HallyuPopFest descends on Europe with Symphotech.

HALLYUPOPFEST

TEG Live Europe brings HallyuPopFest to London’s Wembley Arena for its first European live show, entrusting Symphotech Director, Simon Barrington with managing the incoming production, venue, and artist liaison duties.

Words and photos: Graham Brown

Spanning two days in Wembley Arena, HallyuPopFest saw 14 different bands performing in a fast-moving visual spectacular, with a generous amount of special effects and high-quality audio, delivering a distinctly different live experience for fans in a format breaking from traditional Western rock or pop concerts.

The two show days consisted of three main elements: a VIP outdoor ‘red carpet’ arrival for 1,400 fans; an artist ‘meet and greet’ for VIP ticket holders; then the evening showcase, featuring up-and-coming artists, followed by the main headline show, which was a continuous concert featuring seven acts, linking the slickly choreographed sets into a three-hour show. In addition, HallyuTown, located 500m from the venue in its own marquee and outdoor space, was a Korean Government-funded economic/cultural experience to promote business links with around 30 Korean SMEs, which included food, beauty and lifestyle products.

“We’ve been working on this for eight months, although conversations began prepandemic with HAH Entertainment, HallyuPop’s Singapore promoters and founders. Alice Tan and Selina Ho have been key people from their side, supported by a very professional team that was critical to this working so well,” said Alex Nash, TEG Live Europe Promoter Representative and Operations Manager for HallyuPopFest. “HAH Entertainment brought an initial design to us and Wonkou Shin, their Show Director, fine-tuned every element of the live show.” Symphotech managed the production for all elements of HallyuPopFest and HallyuTown, liaising with the Korean producers, HAH Entertainment, MBC (Korean national broadcaster), Wembley Arena, Brent Council licensing authority and Wembley Park

landlords, Quintain. According to Symphotech Director, Simon Barrington, transporting HallyuPop’s Singapore formula to the UK was the central challenge.

“If we had simply picked up the format of the show from Singapore, it would not have worked here in Wembley,” he commented. “We had to reorder the programme to start with the outdoor red carpet, previously in the middle of the day, into the showcase event, before the main ‘headline’ performances. There were some marked cultural differences in how they could operate in the UK compared to Singapore and Korea – particularly around making late changes, which required detailed negotiations, mostly through translators.”

With “little to no technical advancing with the artists” the Symphotech team delivered the Korean show design, “going through every detail and making a lot of adjustments in advance”. Barrington explained: “We worked with Alex [Nash], to make sure the stage and screen design allowed for maximum audience capacity in Wembley Arena, accommodating a large FOH with raised cameras at the rear.” Barrington specified the UK suppliers. “Knowing this was going to be a busy festival

and concert season with shortages likely, I contracted suppliers early: Solotech for audio, lights from Colour Sound Experiment, video from 4Wall Entertainment, TAIT for staging, Ataka for local riggers, BPM SFX for special effects and lasers, Eat to The Beat for catering and DNG PEC for local crew. They are all companies I have enjoyed long, strong relationships with, so I not only wanted to make sure we secured them, but it meant budgets were fixed well in advance, which was important for the clients. We also brought in our own CP security and COVID-19 testing teams”.

The Wembley Square Red Carpet Stage was the first time that The Wembley Arena Square has been used for a live performance. Symphotech took the lead on health and safety and site use in discussions with the Wembley Park landlords, Quintain. “There have been red carpet events on the Square before, but this was the first time it’s hosted a stage as well,” Barrington noted. “In Singapore, there is lots of space around the venue to do the outdoor element of the show the clients are used to – that is not the case around Wembley. We brought in a covered stage, but the limited space in the Square meant that we had to dismantle barriers and carpet and secure the stage between the shows to allow for ingress and egress. Evolution Stages and UK Events Group gave us attentive, flexible service and working in that area was a great success.”

Barrington worked with Managing Director, Will Hodgson, who focused on the health and safety aspects of the red-carpet element and supported him on site throughout the weekend. Also on the job were Symphotech’s Dominic Walker and Jason Quinn, Stage Managers; Mish, Amy, Souren and Grace on artist liaison; and Russell Pate looking after HallyuTown management alongside Scott Leven looking after site safety.

With 14 artists all coming with their own entourage, the logistics were challenging. “We have been through a lot of changes to make the design work in Wembley,” Nash revealed. “Simon has the patience of a saint to take on a lot of updates for 14 artists being channelled through one director. We treat them all as headliners, with full production throughout the show, so it’s been full-on from the moment we started rehearsals. We’ve also run constant COVID-19 testing – something that was thrown into the mix last minute, with it now being a requirement to re-enter South Korea.”

