58 • February 2012 • Lighting&Sound America

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Austin City Limits Live at Moody Theater puts theexclamation point on the city’s music sceneBy: Richard Cadena

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ne reason that Austin, Texas is known as the “LiveMusic Capital of the World” is because of AustinCity Limits, produced by the local PBS outletKLRU-TV. Currently in its unprecedented 37th year,

the trademark of the live music show is the Austin skyline inthe background, but its longevity is clearly based on itsstandard of quality of programming and production. Thismonth, ACL celebrates its first year in its new venue, theMoody Theatre, adjoining the posh W Hotel in the heart ofdowntown Austin.

Contrary to what many people may think and what youreyes might lead you to believe, the television show is notshot outdoors. In fact, the studio-produced show is shot socleverly that it appears to be staged on an outdoor perchwith a view of the downtown skyline at night. That traditioncontinues in the new digs, including a newly updated sky-line that reflects the surprising growth of Austin over the lastfew years.

Not only is the new facility home to the award-winningshow—it was recently declared an Official Rock & RollLandmark by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum,awarded a National Medal of the Arts by former PresidentGeorge W. Bush, and voted Best New Live Music SceneGame-changer by readers of the Austin Chronicle—it is alsonow hosting live shows featuring national acts. SharingAustin City Limits and Austin City Limits Live (ACL Live), theMoody Theatre is a dual-purpose facility, making it more ofa challenge to design and work in than ACL’s previoushome in a studio on the campus of the University of Texas.

Launching a legendWhen ACL’s pilot episode, with Willie Nelson, kicked off in1974, Bob Selby designed clear and simple lighting usingthe conventional gear available at the time. Walter Oldenstarted working on the show in 1982. About five years later,High End Systems started manufacturing and selling auto-mated lights, and, eventually, some of the company’sCyberlight SVs ended up in the show’s rig.

“I think we started out with ten of them in the late ‘90s,”Olden said. “When we first started, I was the only one whooperated them. For the first year, I just used an ETC consolethat was not made for moving lights. It was a challenge.”

Because of the difficulty running automated units from aconventional console, Olden used them only as back-lights. Three or four years later, he started to “play” withsome High End Studio Spots.

“All of the lights were hanging from the grid; nothing onthe floor,” Olden explained. “I finally suggested that we tryputting some lights on the floor, and I met with a lot ofresistance. They didn’t want to see the lights and the spacethey took up. And I’m not sure they liked the look.”

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www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • February 2012 • 59

Dueling consolesEventually, advice was solicited from “some bigger designers andlighting directors,” said Olden, in his modest way. Lowell Fowler,founding owner of High End Systems, helped to arrange for TroyEckerman, the designer and programmer, to assist in assembling adesign that would work with automated lighting.

“It took a couple of years to work out the placement,”Olden said, “but everyone was happy. Part of what wasdecided was that we needed two consoles, one of whichwould be in the venue to really be part of the music, to seeand feel what was happening.”

The ACL team ended up linking two Strand 520 consoles.Olden operated one in the studio and Bob Selby ran theother in the control room. But, after consulting withEckerman, they decided that the 520 did not have enough"live" capability. The solution was to bring in a Flying PigSystems Hog iPC and a programmer. That’s when Michael“Tinez” Martinez and Vicky Claiborne joined the team, shar-ing programming and playback duties. In 2006, Oldenbecame lighting designer and Claiborne moved to Las Vegasto take a job with PRG. Ethan Balmer took her place.

Claiborne put down roots in Vegas just as ACL was aboutto pull up roots and move to a new studio designed from theground up. For a long time, according to Olden, “the idea ofmoving the studio was just talk.” But when TheatreConsultants Collaborative was hired as the consultant firmfor the project, it put some reality in the discussion. CurtisKasefang was the lead consultant on the project.

“TCC attended several tapings in the old studio to seehow the production crew used the space, and to gain anunderstanding of the needs of the television show’s director,”Kasefang said. “Unlike a typical performance venue where

you are trying to optimize the facility for the performer, theaudience, and the crew, we also had to consider the cam-eras and the video teams. Austin City Limits had createdmagic in Studio 6A, and we wanted to make sure thatmagic transferred to the new venue.”

“We talked extensively once he saw what we had andwhat we needed,” Olden said. “We worked very well togeth-er and put together a great infrastructure and plan.”

