TPi January 2020 - #245 by Mondiale Media

TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL LIVE EVENT DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY • JANUARY 2020 • ISSUE 245

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

Pushing live touring production to the limit

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LIAM GALLAGHER • AJ TRACEY: LIVE & DIRECT • SPLNTR • PSA: EVENT SAFETY SUMMIT REPORT TOOL • MARKET FOCUS: AUDIO CONSOLES • GEAR HEADS: CODA AUDIO N-APS • QLIMAX • ADE

JANUARY 2020 #245

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EDITOR’S LETTER

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BGV D8 D8Plus BGV C1 Capacity 125 kg – 2500 kg Great Scott... I’m currently writing this from the past… from way back in 2019. As has become a TPi tradition, we are sending our January issue to print before the annual Christmas gorging session. As we tie up all the loose ends from the past 12 months, I would like to thank the TPi family for all their hard work. Jacob, Lyndsey, Harley, Hannah, Peter and James – you’ve all smashed it in 2019 and I look forward to another year of gigs, festivals and tradeshows. In this issue, we have a nice variety from electro pioneers to cult icons and a true rock ’n’ roll star. Cover stars, The Chemical Brothers rounded off an intensive year of touring their No Geography album, a production which was the true definition of lighting and video integration (pg. 32). Also, during my trip to the States for LDI and the Events Safety Summit, I managed to squeeze a visit to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to witness Tool’s latest live production – a tick off my 15-year-old bucket list (pg. 46). Meanwhile, back in the UK, Jacob caught up with the Liam Gallagher crew embarking on the singer’s return to UK arenas (pg. 58). Looking forward, we already have a busy 2020 on the horizon. Along with our usual timetable of gigs, we have NAMM and ISE in quick succession and then, of course, just around the corner is the TPi Awards. Turn to page page 30 to check out this year’s shortlist nominees. Tickets are still on sale and can be purchased from www.tpiawards.com. Till next time Stew Hume Editor

EDITOR Stew Hume Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8385 Mobile: +44 (0)7702 054344 e-mail: s.hume@mondiale.co.uk

STAFF WRITER Jacob Waite Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8352 Mobile: +44 (0)7592 679612 e-mail: j.waite@mondiale.co.uk

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COVER The Chemical Brothers by Ray Baseley

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Hannah Eakins Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7760 485230 e-mail: h.eakins@mondiale.co.uk

Issue 245 – January 2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE Justin Gawne Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7768 850767 e-mail: j.gawne@mondiale.co.uk GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION Dan Seaton: d.seaton@mondiale.co.uk Sonam Diki: s.diki@mondiale.co.uk

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TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL is a controlled circulation magazine, published 12 times a year by Mondiale Media Limited under licence. ISSN 1461-3786 Copyright © 2019 Mondiale Media Limited. All contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, in any form whatsoever, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Every effort is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication but neither Mondiale Media Ltd, nor the Editor, can be held responsible for its contents or any consequential loss or damage resulting from information published. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Publishers or Editor. The Publishers accept no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, illustrations, advertising materials or artwork. Total Production International USPS: (ISSN 1461 3786) is published 12 times a year by Mondiale Media Limited United Kingdom. The 2019 US annual subscription price is 117USD. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by Agent named Air Business, C/O WorldNet Shipping USA Inc., 155-11 146th Avenue, Jamaica, New York, NY11434. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Total Production International, Air Business Ltd, C/O WorldNet Shipping USA Inc., 155-11 146th Avenue, Jamaica, New York, NY11434. Subscription records are maintained at Mondiale Media Ltd. Waterloo Place, Watson Square, Stockport, SK1 3AZ, UK.

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ITINERARY

EVENT FOCUS

Amsterdam Dance Event Think! AV and Funktion-One are onsite for the dance music gathering.

12 14

UK Festival Awards The 16th edition of UKFA honours this year’s winners at Troxy, London.

Alan Walker: Aviation An Allen & Heath dLive Wing system covers the Norwegian multi-platinum DJ.

18 20

Light Design The rental house becomes the UK’s first to stock Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures.

AJ Tracey The posterboy of London’s urban scene embarks on sold-out Ally Pally shows.

SPLNTR Avolites rolls out an immersive projection installation in Las Vegas.

The Chemical Brothers Stew witnesses one of the most talked about shows on the planet.

