Usher - The Truth Tour

Le Maitre's exclusive contract for Usher's Truth Tour meant two full time pyrotechnicians on the road and an exhausting amount of work to create a spectacular show. The tour covered 19 shows in 25 days throughout Europe and the UK.

The show starts with "Caught Up". Dancers spring from trampets onto the stage accompanied by dramatic bright lights. Whilst they dance, Usher appears on the top tier rising up from a lift through the floor and is illuminated by spotlights. As he reaches the top, he dances for a few seconds and then takes an almighty jump, as he lands 10 x White Arena Flashes and a Concussion are fired.

As he starts to sing, 4 x CO2 jets are fired in front and either side of him, until he steps on to the travelator (which takes him down to the lower stage level). Later on in the song, following a superb dance routine, the dancers move away from Usher the music stops and as he sings "Caught Up", he falls to one side. As he hits the stage a Concussion is fired: a perfect effect for the gag, and also one of the most difficult cues as the pyrotechnician can only see him fall and has to anticipate his impact.

Song 5 is "Nice And Slow". In this song, Usher appears on a set of Plexiglass steps in a white shirt. A Le Maitre "Twister" fan is directed at him and he is also tracked with a huge 36" fan which blows his shirt like a sail as he speaks with and sings to the audience. A MiniMist smoke machine is blasted for 5-10 seconds through a Twister fan at Usher's legs and torso to give a dramatic effect.

Song 6 is "U Got It Bad". Towards the end Usher rips up his shirt and drops to his knees. He throws the ripped up T-shirt into the audience and walks upstage and up the stairs to a waiting microphone stand. He spins around and kicks the stand over, and as it hits the floor a pair of Robotics is fired and he leaves the stage.

For "Burn", Usher sings with video footage of flames on the video and LED screens behind him. At the end of the song, Usher turns and walks upstage in the smoke from two Freezefogs and he disappears between the LCD screens with the low smoke swirling behind him.

"Yeah" is the final track before the encore. Usher is on the lift, as he says "Peace up, A-Town down" he jumps and lands, and 19 x 1x25 Stage Gerbs and a Concussion are fired across the entire width of the stage. Towards the end of the second chorus, 4 x confetti blowers are fired at stage right, stage left and at the rear of arena left and right.

For the finale of the show random bursts from pairs of the 12 x CO2 jets were used.