John Hoey

Project 10- Cairokee, Empire Nation

             In May of 2018 I was introduced to a producer who represented several premier Egyptian musical performers.  It was discussed that I would consult with the band, Cairokee, to help them improve their visual aesthetic in their live performances.  Our first working experience together was an incredibly rushed situation.  I was brought to the concert location the day before the concert and during the set up met with the producers, a representative from the band, the head of the production company and the lighting programmer.  We discussed the band’s creative intentions and ideas for dividing the set list for that concert into several sections to be accentuated with specific colors that they felt helped tell the stories of their songs.  As it was an outdoor concert we had to wait until after dark to start implementing the ideas.  I also had to use a light plot created by someone else, but at least was substantial enough to do what was needed.  There were multiple obstacles that shouldn’t be discussed here, but eventually the lighting cueing session ended about 3am.

             The next day I arrived during the hour or so of opening musical performers to go over the set list (and changes) with the producer and lighting team.  Without having a rehearsal to see the cues we started the live concert in front of 30,000 people.  It was a combination of moving from cue to cue through what had been prepared the previous day, supplemented with lighting effects initiated by the lighting control operator and myself using a trade specific language for moving light operators around the world.  Throughout an evening of visual spectacle the audience’s favorite and our most effective section was the “yellow” section.  Reminiscent of MTV’s Unplugged series, the band did an “acoustic” set on the most downstage part of a runway that went 10m into the audience.  We created a single cue with the specific color theme that the band performed in.  Of the hundreds of other cues and moving light effects, this single cue that stayed unchanged for 15 minutes was the favorite.

             Below are images of the production company’s layout of the concert location, concert moments and some videos to help capture the event.

             After the success of this concert, there was discussion of working together again later that year.  Regrettably a moratorium was put on their live performances in Egypt.  The ideas the we collectively created for the visual aesthetic of their concerts has continued for their tours throughout MENA and Europe, although I have not been able to work with them because of scheduling conflicts.