Two spaces in oneAs the planned start date drew closer, Stratus Properties,which co-owns the building with Willie Nelson, put Oldenand Kasefang in contact with Pace/Clear Channel, whichwas slated to be a managing partner at the time.

“We had some good talks, but when we talked to theirlighting guy, it was bad news,” Olden said. “He was an old-timer who had not been on the road for a while; he said,‘Why are we putting in all this stuff? They are only going touse their stuff, and whatever we put in is not going to bewhat they want, anyway.’"

Because of this issue, and because it was going to be amixed space—for a TV show and live concerts—Olden was

understandably concerned. “I think Stratus started havingsecond thoughts about who was going to manage thisspace and what was going to work best for them,” he said.

Eventually, they decided to hire their own managementteam, including Billy Heaslip, a 37-year veteran of the road,who was a lighting designer and production manager forBarry Manilow, Donna Summer, Luther Vandross, and Yes, toname a few. Heaslip in turn brought in Bryan Schrump,whom he knew from the Yes tour, to be house LD and elec-trician. Olden said bringing in Heaslip was a “great thing.”Bill Strother, of William Strother Design, also joined thedesign team, bringing his lighting and architectural back-ground to help model and visualize the proposed design.

TCC provided planning services, venue design support,seating and sightline studies; it also coordinated electrical forall specialty disciplines and specified lighting, staging, andrigging systems. Besides Kasefang, who was the lead con-sultant, TCC personnel included Kyle Smith, responsible forrigging, drapery, and staging; Cy Almey, for theatre design;and Robert Long, for facility programming.

“It could not have worked out any better,” Olden said.

Building a studioHeaslip was brought in as a technical consultant in July2010. The design team worked out a package of lightingequipment, a stage design, and a lighting plot usingVectorworks. They also made sure they had the same size21' x 10' elevator with a 10,000lb lifting capacity, matchingthe elevator in the old studio, to accommodate tours withmultiple semis.

“It took a great amount of time,” Olden said, “to work outwhat was needed both by the television production and the

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The auditorium features balcony seating on three sides.

live shows. As with many projects, the budget grew andfunding became an issue. Some things were compromised,but, on the whole, it worked out quite well.”

Olden Lighting, which Olden started in 1986, was thelighting and controls integrator, making sure everythingworked properly and the first show went smoothly. It was noeasy task.

KLRU had to have all of the new television and audiorecording equipment installed, effectively turning an emptyspace into a working television studio, and it needed thefunds to do it. The station put together a capital campaignto fund the project, but, as Olden noted, raising money is“never easy, so we had to be very careful.

“We wanted to be energy-efficient as well cost-effective,”Olden added, “but, as a mixed-use facility, it was more diffi-cult. We had to work out which side of the venue, the stu-dio side or the live side, was buying what part of the sharedequipment. We talked to as many manufacturers as wecould to help us out. High End went above and beyond,and Strand and Wybron also helped out. There were otherswho helped out as well.”

Strictly intimateHeaslip was soon hired on a full-time basis as productionmanager and another production manager, John Wheatley,was also added to the roster. Wheatley had spent the prior14 years running the Verizon Theater in Houston. Having asecond production manager turned out to be just what thedoctor ordered, because, during the most crucial part of theentire process—the opening—Heaslip found out he had

stage four cancer. He underwent 41 radiation treatmentsduring that time, and the cancer is now in remission.

The Moody Theater, as it was dubbed, is a versatilespace that seats up to 2,750 people, but it’s designed to besegmented into a smaller space seating 800 people for thetaping of ACL shows by drawing a black drape. And thoughit has a mezzanine and a balcony, the feel is strictly intimate.Tim Neece, the general manager, likes to say that the far-thest seat, which is in the balcony, is “still only 75' from the

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • February 2012 • 61

Inside one of the VIP booths. Curtis Kasefang, the theatre consultant, said, “Austin City Limits had made magic in Studio 6A, and wewanted to make sure that magic transferred to the new venue.”

An outdoor terrace looks out over downtown Austin.

eyes of the performer.”The stage was manufactured by Stage Right, and is 40'

wide, 28' deep, and 4' high–smaller for the tapings–with amaximum size of 56' by 32'. The space has 540' of riggedtruss, including 10 motorized trusses, and 80' and 50'motorized pipes for temporary drapes.

