Paul Christensen and the award winning Omega Productions crew were recently in Nashville and Memphis shooting a High Definition (HD) project for Geffen Records venerable Blues Artist B. B. King. Mississippi based Dollarhide Film hired Omega to shoot the live concert DVD at the B. B. King Blues Club in Nashville as well as the original club location on Beale Street in Memphis. Jim Dollarhide, President of Dollarhide Film served as Project Producer for the historic shoot at the urging of King and his management company, Lieberman Management LLC.
The concerts, shot over a four day period, featured a sold out SRO crowd of B. B. King fans and admirers who experienced superb performances by King and his impeccable band. They were also treated to a stage awash with animated color and texture thanks to a lighting system specially designed for the occasion. After a brief open by the band, the concert got off to a roaring start with the introduction of King who proceeded to charm the audience with personal stories and some of his best known hits. The stage bristled with energy and vibrant color as King, the horn section and the rest of the band proceeded to weave their spell, dispensing songs and leading fans on an historic musical journey.
The HD project, destined to be a well received CD, DVD and BD Disc, was Executive Produced by B. B. King and Floyd Lieberman, King’s Manager. Jim Dollarhide served as Producer for Geffen Records, assisted by Producer Susan Lindsay. Paul Christensen served as Television and Live Event Producer bringing in the award winning Omega team of shooters, including Director Don Moore. Ruthel Flunder assisted with talent and logistics. Rounding out Omega’s talented crew were Mike Filippi and Andrew Dean on Hand Held Camera, John Perry on Steadicam, assisted by Hugh Wilson, Chad Hall on Jimmy Jib and Steve Cobb and Steve Senn on Fixed Cameras. Brian Irwin also provided operator services on Robotic Camera. Jim Smith, Key of Blue, Inc., directed and provided all of the interview and behind the scenes footage ably assisted by Lake Lahew and Sam Watson. Grip Services were provided by Citation Film/Tape Support, Inc., Nashville with assistance from Jeff Adkins.
A look behind the scenes of the B. B. King shoot…
The stage was transformed into a spectacular wash of color and sculpted set design by Lighting Director Daryl Wattley, Image Designers, Atlanta and Lighting Designer/Programmer Chris Merriman, Sandals Design, Chicago, who was primarily responsible for the spectacular look and feel of the stage. Magnum Lighting, Atlanta, provided the conventional and intelligent lighting for the project, as well as LED technology. Magnum’s David Johnson and Billy Willingham assisted with lighting duties. Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, provided High Definition (HD) remote television facilities, with the assistance of Managing Director, Ben Williams and Chief Engineer Randy Ward. LPB’s Larry Allen served as Engineer in Charge (EIC) with the assistance of LPB engineer,Chris Miranda. New Orleans based Sel Warren provided shading services, capturing the vivid look of the stage. John Johns, In-Sync, Inc., Dallas, served as HD Consultant and Engineer assuring the quality of the high definition footage.
Christensen brought in Kooster McAllester and his New Jersey based Record Plant Remote mobile recording facilities to capture and record the action for the live CD as well as the soundtrack for the DVD. McAllester also served as the project’s Recording Engineer assisted by Paul Special and Paul Shatraw . Sound reinforcement services were handled by each club. Ed Zap and Lee Catoe handled the duties in Nashville assisted by Alex Boenigk and John Roberson, with assistance from Brantley Sound, Nashville for the Monitor System. Ed Zap handled the sound in Memphis assisted by Gill Stuber, James Senter and Carrie Coleman. In addition, power for lighting and the remote facilities was provided by Clark Weldon, PDR Electric Company, Memphis. In order to accommodate the concert, Christensen had both stages modified and enlarged. Neal Day and Tommy McCormick provided the services. Further rigging and custom construction were required in Memphis and provided by Bill Rinehart and Jack Thomas.
For all the Omega crew, it was a special treat to have the opportunity to work on this project. We have been fans of B. B . King for years and although we have had the pleasure of working with him on several occasions, this historic project was truly a dream come true. Our thanks go out to Jim Dollarhide and Susan Lindsay who entrusted us with such an important project. In addition, we wish to thank Mr. King, Floyd Lieberman and all the members of the band for their encouragement. In addition, we would like to thank Tommy Peters, owner of the Nashville and Memphis clubs and his fine staff for their support. A big thank you goes out to Kevin Travis, Manager of the Nashville Club, J. B. Wells , Manager of the Memphis Club, Tony Coleman, Music Director of the Nashville Club and Kim Cohen at the Memphis Club for all their assistance as well as making our crew feel right at home.