46 Tool The cult icons return with an awe-inspiring production feast. 58

Liam Gallagher The rock ’n’ roll star rolls back the years with shows across the UK and Ireland.

MARKET FOCUS 72

TPi takes a look at the leading forces in the audio console department.

PRODUCTION FUTURES 80

Cobra 3.1

Qlimax Backbone International teams with Q-dance for the Dutch dance festival.

PRODUCTION PROFILE 32

Fog is our passion!

23-year-old South Korean LD Jason HyoYoung Ahn shares his story.

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INTERVIEW 84

ALD’s Ian Saunders discusses the association’s working history.

GEAR HEADS 86

An overview of the CODA Audio N-APS.

PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE 90

PSA’s Andy Lenthall shares key insights from this year’s Event Safety Summit.

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS 93

The latest movers and shakers.

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BACK CHAT 98

Beat the Street’s Jörg Philipp takes the hot seat.

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EVENT FOCUS

AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT Think! AV and Funktion-One put the ‘dance’ into ADE.

Doubling as both a music conference and festival, Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is widely recognised as the global meeting point for the electronic music community. Featuring more than 1,000 events in almost 200 locations, the five-day programme shapes the malleable DNA of the city into a beating metropolis of dance education and culture. At the event’s heart were a whole host of Funktion-One sound systems. Funktion-One rental partner, Think! AV, cleared out its stock and sub-hired extra systems from the European rental network to supply omore than 560 loudspeakers to Dockyard and Mystic Garden Festival, Into the Woods, DGTL, Strafwerk & Elrow Festival, and Beatport, as well as several smaller systems in clubs. Think! AV’s Remco van der Werff explained what makes ADE so special: “It’s total madness,” he began. “All the record labels and promoters are in Amsterdam to network, party and do pop-up events and festivals. For the lovers of electronic music, it’s almost a full week of high-quality events with very good artists.” When asked about the increasing demand for Funktion-One and Think! AV’s services, he commented: “A couple of our regular customers organised their own outdoor festivals – all at the same time. “Furthermore, there were a lot of small events throughout Amsterdam, which were run by promoters who wanted to work with us. The clubs opened all their rooms, so some of them needed extra systems, monitor

systems and DJ-backline gear, which we supplied in large amounts throughout the city.” Dockyard and Mystic Garden joined forces to present a one-day event with over 50 artists at Havenpark – an expansive events space located 20 minutes from the city centre. Think! AV supplied all eight stages with a range of Funktion-One systems: Machine (eight Evo 7EHs with six F215 Mk2s and 24 F124s), Figure (16 Res 5s with 21 F221s), Mindshake (Evo 7 Touring with 24 F221s), Once Upon A Time (Evo Touring with 24 F124s), Treehouse (eight Res 4 Tourings with 24 F218 Mk1s), GEM (16 Res 5s with 28 F121s and seven F221s), Unpaved (Dance Stack system) and Tijdmasjien (six Res 4s). A range of monitor systems were deployed, including the PSM318. While van der Werff was pleased with the overall set-up, he was especially happy with one particular system: “The large stacked Evo 7T/ F221 system at Mindshake sounded very nice and the sub-control was very good as well. With some infills and delays, the whole dancefloor had a very impactful and even coverage.” Tania Davidson from organiser Faul Productions added: “Our event at ADE was amazing – our best ADE to date. The combination of creativity and music came across really well to our audience. The excitement of the crowd was really tangible at some points. That was really cool.” Davidson continued to highlight the importance of high-quality sound. “Sound is a really important element of the events that we do because, 08

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AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT

without the sound – without being able to feel the music through your entire body to the point where it moves you to dance – the music does not truly impact the audience. Our music is not meant to be listened to passively. It is meant to carry our guests physically and emotionally into another place where all that matters is the music and how it makes you feel. Without the proper sound installation, this is just not possible.” She continued: “We believe that the clarity of the Funktion-One system is unmatched. The depth of the sound and the layers really come through without being overpowered by the bass. The balance of the sound with a Funktion-One system that is properly tuned is, for us, the best experience that we can give our audience.” Davidson added that working with Think! AV is always a pleasure: “They are always really helpful and professional. They understand the system so well and they understand our needs.” Into the Woods took place over two days, on the Friday and Saturday of ADE, at NDSM – a converted dockyard on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The festival warmed up on the first day with three stages before exploding into life on the Saturday with six stages, all supplied by Think! AV. Vakwerk was home to a Res 4 and F218Mk1 system, Kathedraal had an Evo 7 Touring and F221 combo, Barn featured a Res 5 with F218Mk1 bass, Treehouse also used an Evo 7 Touring with F221 plus F215Mk2, a Res 4 and F221 system was deployed at Circus, while Koperen Hond used Res 2s with BR speakers. Into the Woods organiser, Timo Spruitenburg, commented: “Every music lover wants good sound quality – without good sound, one of the most important elements of a party is missing. The NDSM wharf is located

