[New] ROBBIE WILLIAMS XXV TOUR

There aren’t many modern artists that transcend generations and even fewer that have sold over 80 million albums globally. Robbie Williams is one of them. With a quarter of a century of stage time under his belt, the singer-songwriter’s live productions are synonymous with showmanship and technical creativity. This time around, Williams has set out his new manifesto. Gags make way for a stripped-back, 32-year musical journey featuring some of his greatest hits –reworked by Jules Buckley, Guy Chambers and Steve Sidwell, and re-recorded with the Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest – interspersed with anecdotes and brand-new tracks from his latest record, XXV

Filtering past the hoards of Robbie Williams faithful camped outside Manchester’s AO Arena up to five hours before doors are due to open on a three-night residency – a testament to the artist’s enduring popularity – TPi was escorted to the production office by Head of Security, Cary Nightingale.

Parachuted straight into the camp following Foo Fighters’ touching Taylor Hawkins tribute shows, Production Manager, John Lafferty adopted an ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ approach. “This is a relaxed camp,” he said. “Everybody works as a team. There are no dividing lines between departments and things flow a lot smoother that way.” As such, the tour’s suppliers remain largely the same, with Paul Normandale’s Lite Alternative Design handling production design, while Lite Alternative providing lighting and automation equipment in addition to existing vendors: Britannia Row Productions, Universal Pixels, The Shop, All Access Staging, Actus Industries, Surfhire, ER Productions, Popcorn Catering, Stagetruck, Beat The Street, Equinox Travel, Freight Minds, The Event Safety Shop, ISACAM, and Blink of an Eye.

“Our vendors share long-standing relationships within the camp and offer an excellent service,” Lafferty said, praising the additional support of Production Coordinator, Lizzie Adshead and Tour Director, Ade Bullock in the production office. “Their support and experience has been invaluable.”

Adshead has been involved in Williams’ solo live shows since 1999. “Over the years, his shows have grown in scale and become a lot more sophisticated, with my role becoming more all-encompassing as time has passed.” 2017s The Heavy Entertainment Show tour of stadiums was followed by several one-off performances and a 2018 tour of South America. “This tour is stripped back in comparison to his past few campaigns; he has gone back to his roots,” Adshead stated, recapping the past five years over a cup of tea in catering. “There’s always a nice family vibe on Robbie tours, which filters from the top down. The rest of the team are a pleasure to work with, and Robbie is a pure entertainer.”

Testament to Williams’ appeal is his ability to sell out London’s O2 arena over two dates at the start of the tour. “People thought it was too ambitious to have the O2 arena as our opener, but it couldn’t have gone any better,” reported Tour Director and Accountant, Ade Bullock. “We’ve tightened up this show to provide a slick show that is not overproduced. We, like most performing artists, are trying to reduce our footprint, so we’ve not got as many trucks as previously – our approach is simple and effective rather than spending vast quantities on lots of gags.”

According to Bullock, high demand throughout the industry is fuelling cost increases. “We’re struggling to secure buses for next summer, which is driving the market. Fuel costs are ridiculously expensive,” he added. “We have a European tour in Spring, so we are worried about the [Shengen’s] 90/180 day rule, [which dictates non-EEA nationals cannot spend more than a total of 90 days within a total period of 180 days in a European country without a visa]. The new ESTA system also does not come into effect until November, so we’re trying to work out how to get out between shows.”

This is compounded by experienced crew retiring or leaving the sector post-pandemic. “Thankfully, there are a lot of young people coming through, which is brilliant and there has been a real ‘changing of the guard’,” he said, acknowledging the challenges the wider sector faces. “Our biggest issue last Spring was air fares, which are gradually falling back in line, and we’re doing better deals with suppliers, who are also finding it difficult to get people and resources. We’re doing good business and I’m very relieved, but a lot of artists and their touring teams are going to struggle and are pulling tours because it is simply not efficient enough to operate.”

Despite this, there were pockets of positivity to be found around the Williams camp. “Every show seems to be getting better on this tour,” Bullock stated. “The audience and critics are really enjoying it, so I and the excellent team around me couldn’t be any happier.”

