If you’ve seen Ghost‘s latest tour, then you know just how insane their stage design is. I had the great privilege of sitting down with stage designer and overall genius Tobias Rylander for a behind-the-scenes interview regarding the creation of the tour from first concept to final delivery.
How long have you and Ghost been working together? How has your approach to their show changed over the years?
This was actually my first time working with Ghost and Tobias Forge! We were introduced to each other by Amir Chamdin, a film director who also directs the music videos for Ghost. Me and Amir have known each other for a long time and worked together on several projects. When Forge and Amir started plotting the Skeletour , where they knew they wanted to use more video screens and video content, Amir also became the creative director alongside Forge. Amir introduced us and together the three of us started sketching and developing the stage and show design.
It is very much a development and extension of what Ghost has always been or needed to be. A natural progress and growth that felt very natural in lack of a better word obvious. Ghost just IS a great rock and roll spectacle and show. I’m a huge KISS fan since childhood, so working with Ghost is probably the closest I will get to making a KISS show. With Forge and Amir also being Kiss fans we have a lot of fun working together!
What’s the first step in planning a live show? I’m not sure many people know the logistics behind this, but I’d imagine dealing with Ghost‘s concepts and what can feasibly be done in the real-world clash sometimes.
A really big part of my job as a show designer for arena and stadium shows is to somewhat know what can and can not be done. It’s important to have an understanding of approximately how many trucks will be needed and how much a design idea will cost, both in budgetary measures but also in people. How many crew will this idea require? How much truck space will be required and can the venues actually take the weight of all these ideas being hung etc.
With over 20 years of touring experience and designing for 15 of those, I have a pretty good understanding of what can and can not be done and what should and should not be even attempted. We still rely heavily on the expertise of a good crew and production of course. It takes so many professionals and engineers to make these ideas and dreams a reality.
How do you go about taking your plans off paper (or the computer) and bringing them to life? The first dress rehearsal must be insane.
In this case, and in so many others it usually starts with a “napkin sketch” or a sketchbook. Tobias Forge is really great at drawing to start with and has good a really clear understanding and vision of what he wants the show to look like. This is where it’s a true creative collaboration where I really become his draftsman, and with my expertise and knowledge, we start bouncing ideas between ourselves and move and shift etc until we reach a point where we actually start looking at the “nuts and bolts” of things. I draw in different 3D CAD programs to have a representation of the show and drawings that we then use to make 3D visualization renders with.
The computer technology these days is so good, it’s hard sometime to tell the difference between a render to reality, so the artist, management and crew can have a really good understanding of what the show will look like, even before we have loaded into rehearsals or venues.
The production rehearsals are, as you put it, a bit insane. There are so many things that need to come together for the first time, all the rigging, trusses lights, and in this case, all the scenic production has to go in in a certain order, all the cables need to go from A to B and to C without interrupting or tangling in moving parts etc. As good as any pre-production planning and crew can be, it’s hard to plan for everything, so the first week of production rehearsals and the first couple of shows can be nerve-racking. But at the same time, there is no greater feeling than to see something come to life from a piece of paper and a napkin sketch, to then see a full-blown Ghost show in all its glory is fantastic!
How much input does the band have, and how much of it is your and your team? Not to say there are disagreements, but I’d imagine working with both the logistics behind it and working with the people on stage who have to move around within that environment presents some challenges.
When it comes to Ghost, it’s Tobias Forge who is the creative visionary. He is Ghost, it’s his creation, so creatively we really listen to his ideas and visions. He knows all the lore and history, where Ghost has been and where it’s going. So creatively there is no limit really. The limitations are how long does it take to load this show into the venue, how many crew will it take and does this give us enough time to pack up after show, drive to the next city or country to build it again, sometimes as early as the next day. That is where it gets problematic and we can not always make reality of all the ideas and dreams.
Forge is such a creative being while also being so incredibly generous to his fans. There really are no expenses spared on the show in that matter. We listen to the tour and production managers in terms of what is possible and not and I can assure you if it was physically possible, the show would be bigger!
What’s one aspect of the final product that you’re most proud of? I’m sure there’s some aspect that maybe people don’t notice that you wish they would, or that holds a special place for you.
I’m really happy and proud of how the huge Grucifix came out! It is the symbol and sign of the band, but they had never had one built on this scale and for production before. It is absolutely enormous, and all custom built for the show. We had to draw so many different versions to make it both look right, but also architecturally and engineering wise, hold its own weight and spread it over the venues rigging points etc. I’m really happy with its proportions and aesthetics. It’s really heavy and holds hundreds of moving lights and strobes. It’s a show in its own right when it moves!
Another thing that I love about the show is that I got to design new scenic facies and scenography for the band risers. I do come from lighting design from the beginning, but when I get to draw 3D scenography with skulls and bones, I absolutely love my job and I’m so happy with the way it all came out and looks!
What’s the biggest challenge you have while plotting Ghost‘s live lighting?
I would say it’s building and telling the story. With a show design and a lighting rigg like this, it’s easy for a lighting designer, director and programmer to want to do too much, to use the lighting rigg to its fullest and maybe too much at once. Forge really knows what he wants and what the show is and should be, so there I had to go back and “peel back” downscale some of the lighting looks and make the programming and movements more held back and theatrical, almost retro in a way. And looking back and at the show, of course that’s what needed to be done! It’s easy to get a little blinded by the light when it’s all you do for weeks. Sometimes less is more!
What’s the best moment of the show, in your opinion?
Oh that’s impossible to answer, there are so many. It is such a layered show with so many events and happenings, but another thing that I’m really happy with is the first drop and reveal of the stage! It’s so dramatic and exciting!
The collapsing of the church is also incredible! Forge on stage and his costume changes. I could go on for as long as the show is… it’s just so good!
Ghost is currently out there kicking ass on their world tour, which just started on April 15. Tickets are available here.
8/1 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena
8/2 Saint Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
8/3 Omaha, NE CHI Health Center
8/5 Kansas City, MO T-Mobile Center
8/7 Denver, CO Ball Arena
8/9 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
8/10 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena
8/11 Phoenix, AZ Footprint Center
8/14 Austin, TX Moody Center
8/15 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena
8/16 Houston, TX Toyota Center
9/24 Mexico City, MX Palacio de los Deportes
9/25 Mexico City, MX Palacio de los Deportes
