Latin America. Colombian singer Karol G recently concluded her historic world tour "Mañana Será Bonito" with four incredible shows in stadiums in Madrid.
The year-long tour, the first stadium tour headlined by a female Latina artist and the most extensive European tour by a Latin artist in history, featured an ambitious production with lighting design by Lightswitch's senior director, Ignacio Rosenberg, in collaboration with lighting provider PRG. At the heart of the design were Elation Proteus luminaires, which played a vital role in both stadium and arena shows.
The tour kicked off in August 2023 and spanned the United States, Mexico, and Latin America, with the European leg launching on June 8, 2024, in Zurich, Switzerland. Rosenberg used Proteus Maximus and Proteus Hybrid MAX in Latin America and Europe for their IP-rated durability, which was essential for challenging outdoor environments, particularly in South America. "We can find Proteus all over the world and we know that it is reliable," said LD Rosenberg. "In regions like South America, where you can sometimes feel isolated, having reliable equipment is critical."
Consistency and power
The stage design, by tour production designer Travis Shirley, was based on a unique show in Puerto Rico that Ignacio expanded to make it the basis of the show. "Because of the shape of the design, there weren't a lot of traditional lighting spots," Rosenberg said.
"It's a semi-flat structure with no roof, so everything was very exposed to the environment. Having 100% IP-rated equipment became a necessity." Rosenberg needed a device that could withstand the unpredictable weather conditions while still delivering the high level of performance required for large-scale production. "The Proteus Hybrid MAX provided the consistency and power we needed to maintain the integrity of the show in different venues and continents."
The intimacy of the tour
The lighting design of the tour was intimately linked to Karol G's narrative, and was developed in three visual chapters that reflected her career in the music industry. Rosenberg sought to convey the show's positive message (Mañana Será Bonito) through colorful lighting, first in blue hues centered on the character of Karolina the Mermaid, then in magentas, pinks, and whites as it evolves into the confident La Bichota, and then into Mañana Será Bonito. In this inspiring scene, the stage explodes with color and light.
A key element of the tour's success was the innovative use of lighting to create an immersive and intimate experience for fans. Karol G is passionate about the lighting of her shows and Ignacio actively collaborated with her in the design. "She really cares about what the experience is like for the audience," she said, having lit up three Karol G tours and witnessed her stratospheric rise from small venues to stadiums. "It was important for her to try to preserve some of that intimacy so that she could maintain the connection with the audience."
The lighting of the audience therefore played an important role and, according to him, served a double function. "One was for the audience to be able to connect with her and feel involved, and she with the audience. The other was to bring the party to the public so that they were not only seeing a show, but were part of the show. It's really a 3D show in terms of the audience being in the middle of it."
From stadiums to arenas
When transitioning from stadiums to arenas, the design team worked to preserve the essence of the stadium's show as faithfully as possible by resizing the stage and reconfiguring the lighting design.
The transition was executed successfully, thanks in part to the versatile Proteus luminaires, which allowed for quick adjustments without reinventing the lighting scheme, save for a few adjustments.
"We didn't need the power we had with the in-stadium show, but we needed to be able to clone relatively quickly without having to invent a whole new show," said Ignacio, highlighting the success story Lightswitch has had with the Proteus Hybrid as one of the reasons they chose the Proteus Hybrid MAX for the tour. "We wanted consistency and a very bright look and having the Proteus Hybrid MAX really helped."
More than 140 Proteus Hybrid MAX operated from a series of arches that form the backbone of the design, with additional fixtures on the ground and in mobile units that PRG built, which were placed in place. Ignacio commented, "We're very camera-friendly – we try to control the environment as much as we can to make it look good on camera, so we use a lot of beamage, but we also use them in spot mode with gobos in certain songs."
Extra power for the camera
The European leg of the tour ended in July with four epic shows at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Here, Rosenberg used additional luminaires to enhance live broadcasts. It replaced the Proteus Hybrid MAX with 190 Proteus Excaliburs, selected for their ability to cut through the extensive LED and IMAG configurations. Complemented by the Proteus Maximus, Proteus Brutus and Proteus Brutus FS luminaires, the lighting design achieved the necessary strength and consistency at all camera angles, adding a three-dimensional quality to the performances.
The Proteus Brutus is a weatherproof Wash FX LED fixture with a powerful 75,000 lumens output from a 1200W peakfield LED motor. Also used in the Madrid shows was the Proteus Brutus FS, a 1200W IP66-rated long-range tracking projector that offers high intensity and excellent color quality over long distances.
Ignacio explained: "We needed a device with a long range, so we used the Proteus Brutus as a front light and tracking projector for the stadium shows. " It was crucial to balance the light levels between Karol, the dancers and the band. I prefer to have more light than necessary and the option to adjust it, rather than not being able to reach the required intensity."
After a year on tour, "Mañana Será Bonito" made history practically everywhere he traveled. Most recently, he led the most extensive Latin American tour in history, selling out all 10 cities.
