Murphy’s Production Services Powers “COVID-19 World Tour” With ChamSys
MIDVALE, UT – It’s been said that humor can make a serious difference in how well we deal with dark times. Nicolas (“Murph”) Murphy has no argument with that! Ordinarily at this time of year, the owner of Murphy’s Production Services is busy touring with The Piano Guys, Wax Tailor or some other client. Not in 2020!
No worries though, with live shows put on hold, Murph embarked on his own “world tour,” all without leaving the friendly and safe confines of his Salt Lake City suburb. Rather than simply livestreaming a band and calling it a day, he created a full blown, albeit virtual, tour package, complete with posters, virtual “backstage passes,” and even donates his time with a weekly streaming service: Social Antidote.
The looks he’s created for his wryly named “COVID-19 World Tour,” are also very good replicas of the real thing, using eight “lazy universes,” a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console and a ChamSys SnakeSys R8 Artnet to DMX Node 5 for each of its weekly broadcasts.
“Not being able to go out on tour, I figured why not make up my own,” said Murph. “It gives me something to do while sitting at home. I make tour posters with dates and print them on my wide format printer that is usually spitting out lighting/video/scenic plots. I also make laminated ‘tour passes’ for friends.”
Although purely virtual and not good for admittance to any show, each tour pass is customized for Murph’s friends, with their name, as well as job title, which is some form of “House Integration Specialist.”
As for the Social Antidote Series streaming umbrella, it was the brainchild of one of Murph’s clients. “They had a whole warehouse full for production gear not doing anything, so why not use what they have on hand and try to keep everyone from getting rusty?” he said. “I pretty much only leave the house for groceries, or for this live stream. The software we use streams to multiple services, but doesn’t give us the viewer count to my knowledge. So, we rely on one of us looking at the different sites and putting the numbers together.”
Videoed in a warehouse-turned-studio once a week, the “tour” features a different local artist in addition to highlighting area businesses as a way of boosting community spirits.
Murph is gratified that his “world tour” is making a difference in the lives of people close to home. He’s also grateful that it gives him the opportunity to work his console. “I have been touring with a MQ500 since 2017, right when they came to the United States,” he said. “From what has been told to me, I was the second person in the States to take delivery of the MQ500 and the first to take one on a North American Tour.”
“The COVID-19 Tour is fun, but on the serious side of my work, all of my concerts are programmed out quite well,” he continued. “So, if I’m unable to run the show for any reason, a half competent house LD could run it without too much trouble. This livestream has been no different. I come in the night before and sit down with the artist’s set list to hammer out lighting cues for seven or so songs that I have never heard before.”
When Murph needs to punt openers, or a musician wants to do a song that he hasn’t created cues for, he jumps to a page that includes his pallets in Playback form. “This way, I can have what are essentially two programmers at the same time and I can have them work independent of each other or effect each other,” he explained. “It’s one of the many versatile features that make the MQ500 so valuable.”
As rewarding as his weekly livestreamed shows have been, Murph is looking forward to getting back on the road. He describes it as “surreal,” not being able to hear the sound of the crowd during show. “When the feed is cut, you are just done,” he said.
That is, of course, until the next weekly installment of the COVID-19 tour, which in turn marks one step closer to the day when Murph is back doing live shows again. Until then, humor will see him through just fine.
Just ask Lighting Director and Operator Jason Hyne, who is running the boards for the show, which was designed by Rob Sinclair. A ChamSys user since 2013, Hyne is working with the MQ500 for the first time on the Ducks tour, and finds that the console has greatly enhanced his work.
“I was very impressed with Adlib’s new programming suite, as well as team account handler Jordan Willis, and the lighting team of Kev Byatt, Paul Hyne and Oli Gorman,” said Hyne. “As you would expect, the 
When Iwan ran the boards during the festival he was grateful that he could work with playbacks and preset faders without swapping between modes, which made it easier to busk. “We did a lot of busking, because many of the bands gave us their song lists only at the last minute,” he said. “This is when you really appreciated that the ChamSys is so user-friendly.”
Ho was also impressed with how smoothly his console worked with the different brands of washes in his rig. “We had three different brands represented, almost evenly,” he said “It was quite a task to make sure we had the correct color balances across this diverse rig. This was especially important because we had to watch our colors for our video cameras.”
The Arf & Yes lightshow was more than just grand in its scale. Its power to move the audience also emanated from the artful balance of its design. Brilliant shafts of light that rained down on the stage endowed the show with an evocative translucent quality. The triangular configuration of lights on three levels positioned over the stage, created a sense of depth. As these mesmerizing looks were being created, deft key lighting seamlessly supported each of the 36 songs from the north and south of China that were performed at the event.
The 68,000-seat stadium serves as the home to Atlético Madrid, but on Saturday June 29, it played host to another of Spain’s national treasures when it welcomed singer Manuel Carrasco who appeared there as part of his 35-date “The Cross of the Map” tour. Fans who packed the stadium were immersed not only in the emotional power of the star’s vocals, but also by the sweeping visuals that Jvan Morandi ran from a control center powered by no fewer than six ChamSys desks including two 
Helping Morandi weave this intricate light and video tapestry together were his ChamSys consoles. He used his two 
Another feature of the ChamSys consoles that Morandi has been placing a premium on is their versatility. Carrasco’s “The Cross of the Map” tour is very aptly named, as the show has been crisscrossing the Iberian Peninsula with a passion.
Adding a lighthearted touch of drama to the proceedings was a short skit presented by company team members on the history of ChamSys. The skit recounted how company cofounder Chris Kennedy developed his first console at the age of 10. Telling the story of a young man with big dreams, the skit showed how Kennedy achieved something beyond even his wildest imagination years later when an award-winning ChamSys console was used by Art & Yes to control a record-breaking 64,000 parameters over 186 universes directly without processing nodes.
Following his “acting performance,” Kennedy treated guests to a preview of the new 
Bullock’s ChamSys console helped him orchestrate this array of visuals into a single, powerful and precisely coordinated show. “To be able to run this whole show with no NPU is a beautiful thing,” he said. “That’s what I get with ChamSys. It simplifies operations. The command structure is very straightforward and logical. I can select palettes via hard buttons without having to look through screens, so I can actually be more focused on looking at the show!”
This year, ChamSys desks were included in the production designs on eight Glastonbury stages, in addition to others being brought to the festival by a host of LDs working for a wide range of artists like Simon Horn for Maribou State, Isabel Del Moral for Rosalia, and Gary Wilson for Lewis Capaldi.
Southampton-based GLS Lighting supplied a MagicQ MQ100 plus Playback Wing for the Avalon Stage