‘TOOLBOX TALK’

From swing to stadium tours, Rick Worsfold has been intermittently involved with Robbie Williams’ live shows since ’99, primarily as a member of the carpentry team. This time assuming stage management responsibilities, he orchestrated the logistics and personnel behind each production build. “We consider ourselves as one big family on this tour,” he said. “We collaborate to make the show as successful as possible.”

Head Set Carpenter, Jack Jaeger – who was freelancing on behalf of All Access Staging –marked out the staging area in the early hours of each build day and tipped two set trucks to prepare for stagehands to assist with the loadin. “The rest of the carp team come in an hour after and we’ll get the local crew together, have a bit of a ‘toolbox talk’ to organise the hands to a staging deck, and go through health and safety considerations,” he explained.

The first section of the stage is built carefully and slowly, until a rhythm is established. Then, like Meccano, stage elements – including building stage decks and the catwalk, adding video fascias, wiping down surfaces and marley – are slotted into place one-by-one and rolled into place by a 50ft by 40ft roller.

“A ll Access is a great company; all the prep and kit is great and reliable,” he remarked. “I started as a member of the local crew and as I’ve progressed into touring, I’ve taken elements of what I’ve learned along the way to teach others to keep the morale up to ensure we deliver our part of the show safely,” Jaeger said, sharing his journey into the sector. “Our kit can often be installed using common sense, but if I know a member of the crew is new and I notice their hesitancy, I’ll put an arm round their shoulder and reassure them to avoid injuries.”

Making sure the staging design remains central and head-on is one of the many challenges the team must contend with during each build.

“Sorting out the video fascias amid rehearsals was also difficult, as the sets were moved around, so there was a bit of ‘cutting and shutting’ involved to ensure they fit the newly worked stage design. Once they slotted into place, it felt like an achievement and it was probably my highlight during the build.”

‘A 32-YEAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY’

“The theme of this tour is to reflect the artist’s 25 years of being solo while also referencing his broader 32-year broader musical journey,” Production Designer, Paul Normandale of Lite Alternative said.

Universal Pixels provided 270 sq m of Leyard CLM10 LED panels, which was configured as a 25m by 8m upstage screen. A key piece of the production design was the transparent screen on the risers, which, thanks to Kinesys motors, could move and provide moments of separation and depth, as well as an interplay with the visuals on the other screens.

“A simple set with proximity to the band and importantly the audience is the focus by a central walkway and 300° steps at the tip,” Normandale explained. “An 84ft rear screen at the under stage edge means that sightlines are very open on the stage sides, and the lack of defined IMAG screens means that we can incorporate Robbie within the content in a diverse manner,” Normandale explained.

Universal Pixels engineered the moving aspect of the video screens to be as devoid of infrastructure as possible, commissioning Metal Man to create custom metalwork. In association with All Access Staging, a further 25 sq m of Leyard CLM6 was built into the risers to produce a neat solution, with frosted panels diffusing the Leyard 6mm LED product.

“A mid-stage series of Kinesys-controlled transparent screens provides a mechanical device for the opening of the show and a range of positions in relation to the rear screen, which adds depth and the perception of the images on both screens,” Normandale stated. “Robbie was very clear that we should not rely on gags he had experienced over his career – instead, choosing to present a simple forum for him to do what he does best: entertain.”

Previsualisation took place at Lite Alternative suites for five days prior to preproduction at Fly By Nite. Drawing inspiration from the artwork for the track Love My Life, and the aesthetics of Lite Alternative’s Depeche Mode-designed live shows, live footage was interspersed and overlaid with visual content created by The Shop, which has collaborated with Williams since 2014. Content ranged from fuzzy ’90s MTV archival looks to ska-inspired visuals, lyric singalongs, and a kaleidoscope of colours, through to Mod iconography, ’80s star wipes, and The 1975-style frosted panels, as well as clever film reel effects and pre-recorded orchestral content.

“T he content for several songs was based on some of Robbie’s own paintings, which was ideal to reflect his journey to empowerment, musically and visually,” Normandale noted.

