Boland specified 64 Robe ROBIN Pointe moving lights for the event, which played six sold-out dates in three cities across the US.

Boland has worked with Eminem for almost 10 years, so when the show’s set design by Bruce Rodgers was approved, he created a lighting plot that would “cover all bases” for both artists.

The designer said he knew what Eminem would like in terms of look and feel, and when it came to lighting Rihanna, he considered parameters including that she would be accompanied by dancers.

The set comprised two large angled 50mm semi-transparent LED panels stage left and right, flown about 40 feet high on the downstage edge and 10 feet on the upstage edges. There were also three video ‘spines’, two on the offstage sides of the LED panels and one in-between these two panels, rigged on high speed motors which moved during the show.

The majority of the lighting was hung on these spines, and there were also two tracking video trucks onstage, used for closing the space down mid-stage in front of the band.

The Pointes were positioned on the two offstage video spines, and utilised for dramatic aerial effects. They also had the potential for cross-lighting the performance space.

The biggest creative challenges for lighting the ‘Monster’ tour were getting rear and side light into the performance space as the stage was “effectively dissected” diagonally due to the video elements.

Elsewhere, getting the spotlights balanced for the video was described as “an exacting task” by Boland.

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