Page 55 - Lighting & Sound America (December 2019) Magazine

Left: The stage extends through a 20' thrust that flows into a 24' B stage. Above: The Globe of Death.

Inside the singular spectacle of The Chainsmokers’ new tour

By: Sharon Stancavage
Photos: Danilo Lewis

rtists often pick idiosyncratic names for show that was cohesive and packed a punch,” he says.
their albums and tours. The “It also had to fit in a load-in/load-out schedule for back-
Chainsmokers have gone that route with to-back arenas, which sometimes can limit how far you
their current offering, World War Joy. can go, as there are only so many hours until you have to
According to creative director and produc- open doors.”
tion designer Miguel Risueño, of Production Club, “World “They asked us to come up with an iconic piece to rep-
War Joy is a concept The Chainsmokers came up with, resent them forever and ever,” Risueño says. “This is not
and it follows a dual narrative of a world divided into exactly a logo but something else; it’s an icon that exists
opposing sides: It has joy and war, it has happiness and across different media and dimensions.” The visual choic-
sadness, it has a bright side and a dark side, it has the es were almost endless, McGuire says. “We went through
obscure and the colorful.” hundreds of different designs and landed on what is actu-
The production process also involved Matt McGuire, ally called a ‘hedgehog,’ a tank stopper from World War II,
musical director and drummer for The Chainsmokers. which we love; it consists of three pieces of metal, essen-
“The concept was built from the ground up to provide a tially joining together, working to stop a tank.”

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 55