Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546033
sixteen performances and on the AMAs fourteen. I had to design all thirty performances. Sometimes it's a person standing on an empty stage singing a ballad (I love those), other times it's a literal band who just need band risers for their drummer, keyboards, etc., but of course, you want them to look nice, so we had some that had LED screens on the faces, and others were very themed to match the song. Others times you want them to disappear, so they are just black, but they are all different sizes, different heights, depending on the instrument configuration. There might be (there was) a 30-piece choir that needs to be on risers, that's all the easy-ish stuff. Then you have the Sabrina Carpenter effect. Sabrina loves scenery, she has always leaned into physical-themed sets but this year, she did an amazing show at Coachella crammed with scenery and so she is almost single-handedly upping the game for other artists, so some of them want themed sets. An interesting one on the Country Music Awards was Kacey Musgrave, who wanted a full supermarket on stage. I had to design shelving, fridges, custom band carts that were actually produce shelving with fruit and vegetables and a butcher counter. Some of it was rented but most was custom-built by SRS in Vegas. Kane Brown wanted a New York street complete with brownstone steps, very country don't you think? I am dealing with the artists manager/record label, tour manager, choreographer, stylist, creative director, sometimes the artist directly. It's a lot of opinions you're massaging. It's like a whole other gig. This is all happening in the last two weeks before load-in. I'm on Zooms from 8 am until 7 pm, then have to design all night, then find a shop to build all this in the remaining ten days or so. For Katseye on the AMAs, they wanted a 20-foot-tall teddy bear that the girls burst out of its tummy. A. AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS STAGE. RENDERING. B. AMAS GIANT TROPHY. RENDERING. C. AMAS SATELLITE STAGE. RENDERING. D. AMAS BAND LOOK. RENDERING. E. AMAS BAND LOOK. RENDERING. ALL RENDERS ARE SKETCHUP MODELS RENDERED IN TWINMOTION BY ANDY WALMSLEY. F. AMAS STAGE FROM VIP AREA. SET PHOTO. G. AMAS GIANT TROPHY. SET PHOTO. E G F