If you’ve been to Morgan Wallen’s One Night At A Time tour this year, you know all of the production involved in his massive stadium shows.
From the video board running around the top of the stage and facing three sides of the stadium, multiple stages featuring sets of his Mamaw Boots’ house and his high school bleachers, to pyrotechnics and even a wall that he bursts through to make his entrance, it’s hard to imagine all of the work that went into putting a show like that together.
And much of that work was done by the guys at Raw Cereal.
If you’ve never heard of Raw Cereal, the company founded by Cort Lawrence and Anders Rahm has worked with some of the biggest artists in the world to not only help them bring their vision to life, but to make sure the experience is an unforgettable one for fans.
In country music, the guys from Raw Cereal have recently worked with names like Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson and HARDY to design the production for their shows – and according to Lawrence, while the process of designing a show is different for each artist, it always starts with the music:
“The process is always different with each artist. Everybody has their own different style, and that’s the fun part about us digging into the music, whether it’s new music that nobody’s ever heard or all their old stuff that they’re bringing round and round and round again on these shows.
It always starts with the music. The music is what drives these tours. The music is what drives our creativity.”
From there, it’s up to Lawrence and Rahm to work with the artist to make their vision come to life:
“We work on all the fun stuff. Do you want to have pyrotechnics? Do you want to have scenic gags? Do you want to have something nobody’s ever seen before?
Morgan breaks through a door – that’s genius. And that was his idea. He’s had that idea for quite awhile, so we’re the team that brings those ideas to life. We’re very fortunate that artists come to us with these ideas because they feel that we’re the team that can bring it to life.”
@mswango11 Mlrgan Wallen show opener “Ain’t That Some” at Lucas Oil Stadium #onenightatatimetour #lucasoil #morganwallen #indianapolis #fyp #foryou @morganwallen ♬ original sound – Kenzie Swango
It’s things like busting through a door to open his show that Rahm says artists will bring to them – but then it’s up to the Raw Cereal team to not only implement those ideas, but help it fit into the bigger picture of the entire show:
“Artists have ideas. Morgan’s been thinking about the door for years. And at the end of the day, you can’t build a show around a door gag. You can have the door, and it’s an exciting moment in the show, but what artists really come to us for is to develop the entire story arc of the show. They come to us to develop the visual elements of the show, work on the timing of said visual elements, the flow of the show.”
And while they work closely with the artists themselves, it’s not just the artists: Rahm explained that they work with the entire team to make sure that every element comes together.
“On Morgan’s team, we work with the drummer Taco directly on the setlist. He tells us how songs should flow in and out of each other, and then we work with them on the placement so that we can help drive the motion of the show.
We work with their management teams on what their future goals are so that we can lead into them creatively, working with any potential album art or new songs that are coming out.
And then at the end of the day, most artists don’t know the technicalities behind what’s available to them, so it’s our job to bring the new technologies forward.
Usually an artist doesn’t know what they want when they come to us. They may have some sense of creative, like the door, or some piece, but it’s nearly impossible for them to say, ‘I want a giant circle screen, and I want these lights over here, and I want this.’ It’s never happened for me personally…
For the most part, we have to come with ideas, and then work with them on what the show looks like, what it feels like, and then what that story is.”
The Process For Each Show Is Unique
Of course, some artists are more involved than others: While Cort and Anders say that Morgan was passionate about his production, he was “very easygoing” and trusted the team to execute his vision, while other artists are “micromanagers” who are calling every week (I didn’t ask which artists these were – for obvious reasons).
But regardless of the artist’s style, Rahm says it’s up to the Raw Cereal team to work closely with the artist to execute their vision:
“We’re very collaborative with the artists themselves…
Each of these artists are their own brand. Lainey is her own brand. Morgan is his own brand. They have their own bar, they have their own music, they have their own style, they have all these things. Our job is always to represent their brand for them and bring that out during the show…
You wouldn’t want Morgan to have the same personality and show as Lainey Wilson.”
And not only are the artist’s personalities different, but the goals for each tour are different too, and can vary based on what an artist has done for previous shows, how long they’re going to be on tour, and whether the setlist will be changing throughout the tour.
For example, Morgan added “I Had Some Help,” his recent duet with Post Malone, into his shows in the middle of the tour – and the Raw Cereal team had to plan for that too:
“As these artists continue making new music on their tour, or releasing new music on their tour, the concert has to evolve. Additional programming and visuals.
Lainey’s got a new album coming out. HARDY just released a new album. So as all these artists continue developing their own music and style, the show evolves as well.”
A Game Of Inches
One of the surprising things that Lawrence revealed about designing a show like Morgan’s was that, despite the whole production filling a massive stadium, everything had to be designed down to the inch so that it all fit together.
“I think that’s the most tedious part about designing…It’s all about thinking about the venues ahead of time, but it’s funny that we’re dealing with a football field, but we had to dial it in to the exact inches to make everything fit perfectly on that stage.”
And it was that attention to detail and ability to bring Morgan’s vision to life that his production manager Chad Guy says he appreciated about working with the Raw Cereal team:
“The Raw Cereal team are incredible partners, we truly appreciate their collaboration. Their ability to translate our overall performance vision into the live space, in ways that truly represents the diverse nature of Morgan and his music, is second to none.”
Overall, Lawrence says that the process of designing Morgan’s show took around 10 months – including a month of rehearsals. But they don’t always get the luxury of that much rehearsal time, and it’s the Raw Cereal team’s job to make sure that they can put out a finished product no matter how much time they’re given based on the artist’s schedule.
Storytelling Through Visual Production
At the end of the day though, the goal is always the same: To help the artist tell their story and put on the best show possible for their fans – something that Lawrence says he appreciates about working with country artists, whose music is often all about the storytelling:
“Country music is so fun to work in. It’s so exciting, the fans love it. And it can be so simple too, because this is a band, and an artist, and they’re there to sing their music, and sing the music that their fans love, and we’re there to give an environment so that when the audience is listening they have something that can really imprint in their minds. They can visualize it with what they’re seeing and hearing.
A lot of country music can be literal too. When we work with Riley Green and HARDY, they want that mood to come out perfectly with the visuals in the show, which is such a great concept.
It’s led us to be better storytellers when we’re putting on these concerts as well.”
For most people, the work that goes into producing a show probably isn’t something you think about. You show up to the concert, you’re impressed by the visuals and the fireworks and the sets, and you enjoy a concert from your favorite artists.
But as Lawrence and Rahm made clear, that’s only possible thanks to months of hard work, collaboration, and an incredible amount of talent from people like the team at Raw Cereal.
And once you know what all went into bringing that show to life, it really makes you appreciate it that much more.
If you want to see some more of Raw Cereal’s work, check out the stage for Lainey Wilson – complete with a rotating pickup truck:
@mallorygreen7 Hang tight honey #countrymusic #fyp #laineywilson ♬ original sound – Mallory Green
Or Riley Green’s duck blind:
@whiskeyriff Tipping his hat to Toby Keith. @Riley Green // whiskeyriff.com #whiskeyriff #rileygreen #tobykeith ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
And here’s Morgan talking about the replica of his Mamaw’s house that serves as just one piece of his massive set:
@atailoredevent His sweet side is pretty great too! ☺️ #morganwallen #fypage #lasvegas #fypシ゚viral #morganwallentiktok #2024 #morganwallenconcert #mw #onenightatatimetour #musictok #vegas ♬ original sound – LoverOfLive🎶