Steve Miller Band

I collaborated closely with the talented Steve Miller on the production design for three of his tours. He was an excellent partner—kind and gracious about the artwork we created together. Steve aimed for the scenery surrounding him on stage to be innovative, experimental, evocative, and surreal. The design needed to complement his artistry as a musician perfectly.

Working alongside director Rob Roth, I typically began with black-and-white concept sketches. This allowed us to evaluate the design based on its overall concept, shapes, and forms before introducing color. Over the years, I designed three shows for Steve, who toured the United States and abroad. Most of these performances were one-time events, so all design elements had to be conceived and constructed to be easily disassembled for transport, setup, and takedown.

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Bingo Tour / Spiraling Guitar Vortex

As I began the design process for this tour, Steve wanted to showcase his extensive guitar collection. With a new album titled “Bingo!” set to be released, he also asked us to explore ideas related to the word "bingo." The legendary artist Storm Thorgerson had created artwork for the album "Bingo!" While we would not use his art for this design, a piece he made for Steve would be featured in a later tour. I started sketching and came up with several ideas for Rob and Steve to review.

Steve was captivated by the avant-garde concept of guitars swirling in a vortex reminiscent of ocean waves, comets streaking through the sky, or a hurricane made up of guitars. We were ready to begin developing the design.

Curvilinear guitars spiraling through space

Steve has an extensive collection of guitars, with hundreds documented in high-resolution digital files. He gave me a digital catalog of his guitars and shared details about his favorites. Then Brian Webb, my associate designer, and I began transforming the guitars using Photoshop to create the stunning illusion of them spiraling through space.

After we completed the two guitar vortexes and received Steve’s approval, we sent the files to the shop for digital printing, cutting, and application to black netting. Seeing beyond the guitars enhanced the illusion of depth in the design. I collaborated with our lighting designer, Norm Schwab, to incorporate Iflex LED nodes (yes, Iflex—remember those?) around the guitars. This addition would create a sparkling effect and emphasize the flow of the guitars as they appeared to soar through space.

The Big Fender Bender Guitar

At the center of this design was a massive top of a Fender guitar featuring the headstock with smaller lighting fixtures as the tuning pegs and the neck of the guitar with the fretboard. The guitar strings would be able to light up, change color, and dance, often mimicking what the band was playing live on stage.

A Hurricane of guitars

A satellite image of a hurricane inspired Steve's backdrop. Brian added some visual texture to the image, opting for a more abstract representation rather than a literal one. He incorporated smaller black-and-white guitars spiraling in and out of the hurricane, reminiscent of my earlier concept sketches for the design.

The image was intentionally designed in grayscale, allowing Norm, the lighting designer, to use colored lights to change the mood of the backdrop for different songs in the show. Iflex was added, and at the very center of the hurricane's eye, Brian said a 45 RPM record adaptor, also known as a spider. This subtle but fantastic detail caught the attention of many of Steve’s fans.

Tensegrity Sculpture & Ears Tour

This was my second design for The Steve Miller Band. Director Rob Roth and I met with Steve. This time, he wanted the scenery to be a non-literal sculpture involving a tensegrity sculpture. Other ideas would follow.

The Abstract Sculpture

I sketched several ideas, two of which involved a Tensegrity Sculpture. After researching, I discovered that touring with this kind of sculpture is not feasible. This is because the sculpture requires continuous tension members, like wires, and discontinuous compression members, such as metal tubes, to ensure that each component functions effectively in creating a rigid form.

let’s Explore some more

The second concept was a massive, illuminated guitar featuring a beautifully detailed graphic design inspired by the 1970s. The guitar can rise straight up, lean back, or turn on its side. The guitar also lights up and changes colors while smoke billows out of the sound hole and flames shoot out.

I wanted to provide a plethora of other scenic design concept sketches, so I started combining the original ideas with elements that are authentic to Steve and his audience. Here are a few examples.

Don’t Fret the Ears

Working alongside my Scenic Design Associate, Jerome Martin, we advanced the design drawings for the fretboard and created Photoshop mock-ups for the ears, followed by the merchandise booth. I felt the ears looked too literal and somewhat uninspired as we examined the details. We incorporated record grooves that mimic sound waves radiating from the ears to enhance their visual appeal. Steve loved the new design!

The ears were digitally printed and placed onto a black velour drop, illuminating them from behind. LED nodes integrated into the backdrop would create a sparkling effect. The Fret Board would combine elements of the Tensegrity Sculpture and String Art.

Merchandise

I was thrilled when Steve's tour manager contacted me about designing a merchandise booth for their T-shirt collection. I created a stylized version of the Record of Dreams logo, which was a big hit. Fans loved the opportunity to purchase a T-shirt from their favorite Steve Miller Band tour, and the booth also served as a fantastic photo opportunity for Steve’s fans.

