Follow-Me 3D used for Alanis Morissette’s Las Vegas residency

The Follow-Me 3D system enabled approximately 120 fixtures to function as follow-spots throughout the production, which combined Morissette’s powerful rock performances with theatrical elements.

The Alanis Morissette’s Las Vegas residency at Caesar’s Palace, which took place in October and November, featured eight performances of classic hits including Ironic and You Oughta Know on Caesar’s Palace’s expansive 120-foot-wide stage. Follow-Me 3D system successfully supported Alanis Morissette’s show, delivering sophisticated lighting and performer tracking solutions for landmark performances celebrating the 30th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill.

The Follow-Me 3D system enabled approximately 120 fixtures to function as follow-spots throughout the production. The system delivered seamless console integration and allowed real-time adjustments to accommodate the show’s fluid, non-rigidly structured format.

Fuse Technical Group (FTG) supplied the equipment for the residency. Lighting Designer and Director Nathaniel “Nate” Cromwell led the show’s production design and technical direction, working with Follow-Me’s Chris Lose and Luke Edwards who provided system training and integration support.

According to the information shared by Follow-Me, the production faced several distinctive challenges. Morissette’s performance style refrains from traditional spike marks, requiring the tracking system to adapt to her spontaneous movement across the wide stage. The show featured dramatic shifts in energy, including two major musical breakdowns with high-precision industrial tempos, alongside intimate moments addressing themes of alcoholism, attachment, and detachment.

The technical setup utilised Follow-Me 3D with two cameras, one at the front and one at the back of the theatre, to provide comprehensive coverage of the wide stage. The production deployed six manual operators managing six spot positions, with additional fake points for keys and drums that covered the entire band. 32 fixtures across the downstage utilised the system’s proximity feature for enhanced efficiency.

“I picked Follow-Me for this project because it was the right tool for the right job,” notes Cromwell, who has worked with Morissette for nearly nine years. “I could take any fixture in the rig and turn it into a follow-spot.”

The system delivered significant operational advantages. The proximity feature on the 32 downstage fixtures provided substantial time savings during setup. The production achieved full focusing and calibration in a compressed timeframe, with Cromwell noting the accuracy in both the fixture profile and tracking model.

“The way Follow-Me handles its injection into the network stream, is the fact that it’s so elegant with that sACN priority shifting back and forth,” Cromwell explains. “That was something I really enjoyed about Follow-Me on this project, the ability to take individual fixtures online and offline with it and it not being console-specific.”

The system’s creative capabilities proved essential for the production’s storytelling. During The Reasons I Drink, as Morissette moved across the stage and dancers entered, lights progressively latched onto her, building to approximately 86 fixtures, before flying out to different positions as dancers departed during the chorus.

“We’re using the lights to literally tell the story of the action of what’s happening on stage,” Cromwell describes. “I can just crossfade between lights on tracker one and the lights on my band preset, so as I go back and forth the lights are literally just popping between Alanis and the band, and I don’t have spot operators trying to zig-zag between the two.”

The production’s centrepiece was a spine truss, dubbed the “Chakra Truss,” featuring seven backlights that converged at three specific points during the show. Each song was designed around a specific chakra colour from these backlights, creating a cohesive visual narrative throughout the performance.

The system’s intuitive programming interface proved to be a major asset. Despite the show’s complexity, featuring theatrical elements rarely seen in Morissette’s previous tours, the production team achieved a complete load-in with final programming in just two days.

“That’s another great thing about Follow-Me, I learned it in a day and a half,” Cromwell concludes. “Ultimately, Follow-Me made this amazing spotlight show happen in just two days. It allows me as a designer to create those magical theatrical moments, with its speed, precision, and ease of use.”