close to the inhabited part of the city and very close to many apartments. Every year, it is a challenge to create as much sound pressure on the dancefloor as possible and as little as possible in the neighbourhood. With Funktion-One, we are very successful in achieving this.” DGTL presented five events over four days at NDSM. Richie Hawtin joined Modeselektor (Live) on Wednesday. Two events on Thursday were headlined by Rüfüs Du Sol and Marcel Dettmann. Oribital (Live) and Floating Points (Live) topped the bill on Friday, while Bonobo and The Black Madonna closed the series of parties on Saturday evening. Think! AV deployed its Vero vertically arrayed system in the main Scheepsbouwloods arena. It comprised left and right hangs of three Vero V60s (60° dispersion), two V90s (90° dispersion) and three V315 mid-bass, with low-end reinforcement from 20 V221s double-21in bass enclosures. Infill and delays were covered by various models from the Evo Series, while PSM318s handled DJ monitoring. “For DGTL, we supplied a sound system to the Scheepsbouwloods at the NDSM site for the first time,” van der Werff commented. “Here we used a Vero system with Evo 7 and Evo 6 delays and fills. The acoustics were challenging, as its mostly concrete with a number of thick concrete pillars, plus the room is very long with a low ceiling. “Vero’s flexibility – with different performance attributes in the same size enclosure – meant we could design a system that worked very well. We used more narrow-dispersion V60 cabinets than V90s because of the throw we needed. Due to the low ceiling, we ground-stacked a few extra V315s 10

AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT

onto the V221 subs next to the Evo 6 infills. We were really happy with the result and received some very positive feedback about the sound from the promoter and partygoers”. The system in the second area at DGTL featured six Evo 6EH speakers with four F215 Mk2s and eight F218 Mk1 bass units, and two F1201s for infill. The monitor system comprised two PSM12s with a pair of BR118 bass reflex speakers. A Vero system was also deployed at Strafwerk & Elrow Festival – two V60s, two V90s and three V315s (flown) with 10 ground-stacked V221 bass enclosures. Res 2SHs and Res 2s handled infill, outfill and delays, while four F1201s covered the VIP deck. PSM318s were chosen for monitoring. Beatport teamed up with David Guetta performing as Jack Back for a party in A’DAM Tower, mixing world-class DJ talent with the stunning backdrop of the Amsterdam’s cityscape. The system featured two stacks of two Evo 7Es and two F221s, with PSM318 DJ monitors. Beatport’s Ed Hill said: “Funktion-One transformed the venue we used for our event with David Guetta, and everyone was blown away by the sound. The artists and fans were treated to such an awesome aural experience – it really helped elevate the night from great to very special.” FFA amplification and NST Audio processing were used across all events

and a range of analogue and digital desks from Midas, Allen & Heath and DiGiCo were used. Think! AV also supplied additional equipment to venues like De School and Shelter, which have installed Funktion-One systems. The company’s System Designer Ted Beets said: “We used all available Funktion-One systems – cabinets from the F-Series, all our Resolution top cabinets, all Evo 6 and Evo 7 systems, two Vero systems and almost 300 subs. We designed a specific system for each stage to make it sound as good as possible, taking into account the dimensions of the space in question – wide or narrow, a flown set-up, a stacked one with or without delays, and so on. “Amsterdam has very strict regulations about noise, so we used cardioid sub-lines on all stages to make sure the sub-pressure was on the dancefloor with minimal spill into the surrounding environments. This worked out very well with all types of Funktion-One subs.” TPi Photos: Funktion-One www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl www.funktion-one.com www.think-av.nl

EVENT FOCUS

UK FESTIVAL AWARDS 2019: THE WINNERS The 16th edition of UKFA honours this year’s winners at Troxy in London.

