Who knows if it will really stick, but this summer's Ozzfest featured Black Sabbath's original lineup and the news that this would be the band's last tour. LD Patrick Woodroffe once again teamed up with set designer Mark Fisher to create a suitable look for the band's swan song.
"We did a fantastic design that was loosely based on the reunion show from Christmas," Fisher says. "I invented some sort of decayed Ozzfest lettering, and we had some drapes that were very carefully and beautifully made by Rose Brand--then we took them out into a field and drove over them with a forklift and slashed them up. The basic look was derelict techno-gothic. There were two stages in the same style and we also made a broken-looking gateway that they put up in the car park."
Woodroffe designed lighting for all three areas. "One of the limitations of this design was that it was for a festival, so we had to be able to change equipment out very quickly because Ozzy wanted to have his own set there at the end of the night," says the LD. "So we made it very open with a series of tiered trusses that went across the back and down the sides. Opie [production manager Dale Skjerseth] was a real ally to have on this because while he certainly understands the practical ins and outs, he also understands the creative process. So it looked beautiful as well as practical."All the bands used the same lighting system. Supplied by main lighting co ntractor Light & Sound Design, the rig included: 36 Icon automated luminaires, 29 High End Systems Studio Colors(R), eight Vari*Lite(R) VL6(TM) automated spot luminaires, one Icon console, 260 PAR-64s, seven mini-floods, 14 cyclights, 10 Mole-Richardson 8-light Molefays, four Lycian followspots, 10 LSD Molemag color changers, 12 egg strobes, two Lightning Strikes strobes, eight Diversitronics strobes, two Reel EFX DF-50 hazers, and two High End Systems F-100 foggers.
Dave Hill programmed the show on the Icon console with the tour's lighting director Sonny Satterfield. "It was a pleasure to work with Patrick and Dave and a really great opportunity for me as a younger lighting designer," Satterfield says. "Dave was really good with me--he's the most patient guy in the world. He's probably forgotten more about lights than I'll ever know. He has a good programming technique, he's really organized. It gave me a different view on lighting, which was a great learning experience."
Woodroffe's design for the rig included a straight front truss, a middle circular truss and both a low-trim and a high-trim truss. "The low truss was only 13'6" off the ground, which allowed us to create a really intimate look for the band at different moments in the show," Satterfield says. "Then we could use the whole rig for a big rock show look."
The lighting crew included: crew chief Gordon Hyndford, head Icon technician Dan Jankowski, Icon tech Scott Turpin, lighting techs Russell "Bits" Lyons, Russ Felton, and Jason "Skoorka/Atta Boy" Statler, and head electrician Tom Horton. "Our crew was great," Satterfield says. "I was really able to depend on them."