Powered by 32 universes, two full-size MA Lighting grandMA3 consoles in MA2 mode, three NPUs and four Nodes, the lighting rig was made up of three flown, automated trusses (three Vs at the back, a W in the middle and one V-shaped truss at the front) as well as one long flown vertical truss lining the catwalk. “Paul is renowned for not using many lights, and while this design is no different, it is probably the most he has used on a show,” Lighting Director, Glen Johnson of Lite Alternative said, gesturing to the 278-strong rig – which was purposely designed to fit into every venue on the tour. “I have always thought that design should consider the practical aspects of the task at hand, such as speed of deployment, the fixtures’ roles and positioning, cabling, truck space and budget, which are all key parts of the design process,” Normandale explained.

“By employing three automated trusses behind the screen, we are able to keep the stage clean and provide floor light, screen blow through and aerial rear truss focus with a smaller footprint.”

A convention of Lite Alt shows, key members of the visual department were situated at FOH, from lasers to video, to aid the ease of communication. “It’s a head-on design,” Lighting Crew Chief, Chris Roper noted. “Paul has a ‘less is more’ approach to lighting design. Even though it is pre-rigged, there are not a lot of pre-rigged fixtures up there. Each 15ft section of the back three automated lighting trusses are identical all the way around, so the weight is distributed evenly. We collaborate with video to make the show run as efficiently as possible.”

Roper spots upstage during the show to ensure the safety of band and dancers, who filter on and off the stage throughout. It was here he described the benefits of the versatile rig. “Automation brings a lot more depth to the show, with fixtures able to fire over, under and through the flown video screens on Kinesys.”

A total of 43 Martin MAC Aura XB and 40 TMB Solaris Flare fixtures were housed across all flown trusses; 21 MAC Viper Profiles and 18 MAC Viper AirFXs lined all the trusses above the main stage; 13 Robe MegaPointes were placed on the back wall with seven housed above the catwalk, while 47 GLP impression X4 Bar 20 units lined the front and back of the circumference of the main stage and flown main stage trusses.

New to Johnson, four Robe Robin Forte light sources were utilised as followspots, with two flown centre stage and two on the end of a W-shaped truss above the main stage, alongside familiar Robert Juliat Lancelots. Eight Martin MAC Quantum Wash pixel circles on V truss also helped create Mod-inspired iconography to match the on-stage content during Williams’ rendition of Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger, providing a brief respite from their show-long focus on the backing dancers.

A further 32 Robert Juliat Dalis 862 lined the floor, the front of main stage and circumference of the catwalk, while 38 PROLIGHTS ArenaCOB4 FCs and 12 Halos made up the rig. “We selected lights that not only complement the design, but we are able to tour the whole of next year with. ArenaCOB4 FCs, 12 Halos and Solaris Flares provide heavy audience looks, and crowd participation plays such a key role in this show,” Johnson said. “As a very videoorientated production, the lighting design fits around the LED – I spend most of my time balancing the lighting with video and patching as a timecoded show.”

‘B alance, haze, balance’ was Johnson’s mantra when it came to overcoming the battle of overpowered AC in venues up and down the country post-pandemic. “It’s something we deal with,” he conceded. “We have four DF50s and a pair of Uniques Hazers to keep the stage clean and well-lit.”

Choosing his favourite look within the set, and a crowd favourite of many, Johnson explained the ingenuity of Angels. “You can change up the visuals dramatically with automation without adding a bucketload of lights,” Johnson stated. “Angels is without a doubt one of my favourite looks of the show. We alter the rig dramatically using Kinesys to create a ‘crown’ above Robbie as he performs a 10-minute acapella.”

‘FINDING CONTRAST AND INTEREST’

At FOH, Lead Laser Technician Jasper Sharp, freelancing for ER Productions, was embarking on his first pop tour, having operated primarily in rock and dance circles, which require a heavy reliance on special effects and lasers. “This is a very different beast; it is a clean-looking show, which makes for a nice change of pace,” he said. “Lasers and special effects are only used where and when required on this show.” Indeed, the first laser moment is harnessed subtly halfway through the set.