Yet despite the challenges, Nash was very pleased with the results. “The appetite from the fans for bringing K-Pop to the UK was instantly apparent – we had 20,000-plus people register interest for tickets within 24 hours of announcing the dates,” he concluded. “The pandemic reduced the size of our team, so we refined our processes and infrastructure coming back to make this work. Without bringing in Symphotech, we would not have been able to deliver this show – especially given how detailed the Koreans are with what is a very technically advanced production.” www.hallyupopfest.com www.symphotech.co.uk

Symphotech Director, Simon Barrington; TEG Live Europe’s Promoter Representative and Operations Manager for HallyuPopFest, Alex Nash; Symphotech’s Will Hodgson.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

Californication sweeps the globe as Red Hot Chili Peppers and their intrepid touring team unite for their first world tour post-lockdown…

Words: Jacob Waite Photos: Mike Gray & TPi

Despite the mounting challenges to the global supply chain and workforce shortages in the wake of the pandemic, there’s a mantra within the Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP) touring camp of ‘patience, tolerance, understanding and a teacher’s heart’, which TPi is informed of by Production Manager, Narciso ‘Narci’ Martinez six dates into the band’s latest world tour at Emirates Old Trafford.

“The band are always pushing the envelope, creatively,” Narci began, embarking on his fourth world tour in 12 years with RHCP. “This has been an easy gig to staff because we are offering people three years of work at the tail end of a pandemic. We had a ‘test run’ in the US last year with another client, so we secured our assets and despite a few personnel changes since, we got a good metre on the challenges ahead and were largely able to address them.”

Supporting Narci with the day-to-day operations on the road are Tour Accountant, Timothy Duffy; Tour Accountant Assistant, Gwendolyn MacQueen; Production Coordinators, Heike Kraemer and Luke Bell; Backstage Coordinators, Joanne Conaty and Lyssa Bloom; Backstage Assistant, Cherry May; Venue Security, Armando Vera and Brett Weiss, along with Band Security, Ryan Wheeler and Andrew Philip. “I have reached up with my support staff for redundancy in case anything happens to me. I don’t micromanage, everyone has their gig to do, and it’s an open-door policy,” he added. “[COVID Compliance Officer] Amanda Ferriter deals with the paperwork associated with COVID-19. As a team, we acquire the data, navigate the regulations, and adhere to the guidelines in each region.” With five cases in the crew at the time of writing, the pandemic hasn’t slowed down the progress of the tour. “We’re redundant in most departments, so if we’re one person down, we have someone to fill their shoes,” he added. “We call it a strategy rather than a policy, and it has proven successful thus far.”

When the crew began the tour, a bubble formed around the band, with the crew taking all the usual necessary steps to mitigate the virus. “All of our shows are outdoors, so we don’t enforce the mask rule unless we’re in close quarters,” Narci revealed.

“The crew take antigen tests every day for five days if someone on the bus tests positive, but we only PCR if there are cases around the band,” he reported, adding that antigen tests are an “insignificant cost” for the value that they bring to proceedings. The tour’s technical suppliers came in the shape of Xpeditious freighting, Beat The Street buses; Pieter Smit trucks; Clair Global audio; Premier Global Production lighting; Colonel Tom Touring video; Twenty Three set design; Wickley Worldwide supplied staging; Rad Island media servers; Setup Designs content creation; Consumer Recreation Services rigging and motors, as well as The Powershop, Guardian Barrier Services, and Earshot Radios.

Narci acknowledged the additional layers of expense when budgeting a modern-day tour. “The cost of everything is elevated post-pandemic. Everything costs more but we’re also operating on a larger scale, so we’re probably better profitability wise, than we were when we were operating in indoor venues.”

With a lack of clarity on Brexit rules and cabotage, Narci was happy to enlist the support of Pieter Smit to transport the crew’s gear from A to B. “When I was trying to lock in trucking a year ago, there was a lot of ambiguity surrounding UK trucking companies. I’ve had Pieter Smit as a sub hire on prior tours and their Lead Driver, Jasik Jacek, is one of the best I’ve had in my past 27 years of touring.”

Lead Bus Driver, Kevin Watson oversaw a team of four drivers, while Lead Truck Driver,

Jasik Jacek oversaw a team of 24 drivers. “It was a pleasure to work with this production,” Pieter Smit’s Steven Kroon commented. “The schedule was brutal, but doable. A few double drives were needed. Our drivers were happy during and after the tour – this is always a good indicator for me. Even with the tough schedule, our people had their spirits up. This means that production had everything sorted: parking spaces, catering and even massages were available for touring crew. We are looking forward to working with the RHCP again.”

