right angle so the video panels would match and be seamless since it is curved. We had to figure out the curve, which ended up like 30°, so we had custom hinge pieces made. We had three pieces of custom 20” x 30” truss made at odd lengths. I got that from Matt Panther at Reliable [Design Services]. They worked out perfectly to do the job. We are also supplying 20” and 12” truss as stabilizing trusses for the video screens that are off stage, stage right and stage left.”
Creech concurs with the other vendors when it comes to working with Luke Combs’ Production Manager, Jerry Slone. “Jerry is one of the best production managers I’ve ever worked with,” states Creech. “He has a saying out there, ‘Work hard, laugh harder’! He’s exactly right. There’s no screaming inside the building or on the stage. Jerry has all the bases covered and, and he’s put people that he trusts out there and they do the job. Jerry’s there for guidance. That trust means a lot. As for our guys, all I can say is that they are overachievers out there. They’ve done a good job and I’m not getting any complaints from anybody. We’re proud to be a part of this tour and feel privileged to be a part of such a great team.”
Production Team
- Production Manager: Jerry Slone
- Tour Manager: Ethan Strunk
- Stage Manager: Matthew Hornbeck
- Production Designer: Oli Metcalfe
- Lighting Director/Programmer: Kevin Northrup
- Lighting Crew Chief: Justin Duguid
- FollowMe Engineer: Josh Cox
- Lighting Crew: Travis Mitchell, Will Hatley, Josh Sullivan, Walt Hazelwood
- Video Director: Tyler Hutcheson
- Video Crew Chief: John Breslin
- Video Engineer / Server Operator: Charles Hareford
- Lead LED / Camera: Jessica Quinn
- LED Tech / Handheld Camera: Tiffini Snyder
- Jib Operator: Cole Duddleson
- LED Techs: Cory Mascari, Natalia Pena, James “Jimmy“ Murray, Michael Gefell, Nathan “Nate“ McGuire
- Prompter Operator: Mark Jarsen
- Tour Rigger: Dave Targett
- G2 Crew Chief: Brandon Anderson
Vendors
- Lighting, Staging, Trucking: SES, G2, SET
- Video: Moo TV
- Staging: Gallagher Staging & Production
- Rigging: Premier Global Production
Gear
Lighting
- 2 MA Lighting grandMA3 full-size Mode 3
- 1 MA Lighting grandMA 3 light Mode 3
- 2 MA Lighting grandMA3 Processing Units L
- 24 Ayrton Domino LT
- 8 Ayrton Domino LT (Followspots)
- 68 Ayrton Khamsin-S
- 16 Ayrton Bora-S
- 54 Ayrton Perseo Beam
- 12 Ayrton Zonda 9FX
- 30 Robe Spiider
- 97 Elation Proteus Rayzor 760
- 32 GLP JDC Line 1000
- 20 GLP JDC-1
- 116 CHAUVET Colorado Solo Batten
- 16 Astera AX5
- 1 FollowMe Six Followspot Control System
- 4 MDG TheONE Hazer/Fogger
- 4 MDG ATMe Hazer
- 6 SES Custom Lighting Ladders
- 26 Tyler GT 10’ Truss
- 2 Tyler GT 8’ Truss
- 4 Tyler GT 5’ Truss
Video
- 2 disguise GX3 Media Server
- 6 NovaStar MCTRL 4K LED Processor
- 330 Triton Black Widow CTS 5.9mm LED Panel
- 660 Triton Black Widow CTS 7.8mm LED Panel
- 1 Ross Video TD2S Panel Touchdrive 2 M/E S Series Panel
- 1 Ross Carbonite Ultra Engine Switcher Mainframe CUF-124
- 1 Barco E2 Generation 2 Event Master Processor
- 1 Barco Image Pro 4K
- 1 Barco Image Pro II
- 4 Atomos Shogun Studio II 4K Dual Recorder
- 7 Hitachi SK-UHD7000 Camera
- 4 Panasonic AS-HE130KP Robocam
- 3 Marshall CV POV Camera
- 1 24’ Jimmy Jib Triangle Pro
Staging
- 1 G2 Structures K2i-HD
- 3 G2 Structures HD Steel Delay Towers
- 105 Gallagher GDECK 4’x8’ Platforms
- 2 Gallagher GDECK 4’x4’ Platforms
Rigging
- 90 1-Ton Hoist
- 36 2-Ton Hoist
- Reliable Design Truss
Originally posted on plsn.com on July 10, 2023.
Written by Michael S. Eddy