Sharp walked TPi through his rig. “We have 16 BB3s, split across the flown back wall and front of stage; none of them are scanning on the first look, they are just using a diffraction effect, which makes for a nice and clean look,” he explained. “Everything is, of course, well over head height, but the diffraction is safe for the audience; we try to throw into the auditorium as much as possible to provide full coverage.” Six additional EX 25 lasers were dotted around the rig. One unit created a tight corridor down the catwalk and thrust and another, a ‘cone’ effect used during Angels.

Sharp’s only challenge on the road was venue limitations. “I have to zone away from people, reflections and any potential hazards. Here [in AO Arena, Manchester] we are quite high – I’m shooting right up to the rafters, which is the only dead zone,” he said, describing the constant battle in venues to avoid hitting cameras. “Each venue is so varied in height. Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, for example, is lower in height so you can get looks that immerse the audience more, whereas we are pushing quite a bit higher in AO Arena and O2 arena. It still looks fantastic.”

Operating to timecode, Seth Griffiths programmed the show during rehearsals, with Sharp triggering lasers and effects using Pangolin BEYOND software for lasers and Magic Stadium Blowers, which are used for 15 seconds during Love My Life via DMX. “Loading the heavy CO2 bottles can be a bit of a slog as well as wrestling with the sole-sucking aircon – half the battle is trying to get enough atmospheric without murking up the stage.”

For a set heavy on LED, two songs within the set are purposely free from IMAG looks, to allow the lasers to have their moment and to allow RW to become part of the stage look with rear spots and a more ambient feel.

According to Sharp, Feel marked the first ‘real’ laser song, which is midway through the set and sees Williams drenched in deep purples and green coloured lasers with no video content other than an outline across the video step fascias and considered lighting. “Finding contrast and interest” was Normandale’s reasoning behind the record scratch-like moments within the set. “Feel is one of my favourite moments,” Sharp echoed. “It’s a goosebump-inducing performance. There’s also no downtime between tracks, so from upbeat Supreme straight into Fee l, which is just lasers and Robbie Williams, makes for a nice change of pace.”

‘A NIGHT OF ESCAPISM’ Video Director, Jon Shrimpton, who has cut cameras for Robbie Williams’ live shows for close to a decade, referred to the frontman as a “magnetic” performer, often vaudevillian in his approach. “There’s more rock show flavours and energy for this show, while retaining some of the orchestral moments of XXV,” he said, praising the production design. “Paul Normandale has a unique style and has added a different dynamic to proceedings.”

Universal Pixels provided Shrimpton with a camera package featuring a Grass Valley Kula 2ME 3G PPU, five Sony 4300 camera channels, and four Panasonic HE145 robo-cams. The two FOH cameras were housed on tripod dollies for “artistic repositioning” and “ease of access” with additional handhelds in the pit to capture the crowd interaction across the catwalk and thrust. “I love it when he performs down the bottle of the camera because the crowd – regardless of where they are in the arena –feel like they’re being spoken or performed to directly,” Shrimpton said, picking out some choice looks. “A wide shot from the back with him commanding the audience is also a favourite of mine.” Universal Pixels supplied Vision Engineer, Dicky Burford and Crew Chief, Steve Jones, alongside a handpicked crew of six to assist Shrimpton on the road.

“I ’m a stick in the mud for asking for familiar faces. While some of the crew are new, the rest have done countless Robbie shows with me,” he said, going on to praise the video vendor. “I was involved in Universal Pixels’ first ever gig, which was Robbie Williams’ 2017 New Year’s Eve show at Westminster Central Hall. It went out live on BBC One, which for their first show, kicked a lot of arse!”

Proud to be involved again, Universal Pixels’ Phil Mercer, commented: “There was a rigorous tendering process pre-tour, and UP is thrilled to have been involved again. While we have a long-standing relationship with Robbie’s touring team, you still have to put forward the correct solution for the project in terms of people and equipment. The results of this production speak for themselves.”

Video screens were fed by a pair of disguise gx 2c media servers – a main and a backup. “This is a show that if he performed under a spotlight with nothing else, it would work,” Miguel Ribeiro, Media Server Programmer and Operator said, praising the performing artist and the team behind the curtain. “The show is amazing because it’s not as extravagant but equally as impressive with the dynamic onscreen content, automation and lighting and sound design.”