Head Rigger, Gabriel Wood was joined by Automation Rigger, Jefferey Breisacher and Rigger, Charles Anderson on the road. While the stage and carpentry team was made up of Stage Manager, Guy Habosha and Assistant Stage Manager, Joshua Perree; Electrician, James Evans; Head Carpenter, Jason Spisak; Barricade and Carpenter, Craig Edwards; Carpenters, Justin Johnson, Steven Davidson and Charles Philips. Affectionately referring to his riggers and carpentry team as his airforce and marines, Narci highlighted the shortage of local labour in each pitstop along the tour. “Although we’re not short on riggers, they’re short on experience given the past two years, so there’s an opportunity for our rigging team to practice patience, tolerance, understanding and a teacher’s heart. We need to build an environment for support staff. “We’re still finding success among the challenges,” Narci noted, praising his battlehardened crew. “If we all adopt this mentality, we’ll get the operations side of the business back to where it needs to be. The consumer demand for production value is there, but we need local support staff and infrastructure to support that.”

‘100% LIVE’ With a setlist handwritten each show day by Anthony ‘AK’ Kiedis, the team are kept firmly on their toes. “There are a few consistent songs, but they can be all over the place, so it can be a challenge for the creative team to curate content for up to 45 songs. Above all, this is a band with real music – nothing is on track, it is 100% live,” Narci said, recounting the team’s role of amplifying the band’s energy using cutting-edge production techniques. “Having John Frusciante back has added a refreshing element and definitely elevated proceedings.”

The focal point of the production design was a giant sloping central video screen, dubbed the ‘halfpipe’, ‘the wave’ or the ‘clam’, depending on which member of the crew you spoke to. This structure, constructed using a combination of 968 ROE Visual CB8 full and half tiles, had seven sections – the roof or ‘lip’, a ceiling, an upstage curve, a back wall, floor curve, an LED floor, and a curve down to the ground. This was flanked by IMAG screens made of 160 ROE Visual CB5 9mm LED panels.

Twenty Three designed and manufactured six trailers worth of materials for the central video set, including a ceiling, back wall and video deck, with all elements connected seamlessly by bespoke curved video sections. “When Narci explained the concept and timeframe, we thought it was impossible. Build up procedure, wind load study, and quick mechanical disconnections are just a few challenges posed with building a structure like this,” Twenty Three CEO, Kristof Soreyn said. With offices located in China, Belgium and the US, Twenty Three enlisted an international team of highly qualified engineers to come up with a solution. “After a careful evaluation, we divided the project into segments. Our Belgium and China design and manufacturing teams could work around the clock, to turn around six trailers of customised mechanical elements in just two months,” Soreyn stated.

“The structure is heavy and we have different stages in different regions, as well as festivals, so we can go from an A rig to a B and C rig; the first two are similar bar trim heights, so we lose a row. The LED floor and the ceiling are cut for the festival configuration,” explained Video Crew Chief, Tyler Raphalian, who also operated robo cameras during the set.

“Getting the tiles to line up seamlessly is a challenge,” Raphalian pointed out. “The roof is not like a truss. It needs to be where it’s at, so that poses lots of challenges. The tiles on the floor and ceiling also must be hand slid into place, so everything is cabled up each day, like a permanent install. The support of Major Tom is invaluable on the road. Anything you need, they have solutions for. I can talk directly to the owner without several degrees of separation.”

Video Director, George Elizondo walked TPi through his creative process. “We have come

out hard, straight into stadiums,” he began. “There are a lot of new songs on the setlists, and the fact that Frusciante is back means there is huge contingency on stage. Each four personalities get equal airtime, which is my primary goal. The band’s performance varies each night, so it keeps me on my toes.”

Elizondo explained his approach to artistic visual narration. “With shooting in stadiums, we must be conscious of ensuring everyone can see what is happening on stage, blended with a level of artistry as opposed to just capturing them in a static way. Some of my favourite looks are the intimate relationship shots between Flea and John when they jam together. I go between tights of what they’re doing and then to a two shot to document the emotion of their faces. From where I’m sitting every night, it appears the group is back to its best and they’re having a blast on stage.”

Video Engineer, Shane Watson handled CCUing the iris levels of three handheld cameras, four robo cameras and three POV cameras. “I built this Ross Video-based 4K system 10 days before rehearsals, due to supply chain issues,” he remarked. The video feed travelled to media servers, located in FOH, via 12 lines of MPT12 fibre cable – spanning approximately 500ft in length where video content could be manipulated by Resolume and

TouchDesigner media servers on an MA Lighting grandMA3 by VJ, Joshua Upton.