With various categories for all aspects of festivals that have taken place in the UK – as well as one category for European festivals – the annual UK Festival Awards (UKFA) recognise and celebrate the collective achievements of projects and personnel throughout the British festival industry. Since 2017, the UKFA have been held at Troxy, the music and events venue in Stepney, London. Returning to a familiar stomping ground, all corners of the festival industry gathered on 5 December, hoping to take home one of the 21 prestigious accolades.

Presented by rapper, comedian and actor Doc Brown, the UKFA ceremony was book-ended by an extended drinks reception and in-house afterparty with music from DJ duo, Scratch Perverts. Speaking at the ceremony, Michael Baker, Awards Manager for the UK Festival Awards, commented: “We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all of those who participated in and attended the UK Festival Awards 2019, including all of our sponsors, supporters and judges. We’ll see you next year for the Awards’ 17th edition.”

UK FESTIVAL AWARDS 2019

The 2019 winners of the UK Festival Awards are as follows: THE INNOVATION AWARD Hubbub Wireless at 2000trees CONCESSION OF THE YEAR Happy Maki

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THE WOMEN IN FESTIVAL AWARD Jenny Hamada MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR NASS Festival BEST FESTIVAL PRODUCTION All Points East AGENCY OF THE YEAR Midnight Mango THE BRAND ACTIVATION AWARD United Utilities at Bluedot & Kendal Calling LINE-UP OF THE YEAR Parklife BEST NON-MUSIC FESTIVAL Cleethorpes Festival of the Sky BEST FESTIVAL FOR EMERGING TALENT FOCUS Wales PROMOTER OF THE YEAR Black Deer Festival BEST FAMILY FESTIVAL Camp Bestival

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THE UK GREENER FESTIVAL AWARD Green Gathering THE GRASSROOTS FESTIVAL AWARD Mad Hatters’ Affair BEST OVERSEAS FESTIVAL Sziget Festival BEST NEW FESTIVAL Cleethorpes Festival of the Sky BEST METROPOLITAN FESTIVAL Tramlines Festival BEST SMALL FESTIVAL Woo Fest BEST MEDIUM-SIZED FESTIVAL Bluedot Festival BEST MAJOR FESTIVAL Download Festival THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO FESTIVALS AWARD Fiona Measham TPi Photos: UKFA www.festivalawards.com

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EVENT FOCUS

SPLNTR As Avolites welcomes the industry to an immersive projection installation in Las Vegas’ famed Art District, TPi is on site to witness the capabilities of cutting-edge visual technology.

Over the years, the idea of a ‘showcase’ or an ‘open house’ has become increasingly popular with manufacturers in the live events industry, with companies opting to take over a space to display the capabilities of their offerings in a controlled environment. In November last year, lighting specialist Avolites took this concept further with SPLNTR. A creation from the minds of NEICO’s Ed Shaw and Brett Bolton, SPLNTR created a stunning immersive projection-mapping project in the heart of Las Vegas’ Art District, with the help of some of the industry’s top brands including Group One, AG Light and Sound, X-Laser, GLP, Robe and Notch. Shaw has had an interest in projection since he worked with 1024 Architecture on the BOOMBOX – one of the first worldwide touring productions of its kind. The idea for SPLNTR came earlier in 2019 when he saw a projection project named POETIC AI by Ouchhh in Paris and decided that, having never seen anything like this in Las Vegas before, it was time to develop his own installation. After speaking to a few people, the vision became a reality and he had the go-ahead with some help from Avolites. “We were looking for an alternative to a trade show that was more appealing to our clients and designers,” stated Stephen Baird-Smith, Sales Manager of Avolites. “At the same time, Ed had the idea for an interactive installation. We’d worked with him and NEICO before on the OMNIA and JEWEL projects, so