Another stalwart of the camp, Ribeiro has been involved in Williams’ live projects since 2006. “Robbie’s shows are always a careful balance of pre-recorded, pre-rendered and live feed content. The live feed is cut with such musicality by Jon, which adds a dimension that no pre-rendered content can provide.”

The on-screen content married up with the live camera feed to complement each other. “The pacing varies depending on what is happening on stage and the BPM of his diverse and genre-spanning back catalogue,” he added. “We are constantly tweaking crossfade times and improving as each show progresses to make it as efficient as possible.”

Ribeiro praised the role of video within the production design. “The best part of Paul Normandale’s designs are the lack of distractions; it is simply the performing artists on stage and a design that complements it. I consider video as an additional member of the band, and it is used considerably – the content is synced with the on-stage performance.”

He picked out Eternity, a song in the middle of the set in Manchester, as among his favourite looks – a considered design featuring a digital orchestra and Robbie Williams centrally.

Gu y Chambers wrote and produced many of the songs with Williams, and according to Normandale, was very specific about the accuracy of the filmed orchestration. “Not many shows can achieve an adequate balance of pre-recorded and live camera feed content,” he reported. “We’re often complimented by the audience post-show, which isn’t very common, but very heart-warming.”

Summing up the XXV tour experience, Shrimpton said: “While there are some sensitive moments with nuance as he shares his story with the world, it’s an uplifting show and a good night of escapism – which I think audiences need amid the current climate!”

‘AUDIO IS A FUNDAMENTAL PART’ “As well as being a proper entertainer, Robbie is backed by a fantastic band, backing vocalists, choreographed dancers,” FOH Engineer, Joe Harling enthused. “It’s not just tracks by any means – the live horn section takes everything to the next level in my opinion.”

If t hat wasn’t enough to contend with, Williams, who performs with a Shure SM58 capsule, also spends a great deal of time performing in front of the PA system. “He gives a really good level, so it’s not been a problem,” said Harling, who had a DiGiCo Quantum 7 at his fingertips.

“This is the first time I’ve toured with a Quantum 7. I’m enjoying the extra features like Dynamic EQ and Multiband Compression. I stopped using plug-ins a while back, and those are the things I was missing, so it’s nice to have them available on the console. I’ve also got a lot of outboard gear – bits and pieces I’ve enjoyed experimenting with and using over the years.”

His rack of outboard gear featured a Kush Audio Fatso for main drum bus; a pair of Empirical Labs Distressors for Parallel drum bus; two Neve Shelford channels and DBX 510s for the bass group; an Empirical Labs Fatso for the horns; a Neve Shelford channel and Empirical Labs Derresser for lead vocals; a Neve 5045 Primary source enhancers for lead and backing vocals; an API 2500 and Kush Audio Clariphonic for the master bus; a pair of Bricasti M7 reverbs; two TC electronic reverb 4000s; an Eventide Eclipse; OTO Bim and Bam delay and reverb processors.

“Every song in the setlist is a hit; Angels and She’s The One always get a big reception. My favourite moments are some of the guitar solos, like Old Before I Die, when two guitarists join forces for a captivating moment,” Harling noted, praising the wider crew. “It’s good vibes all ‘round.”

Harling was joined in FOH by Technician, Giacomo Gasparini, who helped fly the delays when needed and recorded all the shows with 96 channels at 96K and System Engineer, Ben Phillips. “Robbie Williams always puts on a spectacular show,” said Phillips, who has worked with Britannia Row Productions on a freelance basis for over two decades.

The main PA system comprised K1 and K2 loudspeakers for front and side hangs; K3s for 270°; flown columns of KS28s; K1SBs and K2 for delays; A15, A10 and X8 around the stage for infill with KS28 ground subwoofers. The sound system was powered by LA12X amplifier controllers and L-Acoustics proprietary AVB processor and measurement platform, P1, for front end processing and distribution.

