Knebworth, Tante Mia Tanzt, Ultra Miami and Festival de les Arts.

have the right sounds in the right place, you are doing the right job.”

GG harnessed multitrack recordings during the rehearsals to find what he refers to as ‘the code’ of a song. “The artist has spent months making and recording a song, so every detail matters when it comes to mixing live,” he explained. “Music is an intelligent process – I must find out how it works. Gradually, as the tour goes on, I spend a lot of time tweaking and refining the process. “Normally, you have the chance to build up the show during the club shows and then hit the arenas, however, we didn’t have the option this time around,” he added. “Thankfully, this is one of the best live bands on the circuit, so they know their craft and can surpass themselves under pressure.” Shure Beta 91 and AKG DV12 mics were chosen for the kick, Earthworks DM20s for the snare and toms, DPA 2011 on cymbals, DPA 2028 on the backing vocals, with Shure beta 58a for lead vocal and guitars on kempers. “I have a strong relationship with Brit Row. They’ve been supporting us since 2012 and deliver a great service,” he said, praising the tour’s audio vendor. “I’m loyal and believe in people above brands.” Monitor Engineer, Michael Gibbard, who began his career with Britannia Row Productions, concurred: “I’ve worked with Brit Row for nearly two decades; I started my career there and will always try to have them support me with every artist I mix,” he added. “Their bespoke packaging and attention to the smallest detail make my life on the road easy.” An SSL L550 was Gibbard’s desk of choice, run on around 100 channels. For monitoring, he chose a 10-way Sennheiser SR 2050 system, which covered most of the band and technicians. Guitarist Charlie Burchill performed with a pair of d&b audiotechnik M2s in front of him as well as a few spot wedges dotted around the stage. Bassist Ged Grimes played with a single M2 in front of him. Gibbard utilised a MGB for multi tracking, TC 4000 and Bricasti M7 for specific drum reverbs, as well as a Rupert Neve Designs 5045 to cut some of the spill of the BV mics nearest the kit. “I’m about to implement a UAD live rack system I’ve just bought. The stuff on the desk is great, and I use at least seven other reverbs, two delays, transient shapers and a load of dynamic EQ. The G series bus compressor is outrageous and that’s used across several stems I send to mixes on stage,” he reported. “The standout piece of kit, however, has got to be the SSL; there’s some voodoo magic that happens in the mix bus of that console. It’s so good it feels like I’m cheating!” Gibbard recalled some of his favourite moments of the project. “There is nothing like seeing an arena package come together for the first time during rehearsals – especially having not really touched a desk for a few years. Another highlight was the band’s hometown gig at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro – the atmosphere was incredible, and we all know the Scots aren’t famous for being quiet,” he laughed. “It’s such an incredible feeling to be back touring again. People say you shouldn’t let your job define you. For me, this isn’t a job – it’s a way of life and my way of being creative. I live for it and couldn’t be happier to be back on the road.” GG concluded: “Touring is not only a job; it is a lifestyle. The COVID-19 pandemic not only deprived us of our work, but the way we live our lives. Being able to tour and create art for audiences again has been a blessing.” www.simpleminds.com www.britanniarow.com www.lcr-rental.com www.unipix.tv www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk www.brianyeardley.com/ www.stokholm.tech

FESTIVAL FOCUS 2022

After two years away, the festival season is back in full swing. TPi is on site to bring you the highlights from some of the world’s biggest and best festivals.

C’MON YOU KNOW AT KNEBWORTH PARK

Over 160,000 fans party across two days of Liam Gallagher’s C’Mon You Know shows, with support acts including Kasabian, Paolo Nutini and Michael Kiwanuka on Serious Stages 25m TZ Stage.

Photos: Graham Brown Twenty-five years since Liam Gallagher’s last big shows at Knebworth, the former Oasis frontman returned with the anthemic Rock N Roll Star, with a set combining ‘classics’ blended with material from his new album, C’mon You Know. Technical Production Manager, Dick Tee was employed by Festival Republic to support the delivery of the show. Surprisingly, given his vast experience, his only previous employment at this site of so many iconic concerts was a classical orchestra on the lawn of Knebworth House, two decades ago.

As ever, Melvin Benn, Festival Republic Managing Director, was attentive to all elements of this project and tailored the site to this audience. Tee picked up the story: “We met Liam’s Production Manager, Davey Murphy; Tour Manager, Neil Mather and Site Manager, Tim Spears beforehand. This is very much a Liam concert with support artists, rather than a festival setup, so we’ve worked closely with his team to make sure the look and feel of the site and production met their expectations.” Thiswasthefirstbigoutdoor‘back to work’ show for a lot of people after the two-year COVID-19 enforced pause. “While we can all remember ‘howtodoit’,Ithinkthereareafair fewpeoplewhoaren’t‘matchfit’,so it’s about allowing a bit more time for‘recall’.Therearealsoquiteafew new faces as we’ve lost a fair amount of experience from people crossing into other sectors during lockdown. Allowances have to be made across the team, with a recognition that everyone will be experiencing their own challenges and we have to pull each other through. If we add in the well-documented issues with the supply chain, labour shortages and rising costs, it has certainly been ‘backtowork’withabang.Ihaveto say, after supporting the BBC Events team for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend across the previous week, I’m certainly feeling back in the swing of things,” Tee reported.