Technology Integrator, Laith Dixon of Rad Island oversaw programming lighting and video on the tour in coordination with several people in the visual team and managed FOH technology, lighting consoles, media servers, and an ‘intensive’ networking system.

“Half of my role is to be creative, the other is to make sure everything works,” said Dixon who, in conjunction with Colonel Tom, provided his personally owned media servers and FOH infrastructure. “On some tours I programme everything, and on some I programme just lights or video and the creative team headed up by Scott Holhaus or department heads will programme,” he explained. “It depends on where we think the needs are, what we want the show to look like and who’s skills best align to maximise our collective efficiency.”

On this tour, Dixon controlled the media servers, while the creative work was achieved by other members of the camp. The backbone of creative content is achieved within discreet TouchDesigner and Resolume media servers, which the team bounced back and forth from during the show. “Our principal content is produced by Setup Designs, who create the majority of content, effects and generative looks from using TouchDesigner,” he noted. “Everything is generated live. We recall those scenes and Josh drives parameters like shape, swell, and growth of the visuals by using an MA Lighting grandMA3 console run in MA2 mode.”

The creative team experimented with varying looks and techniques in rehearsals based on the back catalogue of the band. “Chasing IMAG ISOs with the band on the screen is something we’re portraying on this rig. It’s been cool, challenging, and beautiful to experiment with this. We sometimes see members of the band turn around and look at the wall and look equally perplexed and pleased,” Upton said.

Generated and manipulated content brought a ‘new school’ feeling to RHCP’s trademark IMAG-heavy live looks. “The content is playful, so as we progress over the next two years, the looks will develop, evolve, and take on a life of their own. No two shows are alike,” Upton stated.

“We play content to the music as soon as the setlists come through, and flow in different directions. Sometimes we get to play around with songs. One of my favourite looks is Give It Away, which is a portrait design with different shapes and realms. By The Way’s stained-glass aesthetic is an equally big and powerful look.”

Video content was bitmapped to align with the lights on the centre screen, as an extension of ‘the clam’, to create a 3D visual experience. “The entire visual rig is backwards compatible. It’s an energetic show, so we need to keep pace with that,” Upton reported.

“With the technology age that we’re in, defining that middle point between live and digital consumption, like social media, is what we strive for. We’re all trying to figure out that middle ground.”

The video team was made up of Video Director, George Elizondo; Video Crew Chief, Tyler Raphalian; Video Engineer, Shane Watson; VJ, Joshua Upton; Lead LED Technician, Keith Blackard; Video, Carp and LED Technician, Jordon Wyment; Camera Operators and LED Technicians, Jeff Apregan, Stephan Peters, Christopher Small, and Michael Wilson.

Technology Integrator, Leif Dixon; Lighting Designer, Scott Holthaus; Lighting Crew Chief, Peter Schofield; Lighting Technicians, Kurt Crosley, Kenneth Lansden, Colt Hester, and Matthias Vollrath; Dimmer Technician, Timothy Gallup; Lighting Technician and Robospot Operator, Amanda Ritchie, also featured.

‘PROPONENTS OF ANALOGUE SOUND’ “We started with a Yamaha RIVAGE PM5, a RIVAGE PM3 for broadcast, and two DiGiCo SD7s on stage. Once we started with rehearsals, the band made it apparent that they would rather have analogue consoles, if possible. John Frusciante in particular is a very strong proponent of analogue sound and asked us to explore some options,” FOH Engineer, Toby Francis recalled.

With the channel count, 50-plus inputs and effects returns required for the show, Francis and FOH Technician, Andrew Kastrinelis – who’s charge was integrating analogue and digital workflows – specified Rupert Neve Designs RMP-D8 preamps on stage, which was shared between FOH and Broadcast Mixer, Bo Bodnar on a Dante split.

“We looked at cable length, as some of the shows are 500ft away from the preamps. There was no way to deliver an analogue snake that long and it would sound horrible anyway, so we started experimenting with different ways of doing it,” Francis said.

“We converted the preamps to Dante, while it’s in the Dante realm, we split it in different ways for virtual sound check, while RedNet switches convert it back to analogue to experiment with the level.” While in the Dante realm, Francis interjected UAD servers to the drum channels to create effects.

“I have two AMS levers, one hardware unit and the other virtual. After looking at a series of consoles, we decided on a Yamaha PM5000. It is a great-sounding desk. All the faders, mutes, and sends can be automated. I also use a StreamDeck because managing snapshots on a 20-year-old computer isn’t always easy,” Francis explained. “RHCP are a rock, pop, funk, reggae, jam, jazz, fusion and progressive band all-in-one, and we never know what direction they might take with their delivery, so I required a desk that can go from song to song quickly, and handle dynamic changes across the console,” he noted.