The house lighting equipment includes 40 High EndSystems Intellaspot XT-1s, three Robert Juliat Victor MSR1800 followspots, and an assortment of Wybron CygnusLED fixtures, Strand Lekolites, and PAR 64s. The lightingconsole is a Flying Pig Systems Road Hog Full Boar with anexpansion wing.

“We used Lyntec’s motorized breaker panels, ETC dimmers,and Unison Paradigm as the core of the installed system, withBarbizon’s Rockies office doing system integration,” Kasefangadded. “Texas Scenic provided winched trusses, the winchedbalcony blackout drape, and the winch for the skyline.”

“There’s a lot different between the [old and new facility],”Olden commented. “The new one has a balcony aroundthree sides of the venue, and though there are trusses overthe open area, there are none over the balcony. That makesit a little tougher. The old studio had a fully movable grid overalmost the entire studio, in a pod format with a few linesets,a full cyc pipe, a catwalk at 26' along three sides of the stu-dio, but we had to run our own DMX lines everywhere. Thenew studio has distributed nodes for DMX. There is also a

lighting position on the upper balcony rail, which is a reallygood position. So the rooms are really different.”

The audio gear includes a Meyer self-powered line arraywith 16 flown MICA speakers and six flown 600-HP subswith Meyer Galileo digital signal processing. If the Austinskyline is the trademark look, the pristine sound is thetrademark of the audio quality. Ask anyone who has wit-nessed an event there and they’re sure to comment on it.

Heaslip says that not one band has brought in its own racksand stacks “because touring engineers are happy with it.” Headded, “Lighting is only brought in when shows have their owntouring rig already programmed. We can rig anything.”

Recreating the skylineStill, Heaslip says it wasn’t easy going from productionmanager to being “on the other side of the contract.” Hesays he had to “adjust his thinking” to do so. Another chal-lenge is turning over the room from live mode to televisionmode, which involves moving six sets of bleachers weighing9,000lbs each for every taping. But, he says, Wheatley doesa masterful job of overseeing it.

Of the gear in the former studio in the communicationsbuilding on the UT campus, only the Studio Spot fixturesmade the transition. Even the iconic Austin skyline backdropwas recreated for the new venue.

“The original backdrop used C-9s, C-7s, S-11s, some

62 • February 2012 • Lighting&Sound America

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reflector floods as bounce, and a bunch of mini-bayonet baselow-voltage lamps using transformers,” Olden explained. “Thewiring was a nightmare, and, because the bases were hotglued, soldered, or stapled in place, replacing a bad one wasvery hard. Plus, the design of the old drop wouldn’t work inthe new space because of how it is laid out.”

Unlike the old backdrop, the new one had to fly in and outto accommodate the mixed-use facility. That meant that ithad to be strong enough to support its own weight while sus-pended on cables, a fact that was complicated by its oddshape. The old 1/4" luan construction was not an option.

“We had a hard time finding someone to design andbuild the new backdrop,” Olden said. Eventually, Austin-based graphic artist Ellen Lampl and scenic designer TimDingle designed and painted the enormous backdrop, andAustin-based Custom Creation built it. It ended up beingconstructed out of 3/4" plywood.

“We really wanted to create something that was good-looking and much easier to maintain,” Olden added. “I hada real problem trying to figure out the best way to do thelighting for this backdrop. I wanted to go LED, but whatkind and how? I was exploring different options when wegot Barco involved. That made all the difference.”

The new backdrop features newly added buildings in theAustin skyline, most notably the Frost Bank building, and it’slit primarily with Barco Helix P1 150mm LED strings and

nodes covered with diffusion to soften the light. “The layout worked great,” Olden enthused. “We wanted

the backdrop to look similar with a few updates, and I thinkit has worked out very well. But it was a lot of work.”

With the new shared facility, the ACL production crewhad to make some big adjustments. “It took a while beforewe got the hang of the new space,” Olden said. “It was abig difference not having total control of the space and hav-ing to strike everything that is not the basic set-up eachtime we do the show.”

What does Heaslip foresee for the future of the venue?Improvements and tweaks. “There are some backstageareas that I would like to see improved—catering and stor-age space, the touring production office, wardrobe area,mood lighting...We’re actually working on that now.”

A little polishing of the crown never hurts.

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