Pegasus Tour

Steve and his band would perform in large venues and stadiums for this tour, often in the afternoon sun. While there would be lighting and follow-spots during these daytime performances, we realized that the lighting might not give Steve the needed focus. Therefore, we needed to create a design that would draw the audience's attention to him.

To achieve this, I adapted Steve's iconic Pegasus logo from the "Book of Dreams" album, transforming it into two whimsical aluminum Pegasus sculptures facing each other. These sculptures would surround him on stage, creating a negative space in the center that would direct focus onto Steve.

Steve also wanted to enhance the tour's scenic visuals. The director and I brainstormed ideas for scenery and large-scale props to highlight some of Steve's most popular songs. I began sketching various concepts and collaborated with my Scenic Design Associate, Denny Moyes, to develop the complete design package.

Welcome to the Show

The audience entered the arena to see a digitally printed "Book of Dreams" logo framed with black poly silk. As the band began to perform, a kabuki mechanism released the backdrop, allowing it to gracefully descend and reveal Steve, his band, and the Pegasus sculptures. They were set against a backdrop of black velour adorned with LED stars.

With this tour design, Steve and his band were set to perform in massive venues and stadiums. At times, shows would take place in the afternoon sun. While there would be lighting and follow spots, we understood that the lighting would not provide Steve's needed focus. Therefore, the scenery had to draw the audience's eyes to him.

To achieve this, I adapted his iconic Pegasus logo from the "Book of Dreams" album and transformed it into two whimsical aluminum Pegasus sculptures facing each other. These sculptures would create negative space in the center of the stage, ensuring all eyes were on Steve.

Color Design Concepts for the Show

Steve wanted to enhance the visual experience of his tour by incorporating additional scenic elements. The director and I brainstormed ideas for scenery and large-scale props that would highlight some of Steve's most famous songs. I began sketching various concepts and collaborated with my Scenic Design Associate, Denny Moyes, to assemble the complete design package. During the performance, a large puppet version of the Joker mask is pushed onstage, and some smoke rings are blown towards the audience.

The “Space Cowboy” logo, designed by Storm Thorgerson for Steve Miller, was showcased in a drop with a black background surrounding the image. This drop descends, covering the set and band, creating a more intimate space for Steve to perform well-known songs with his acoustic guitar.

Two pieces of scenery were planned for the performance of “Take the Money and Run.” One piece featured a hand holding a large bag of money that would rock back and forth, while the other was a spinning wheel surrounded by boots and shoes, symbolizing "Running." Unfortunately, both pieces had to be removed from production due to limited truck space and budget constraints. Additionally, I designed an abstract and vibrant backdrop for the song "Jungle Love," which was also cut due to budget limitations.

Steve and the band would end the show and walk off stage while the audience went wild. He and the band would return to the stage, and on the first cord of music for “Jet Airliner,” a beautiful poly silk drop depicting jet airliners flying would kabuki in behind the band and made the audience go even wilder. I collaborated with My Scenic Design Associate, Brian Webb, in creating the Artwork for “Jet Airliner.”

Sparkling Pegasus

I collaborated with my Associate Scenic Designer, Jason Curtis, who created the digital files that would be used by the shop to laser etch the aluminum to make the Pegasus. These files would also be used by my talented model builder, Gaetane Bertol, to create a 1/2”=1’ scale model of the Pegasus.

After the shop began constructing the aluminum Pegasus sculptures, I was shown some photos of the work. The aluminum surface appeared very flat and lacked luster. I knew what needed to be done, so I requested that the shop create a sample of the aluminum surface covered in 1/4-inch iridescent glitter. I then shared the sample with the director and Steve, who thought it was cool.

As the set was being loaded into the arena, the local crew laughed when they saw the Pegasus sculptures rolling off the loading dock onto the stage. They couldn’t believe that glitter was being used on a Steve Miller set! I said, “Before passing judgment on the Pegasus covered in iridescent glitter, wait and see how they looked under the show lighting.”

When we started lighting the set, the crew was amazed by the dazzling visual effect of the Pegasus. Later, they told me, “Okay, okay, okay. We were wrong about the glitter. The Pegasus looks super cool in the lighting!”

As the band finished the show and walked offstage, the crowd went wild!! The applause and cheering went on for quite a while, and then Steve and the band walked back onstage for a finale. The second they started playing one of Steve’s most famous songs, “Jet Airliner,” the "Jet Airliner" drop cascaded down behind Steve, the band, and the Pegasus. The band’s fans went wild! As the song concluded, Steve said, “Thank You! and the “Jet Airliner” drop literally dropped and fluttered to the stage, ending the show. Designing for Steve is such an amazing and fulfilling adventure. Thank you, Steve!