FOH Technician, Andrew Kastrinelis helped maintain the upkeep of the analogue gear on the road. “It’s a remarkably heavy setup; we’re clocking in at over 900lb at FOH with just the console. The support of Clair has been excellent, particularly Tim Omel in the US,” he said, praising the tour’s audio vendor. “Equally, having the Los Angeles shop 30 minutes from rehearsals made it very convenient for us. We were afforded the freedom to trial some analogue gear and ‘torture test’ some of wares to figure out their flaws, learn the warnings and see the signs

The Video Crew; FOH Technician, Andrew Kastrinelis and FOH Engineer, Toby Francis; Monitor Engineer, Matthew Andrade.

before we hit the road. I don’t know another company that can send you three Massenburg DesignWorks EQs overnight and have them the next day. No matter what we asked for, we had them the next day.”

The PA of choice was a d&b audiotechnik GSL system, with J-Series delays in Europe and KSL Stateside. “We purchased this for the tour due to the rear rejection – the band doesn’t want to hear or feel the PA on the stage. We tested all the PAs and configurations and this came out on top. This is the first PA I’ve chosen solely by standing behind it. We were amazed at the rejection, and after using it, the coverage and how the ArrayProcessing works is perfect for this application. We’re playing stadiums, which are arguably the worst acoustic environments possible, so any extra clarity is huge for this type of tour,” Francis enthused.

“The sheer amount of power the PA has behind it is impressive. When you hear the drums rattle through the PA, it hits you right in the chest and you can feel it,” Kastrinelis added.

“This band has a shit tonne of great songs and they change the setlist from night to night. Certain songs strike chords with the audience more than others, but this band jams. It’s a truly unique music performance, which master musicians will put on, all vibe and feel – each show is different,” Francis added. “We’re still looking to enhance this setup with more outboard gear for improved tonality. Matthew Andrade, Monitor Engineer for John Fruscinate and Flea, mixed on a Yamaha PM1000 console. While fellow Monitor Engineer, Vish Wadi mixed the rest of the band’s JH Audio 16 Version 2s in-ear mix on a DiGiCo SD7 console.

“I’ve been a big fan of this band since the Nineties, so it has been a dream gig to walk into,” Andrade began. “I had to adapt to using an analogue console after spending the past decade on digital consoles, where everything is easily accessible at your fingertips. However, I learned my craft on analogue consoles, so it’s been nice to return to it. With analogue, your remit for automation is limited, so you need to approach it differently and more creatively. It certainly has a much ‘warmer’ sound than digital consoles.”

Audix OM7 microphones have been the band’s choice for the past 30 years. Andrade updated the band’s pre-existing rack of outboard gear to get the mix to a place he was happy with, and the quality he and the band of analogue enthusiasts strived for.

“There were some mental barriers I had to break through because I was so attuned to the digital workflow but keeping the mix simple and minimalistic has proved successful. The challenge has been to develop a mix that isn’t too loud for the band on stage with amplification behind them, so while John’s guitar sits a little lower in my ears, it’s a good balance for them on stage, with that added realworld amplification of on-stage instruments.” The audio team comprised FOH Engineer, Toby Francis; FOH Technician, Andrew Kastrinelis; Monitor Engineers, Vish Wadi and Matthew Andrade; Monitor Technician, Takayuki Nakai; Broadcast Engineer, Ethan Mates; Systems Engineer, Ville Kauhanen; SR Fly, Thiago Henrique Costa Borges; SL Fly, Gregory Philip Vierley II; Delays, Patrick Anthony Saint John; Mix Engineer, Bo Bodnar and Audio Technician, Justin Smith. Backline Crew Chief, Philip Dannemann; Drum Technician, Christopher Warren; Guitar Technician, Henry Trejo; Bass Technician, Tracy Robar.

Recalling the joy of being back on the road, mixing some of his biggest shows to date, Andrade beamed with enthusiasm: “It’s been a pleasure to watch and mix an ever-changing setlist of older stuff that is so raw, grimey and punk rock through to the melodic, musical and dynamic tracks,” Andrade said, going on to praise the support of Clair. “My first tour was with Clair in 2011, fastforward a decade and I’m mixing with one of my favourite bands.” www.redhotchilipeppers.com www.xpeditiousunlimited.com www.beatthestreet.net www.pietersmit.com www.clairglobal.com www.premierglobalproduction.com www.coloneltomtouring.com www.setup.design www.thepowershop.eu www.guardianbarrierservices.com