The Best Production Design for Mau P’s “Baddest Behavior” Tour

Just as a DJ mixes different tracks, beats, and samples together to create something entirely new, so do designers — blending creative visions with technical and venue considerations.

For Dutch DJ Mau P’s “Baddest Behavior” tour, Jack Fayad, Bas van Gelder, and Remco Teunissen collaborated on a daring, ever-evolving design, turning the tables on what a live EDM show can be.

“For the tour, the whole idea was to bring back the rave or block party vibe within venues,” said Fayad, who serves as a production manager and creative director for Mau P.

Fayad has been a part of the Mau P team since the creative inception of the artistic project, meaning he has a deep understanding of Mau P’s music and aesthetic vision.

“The concept was also that Mau would be playing from the moment the doors open until the end. We wanted to create a vibe, build out production throughout the night, and have an evolving scene — hence the motion we brought to every show,” said Fayad. To create such motion, the creative director envisioned using lighting, video, and a crowded stage of people.

With all these bodies on stage, a sense of depth would be needed, and according to Fayad, it would contribute greatly to the overall theme and also allow each show to evolve hour by hour.

After some further conversations with the artist, Fayad began rough sketches and other drawings for the team, focusing on the fixtures, measurements, use of video, and other initial considerations needed to turn the creative direction into a reality. 

It was at this point in the project where van Gelder and Teunissen became crucial parts of the process, serving as a bridge between the raw creative and the stellar show with which audiences would be directly involved.

Van Gelder, a designer, operator, and director from OWL Shows in the Netherlands, took the early sketches and technical drawings to create more polished visualizations that complimented the creative vision. These visualizations were used as a starting point for technical drawings and — importantly — to pitch the shows to promoters. 

The American team responsible for putting the show on also needed a working file of the show to build out the tour across the Atlantic. So, Van Gelder and OWL Shows brought in Teunissen, a draftsman and technical producer, and Sebastiaan ten Broek to turn the show's creative DNA into a technical drawing in Vectorworks Spotlight.

Taking advantage of his long-standing experience with the software since 1998, Teunissen used Vectorworks to create comprehensive 3D models that accounted for spatial requirements, potential clashes, and structural feasibility. The software’s extensive libraries, including U.S.-specific trussing and rigging components, were particularly valuable for adapting designs to American venues. “[In Vectorworks,] it’s very helpful to draw out a truss structure, knowing what kind of elements you have at your disposal to make sure that it fits,” he said.

In addition to Vectorworks, Teunissen leveraged MVR (My Virtual Rig) files to streamline collaboration and visualization across teams. By exporting MVR files from Teunissen’s Vectorworks drawings, Van Gelder was able to make patch files for the Mau P show team and create the final show renders in Syncronorm Depence.  “It’s a flawless import from Vectorworks to Depence. In a few clicks, we have a successful import,” said Van Gelder.

MVR also saved valuable time during on-site preparations by allowing lighting and video operators to focus on fine-tuning rather than desk setup. Promising a more unified industry, GDTF and MVR, according to Teunissen, can help entertainment designers get to a point of information and efficiency that’s similar to the AEC industry’s use of Building Information Modeling (BIM).

While the rave-inspired creative direction remained consistent throughout the drafting process, each venue brought specific design considerations. “It always needed to be the same idea, but it’s not like we had this design, and we needed to fit it into every venue. We’d adjust accordingly to whatever fits,” said Fayad.

Perhaps the most interesting — or, at least, unique — venue of the U.S. leg of the “Baddest Behavior” tour was under the K Bridge in New York City. While offering a backdrop that perfectly fit the underground rave culture that inspired the show, Mau P’s performance was one of the first in the atypical venue, presenting some expected hurdles.

For example, the New York show required a custom ground support structure with overhangs to accommodate motion elements, as the venue lacked rigging points. So, Teunissen used Braceworks, a Vectorworks module, to perform structural calculations and confirm the feasibility of this complex setup: "The venue in New York had nothing — just length and a bridge above it — and there was a very big wish from the creative team to have motion elements. Vectorworks helped us design a ground support structure with an overhang to support the motion elements, and Braceworks helped make sure it was feasible."

What made the NYC show special, according to Fayad, wasn’t the technical accomplishment, but rather the direct feedback from the audience to Mau P once the show started. “It was a good reminder of why we do this,” he said.

Another memorable stop on the tour was at Los Angeles’ renowned Shrine Expo Hall. Like every other show on the tour, this show posed unique challenges, but it certainly stood out as a highlight of the collaboration of all the designers and crew members involved in the tour. 

This particular event exemplified the culmination of careful planning, innovative design, and seamless teamwork. From Mau P and Fayad’s initial inspiration to Van Gelder's knowledge in visualization and project management, and Teunissen’s precise technical drawings in Vectorworks, every element came together expertly.

“The Shrine has kind of a legendary status,” Fayad said, mentioning the countless artists who’ve taken the stage before Mau P. Reflecting on the experience, Fayad shared his appreciation for the collective effort that made the LA stop one of the most rewarding moments of the tour, emphasizing that pushing the boundaries of their design was key to its success.

This show further demonstrated how, with each performance, the team was able to adapt their "setlist" of designs, proving that innovation and teamwork — even across continents — are the ultimate keys to hitting all the right beats.

Featured image: Los Angeles show at Shrine Expo Hall

Photographs: Tommy Reerink, Clay Westcott, Olivier Broegger

Production team: Cameron Moreno (lighting and laser operator), Romario Rivera (visual operator)

Rendering and drawings: Jack Fayad, Bas van Gelder, Remco Teunissen