Puerto Rican artist Rauw Alejandro’s 2023 Saturno World Tour kicked off in February in the Dominican Republic, followed by dates in Puerto Rico, the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America. The Saturno tour, and album of the same name, put Rauw’s talent for world-building front and center. Skits and interludes from the album are integrated into the concert, threading a plotline where he’s lost in a galaxy filled with vaporwave visuals that give a heavy nod to the futurism of the 80s and 90s. The live show is the natural extension of that aesthetic and sonic identity: Miami bass, vibrant colors, holographic aliens, a galactic stage design and precise choreography coming together to tell a cohesive story. The highly automated, in-the-round tour design feels like an immersive outer space experience and allows the crowd to orbit Rauw, feeding further into the planetary theme. The tour’s Creative Director is Adrian Martinez.
PRG helped set the tour up for success, providing engineering services to make the ambitious design from Sturdy, where Martinez is Creative Director, tourable, along with crew and equipment for lighting, rigging, cameras, LED, video and automation (via SPGS) for the North American dates. “Something that the team was looking for when it came to searching for its production partners was keeping everything in one house,” explained Alex Soto, who shares the tour Production Manager role with Omar Rodriguez. “PRG is one of the few companies that can do it all.”
Martinez worked closely with Lighting Designer Marcus Jessup of MJL Visions on the overall design. Circles and slight asymmetry were contrasting shapes and rhythms they played with in their design and programming. The most immediately impressive visual component of the build is the circular LED structure, which sits in the middle of the arena. Five automated lighting pods that resemble small UFOs surround the center stage, dipping and spinning throughout the show.
Rigging and Automation
Due to the number of flown elements, rigging was the biggest challenge with the tour design. “The very first thing we needed to attack was the weight,” explains PRG Account Executive Anthony Ciampa, who handled the technical tour planning and the overall scope of equipment. “Just the size of this rig made being able to play the venues on their schedule challenging.”
Ciampa immediately involved his CAD team, who developed preliminary concepts. Next, the rigging department completed a weight study based on the specified products. The original design came in at 230,000 lbs.; the final for touring, 160,000 lbs., just at the A-market arena limit.
The rigging order included 28 automation axis points comprised of five automated lighting pods, a 46' lighting halo, a winch for the alien abduction flying gag, 2 standard hoist points per megatruss, and 5 x 70 ft sticks of megatruss each held by 2-ton hoists. The order also included over 300 feet of cable bridges and 150,000 feet of cabling.
Due to equipment shortages, Ciampa reached beyond PRG and enlisted SGPS to provide an automation system and crew to operate it.
LED, Cameras & Video Content
The cylindrical LED structure used 470 tiles of 9mm WinVision Air, for a semi-transparent effect, adding another layer of interest to the content. Sturdy’s content design utilizes a UV mapping technique to synch the live content with the 3D visuals, making for dynamic and interactive live effects on the screen. The circular structure gives a unique, unrepeated view from every vantage point.
The camera order included 7 Grass Valley LDX-80 cameras with Fujinon HD Telephoto lenses and 4 Panasonic PTZ Robocams along with a switcher system, power and distro.
Lighting
The lighting order included more than 500 fixtures including GLP JDC1s, VL 2600s, Martin Mac Auras, GLP Impression X4-bars and washes, plus eight Robe BMFL spots modified for use with PRG's GroundControl® Followspot System in four areas.
Jaycob Luque at MJL Visions handled the programming, while Jessup focused on the design. Jessup’s go-to for the automated pods were the new VL 3600 Profiles due to factors such as maintenance and availability. They proved to be a great fit, providing superb brightness.
"I wanted to give the feeling of a UFO abduction. I imagine that being very bright and disorienting," he explained. “So, these exceptionally bright and punchy lighting fixtures on the pods became a priority.” The design also included GLP Impression X-Bars on the stage border. He used these to highlight the dynamic perspectives and views from different sides of the arena, which created diverse experiences for each audience member based on their location.
The blow through LED on the main circular LED structure allowed Jessup to play with the lighting elements in more interactive ways. “Sometimes we shoot light out through the video wall. I enjoy the transparency of the screen in those moments because, even for the people who are on the floor looking up, it really does look like a spaceship,” he said.
Crew
For the North American run, much of the PRG crew was American, working with an international production team. Stage Manager Ronny Garcia, who is Venezuelan, found that the cultural differences ended up meshing very well. “The American crew has this very defined way of doing things, while our team is more flexible in how the work is done,” explained Garcia. “We struck a balance together with a lot of respect from both sides.”
With the support of PRG, the crew, and a team of dedicated professionals, the Saturno tour continues to captivate audiences around the world, solidifying Rauw Alejandro’s position as a rising international pop star.
Learn more about PRG’s work in music touring here
North American Tour Credits
- Executive Producer: Eric Duars Pérez
- Creative Director: Adrian Martinez, Sturdy
- Lighting Designer: Marcus Jessup, MJL Visions
- Lighting Programmer: Jaycob Luque, MJL Visions
- Lighting Director: Alex Soto Jr.
- Content: Sturdy
- Production Management: Omar Rodriguez and Alex Soto
- Stage Manager: Ronny Garcia
- Video Director: Sean Lee
- Choreography: FeFe Burgos and Denise Yuri-Disla
- PRG Account Executive: Anthony Ciampa
- PRG Rigging PM: Eric Chabira
- PRG PM: Manuel Loayza
- PRG PM: Luke Lewis
- PRG PM: Scott Reiter
Rigging
- Head Rigger: John Kehoe
- Rigger: Thomas Cusimano
- Rigger: Alexander Ritter
- Rigger: Marquis Walker
Lighting
- Crew Chief: Hodgie Vierna
- FOH Tech: Patrick Warrington
- Dimmer Tech: Brad Billions
- Moving Light Tech: Ryan Dunn
- Moving Light Tech: Jordan Hadwen
- Moving Light Tech: Thomas Mayer Jr.
- Lighting Tech: Jennifer Kerbs
- Ground Control Tech: Matthew Leroux
- Dimmer Tech: Scott Naef
- Climber: Charlie Boyington
Video
- Crew Chief: Mason Braislin
- Video Engineer: Robert Sullivan
- D3 Operator: Victor Murillo
- LED Lead: David Keipert
- LED Tech: Arturo Alonso
- LED Tech: Derrick Brininger
- LED Tech: Donovan Delabruere
- Camera Assist. / Utility: Christopher Decoteau
- Camera Assist. / Utility: Antonio Magana
- Camera Assist. / Utility: Gabriel Varela