Sunbelt is now a major player inthesectorthroughacquisition. “Theyareanew ‘brand’on-site, supplying trackways, tower-lights and generators,buttherearequiteafew familiar faces, who’ve stayed with the ‘acquired’companies,”Teeremarked. Itwasaknownquantityinterms of suppliers, with Serious Stages, Creative Technology (CT) for the IMAG screens, audio by Solotech and lighting provided by Neg Earth. “There has been a great deal of pressure on all suppliers to get back up to speed. I was very pleased to see Serious Stages deliver so well and on time, before we had to load in the technical production,” Tee concluded. “I’m familiar with this sixtower TZ-roof, having worked with it at Reading Festival over many years. It’s a tried-and-tested stage system, but it had an interesting loading ramp configurationinplacehere,duetothe sloped topography at Knebworth.” www.liamgallagher.com www.stages.co.uk

CAMEO OTOS H5 DEBUTS AT TANTE MIA TANZT

One of Germany’s largest open-air electronic music festivals relies on a range of technical infrastructure from Adam Hall Group, including Cameo’s new OTOS H5.

Photos: Adam Hall Group

Tante Mia Tanzt is the largest open-air electronic music event in northwestern Germany. This year, the event attracted around 20,000 visitors to the Stoppelmarkt grounds in Vechta, Lower Saxony with DJ acts such as Don Diablo, Felix Jaehn, Lost Frequencies, Monika Kruse and Wildstylez. Eventures was responsible for the event technical equipment at the open-air festival. Lighting Designer, Milan Spira relied entirely on moving lights from Cameo for the electro spectacle, including the new Cameo OTOS H5 hybrid beam spot wash fixture. ToenhancetheflairofanEDMfestivaland todigitisetheoverallimage,SpiraandVJ/ visualartist,ParisYilmazofClubkindVisuals, largelydispensedwithphysicalsetanddeco elements.Tofillthe‘gaps’inthesetdesign thatthisinevitablycreated,Spiraspecifieda largenumberofbeamlightsinadvance.After ashootoutwithdryhireproviderNicLen,the lightingdesignerdecidedonCameo’snew OTOSH5,amongothers,andthusgavethe IP65-capablebeamspotwashhybridmoving headstheirfestivalpremiereinGermany. “I’mafanofhybridfixtures,andtheOTOS H5sareaperfectfitforthisfestival,”explained Spira.“Itallowsmetocoveralllamptypesand usemoreofthesamefixtures,whichmakesit easiertooperate–especiallyatafestivalwith manydifferentactsandrequirements.” Inadditiontothehighlightoutput,Spira isalsoimpressedbythegobosetandcolour qualityoftheOTOSH5.Thelightingdesigner hadalreadyhadgoodexperienceswiththe CameoOPUSH5beamspotwashhybrid indoormovingheadsinthepast.Aswellas OTOSH5,numerousZENITW600SMDoutdoor LEDwashlightsandEVOSW3compactLED washmovingheadswereusedatthefestival. www.tantemiatanzt.de www.eventures-gmbh.com www.cameolight.com www.adamhall.com

FENIX SETS THE STAGE FOR FESTIVAL DE LES ARTS

Valencians commence the summer festival season with FENIX Stage infrastructure.

Photos: FENIX Stage

Located in the centre of Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia, Festival de les Arts’ seventh edition saw 28 artists from the Spanish indie music scene, such as Love of Lesbian, La M.O.D.A, Lori Meyers, Miss Caffeina, and Dorian, among others, perform in front of over 40,000 live music fans.

Through several rental and lifter companies, such as Babalu Group, FENIX Stage products were present at two stages, a catering zone, one VIP area, commercial stands and a space for children. “With more than 60 distributors across five continents, every month of the year we have big events that increase the factory’s workload. As Valencian manufacturers, our volume of work rises during the spring and summer months. However, thanks to the good weather and the proximity to the beach, the Valencian community is an optimal location for the celebration of summer festivals,” said FENIX Stage Sales Department Director, Julia Niza.

Rodrigo Crespo, Technical Engineer at FENIX Stage, explained why increasing numbers of festivals are relying on FENIX Stage solutions: “The versatility of the truss to build structures of different shapes, heights, widths makes it the perfect tool to transform spaces, quickly adapting them to themes or temporary events. It is a very stimulating challenge to design looking for a way to fit the structures together to fill the whole space creating a surprising, solid and safe installation.” Due to its easy assembly, creative flexibility, and reliability, most festival organisers opt for FENIX Stage’s silver 29ft by 29ft square truss (SQ-29). “As manufacturers, we like to go to the festival area and interact with the space,” Niza concluded. “Many ideas come to mind, not only for improvement, but also creative proposals that add value to the event or show.” www.festivaldelesarts.com www.fenixstage.com

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