“Audio is a fundamental part of any show”, Phillips pointed out, and at a time when artists demand a clean and robust-looking production design, sometimes to the detriment of sound design, “Robbie Williams’ live shows always carry an impressive system”. He added: “It was nice to be involved with input way back in the show design phase and selecting where to put boxes which provide optimal coverage without compromising the overall vision of the show,” Phillips commented.

Monitor Engineer, Daniel Kent began mixing for Robbie Williams’ live shows in late 2019. After a brief pandemic-induced hiatus, he kicked off 2022 with a New Year show in Dubai. Since then, a mixture of arena dates and promotional shows, including a one-off homecoming show at Vale Park, home of Port Vale, and a 100,000-capacity outdoor show as part of Bavaria Sounds in Munich, Germany, has meant this campaign marks the first time Kent has been able drill down on the same show and perfect his mix.

“Despite performing in front of the PA, this is the cleanest it’s ever sounded. I’m impressed with the lack of colouration on him and the backing vocalists. The bleed from the PA is not noticeable, and I’m using noise reduction, which helps a lot but it’s a lot cleaner than I thought it would be,” Kent explained. “Normally, there’s a point where an artist gets halfway on the thrust and you really have to home in to prevent any delay, but there’s not been any problems at all.”

Joshua Graham, Audio Crew Chief and freelancer for Brit Row, was also pleased with the system. “There is a moment during the show where Robbie and his guitarist, Gary Nuttall, go to the front of the thrust and that always sounded great,” he remarked.

A convention on most arena tours nowadays, most mics were digital. The team harnessed Optocore DD32R-FX network units, having changed to wysiwyg IEMs. “All the in-ear monitors and radio mics are digital. We have around 64 channels going into the Optocore, so we’ve managed to reduce the size of our racks,” Kent explained. With around 70 traditional inputs, such as mics on cables with talkback mics and effects returns on-stage, Kent’s entire mix sat at around 150 inputs – mostly digital, to keep the footprint small while retaining flexibility. RF Coordinator, Lucy Mackinnon oversaw the deployment of 24 Wisycom IEM systems and 30 channels of Shure Axient Digital microphones and beltpacks. “We’ve had an amazing crew,” Mackinnon remarked. “It’s been another fantastic Brit Row tour.”

Surfhire provided a radio system using Motorola XPR3500e radios, handled licencing and multifunctional printers across multiple offices, Wi-Fi and VOIP phones.

Like Harling, Kent mixed the show on a DiGiCo Quantum. “I’ve used DiGiCo for a long time. It’s the first time I’ve used Quantum, which unleashes more processing options. There are new dynamics processing,” he said, explaining that most of the processing is done by the console. “For everything else, I’m using Bricasti reverbs, cedar noise suppression, as well as a couple bits of choice outboard gear.”

In t he build up to the tour, the team spent a lot of time in band rehearsals programming. On the road, Kent also harnessed the desk’s virtual soundcheck feature.

“This show is heavily automated with snapshots in between songs, which are fired to timecode. The setlist can vary depending on territory and the popularity of songs per region,” he said. “I multitrack-record everything we do, and I keep a log of songs, knowing they may return to the setlist, to prepare in advance.

There’s a lot of songs in the repertoire with no backing track, which makes it dynamic and keeps you on your toes.”

Kent dubbed “timing and tuning” as key to providing Robbie Williams with a balanced IEM mix, which not only allows him to stay in time, but provides him with a full band mix. “It’s crucial to allow him to feel part of the show through his mix because in-ears can sometimes feel quite isolating.” The band members, however, required a more tailored mix to their individual specification. “There’s a big impetus to the band being a big part of the show,” Kent pointed out.

Robbie Williams’ 20-date XXV European tour continues with further dates in Bologna, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona, among others. “He is a fantastic entertainer. This show is an ‘all the hits’ show, and he has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand,” Kent concluded. “Long may it continue!” www.robbiewilliams.com www.lite-alternative.com www.britanniarow.com www.universalpixels.com www.weareshop.co.uk www.allaccessuk.com www.actusindustries.com www.surfhire.net www.er-productions.com www.popcorncatering.com www.stagetruck.com www.beatthestreet.net www.equinox-charter.com www.freightminds.com www.the-eventsafetyshop.co.uk