PRODUCTION PROFILE
of 14 K1s and four K2s per side, with side hangs of four K1s and 12 K2s. For certain venues, including London and Manchester, a rear hang of KARA was deployed. For subs, there were eight flown K1SBs per side with 12 KS28 per side on the ground. “We have a large thrust that goes out into the audience in front of the PA, so we set up the PA so that it avoids as much of the thrust as possible, specified with the K2s,” he noted. “On the whole, though, I’m finding more and more that these large PA systems are becoming less susceptible to feedback issues as long as your gain structures are correct.” Williams gave his two cents on having one of the main performance areas out in front of the PA. “We were finding that there was bleed from the PA down the microphones, which would affect Stormzy’s tempo and timing. We ended up turning down the mic in his IEMs so he heard less of himself and he was able to maintain tempo better.” To close, Williams talked about the two most important faders on his desk during the show – Stormzy’s vocal mic and the ambient audience mics. Speaking about the latter, Williams said: “I have six ambient mics arranged in pairs and the top, middle and bottom on the thrust. The ones closer to the stage get the whispers, the middle gets the detail, and the top end gets the whole room. All this means that Stormzy doesn’t need
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to take out his IEMs to feel part of the room and engage with the crowd. I ride that mix during the show depending on what’s going on.” PLAYBACK DUTIES Holding down playback responsibilities was Max Truphet. “I’m looking after all the backing tracks and timecode for the visual team,” he stated. Joining the first European leg of the tour in 2020, the Playback Tech was kept busy with the camp during a number of streamed performances throughout lockdown as well as the artist’s headline performances at Reading and Leeds. “The first thing I do on a show like this is work on the stems, which in this case come from our Musical Director, Kojo Samuel,” he revealed. “I see playback as the bridge between the band and Stormzy as well as the FOH and visual side. On a show of this size, I’m keeping an eye on timecode and constantly updating any references if there are any changes. The Playback Technician opted for Ableton, which was run on two MacBooks with a fully redundant system to ensure the show carried on. “Kojo did a great job giving me all the individual stems in their simplest form, which in turn makes it easier for both Raphael and Luigi to treat the playback more as a band they can mix rather than a simple stereo backtrack.”
#MERKY Two-and-a-half years is a long time in the world of music, but the crowd reaction to Stormzy’s latest tour shows that the artist is still riding the wave from his Glastonbury 2019 performance. Even after such a long time, ticket holders were still as keen to see what he had to offer. “Every night on this tour, I walk out about an hour after doors and the buzz of the audience is incredible,” concluded Williams. That ‘buzz’ was palpable in London and if the reviews are anything to go by, it was the same case up and down the county. A true flagship production showcase, which proves that even after this lengthy hiatus, the UK live events industry can very much still awe and amaze. www.stormzy.com www.tourmusiclive.com www.productionvalue.co www.tawbox.com www.stufish.com www.timroutledge.co.uk www.suluko.com www.taittowers.com www.negearth.co.uk www.video-design.co.uk www.sseaudiogroup.com/Group www.pyrojunkies.com www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk www.stagetruck.com