we knew we would work well together. It was the perfect opportunity to bring it together.” SPLNTR was a totally immersive experience where the visuals and audio were controlled completely by the individual as they moved through the building. Working alongside Brett Bolton, his team of artists at NEICO, Tom and Satoko Wall of blinkinLAB, Spencer Heron of Rebel Overlay and combined artists from Notch; Shaw’s vision started to take shape. “It’s content and style I don’t get to produce very often in the dance music industry,” explained Shaw. “A lot of visuals you see nowadays are very polished, glossy 3D environments and I wanted to bring it back to a more artistic interpretation of my ideal visuals.” Avolites provided the bulk of media control for the nine HD projectors needed for the installation. This included six Q3 media servers for the individual walls, another for the custom Notch content and two prototype Ai media servers dedicated to real-time generative graphics. X-laser brought its Skywriter HPX M-5 and M-10 lasers and all truss, cabling and data networking were provided by AG Light and Sound. “There was a great response from our co-sponsors,” continued Baird-Smith. “There was a real appetite to get involved with something different and exciting.” TPi Photo: Avolites www.avolites.com 14

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EVENT FOCUS

ALAN WALKER: AVIATION An Allen & Heath dLive Wings system flies around the world with the Norwegian multi-platinum DJ.

Norwegian DJ and record producer, Alan Walker set out on his latest Aviation tour across China, India and Norway, with an Allen & Heath dLive Wings system handling both FOH and monitor duties. One of Norway’s biggest EDM music exports, Walker performs with various third-party software, as well as a live band and requires a complex set up. The engineers needed a small and lightweight system to fly around the world, which could also handle a high I/O count via several protocols, such as Waves SoundGrid, Dante and MADI in order to interface with thirdparty systems. Supplied by audio production company, Sonic City AS, the FOH set up included a dLive C1500 fitted with a Waves card for virtual sound check and multi-track recording, paired with a DM0 MixRack, which was equipped with a fibreACE card for the digital split and a Dante card to facilitate external plug-in processing through a DAW. A DX012 expander was also utilised for additional outputs at the FOH position, providing feeds to the light designer, VJ and laser operator. FOH Engineer and Sonic City partner, Sondre Rosseland Sandhaug, commented: “We chose the dLive C1500 package as we needed a fly-rig with a really high channel count for this tour and the choice was ultimately, really simple. dLive provides everything we need; flexible routing, the Tie Lines feature, high-quality sound, reliability and an excellent range of I/O options. There was really no other choice for us on the market. The dLive

system has worked very well on this tour and we’ve really pushed the system to its full potential, particularly in terms of the I/O count.” All stages of the production, from system design to running the shows, ran “smoothly” thanks to the “quality, stability and the intuitive workflow of dLive,” added Monitor Engineer, Einar Norberg. Monitor world featured a second dLive C1500 fitted with a Dante card, which was paired with a CDM48 MixRack equipped with a fibreACE card and connected to DX164-W expanders for additional on-stage I/O. “We went for the DX164-W because of its small footprint. As this tour has been mainly a fly-pack so far, the size and weight has been really important to us,” explained Sandhaug. Norberg added: “We started the tour with the C1500 fly-rig, flew to China for several large shows then when we hit Norway, we expanded to a set up with the dLive S7000 and DM64 MixRack for monitors and S5000 with DM0 at FOH, in order to carry out the larger production in Oslo Spektrum. The transition from C to S class was “seamless” according to Norberg and allowed the team to create an “amazing and elegant” transition in the production. “In a complex and dynamic live production where things are constantly changing, it’s reassuring to be able to put 100% trust in your console and dLive is the perfect tool.” TPi Photo: Allen & Heath www.allen-heath.com 16

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EVENT FOCUS

LIGHT DESIGN’S LATEST INVESTMENT Light Design becomes the first company in the UK to stock Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures, harnessing their capabilities at the 16th UK Festival Awards.

Light Design has increased its lighting stock with the investment of Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures. “We were in the market for a powerful beam spot hybrid fixture that could perform well on a festival stage for our busy summer festival season, but be equally at home during the winter months doing corporate and theatre work ensuring full asset utilisation,” Light Design’s Terry Lewsey opened. “The Sharpy Plus was a perfect fit for us, due to it being the only fixture we had seen that could do both Spot and Beam jobs equally as well and be a true hybrid.” Fitted with a 330W X8 HRI Sirius Osram Lamp as its light output whilst having no hotspots in spot mode, Lewsey dubbed the fixture “impressive”. He explained: “The fixture also has CMY, 15 colours on three wheels along with two CTO filters, 26 gobos across rotation and static gobo wheels, two prisms – four-facet and eight-facet, both of which can be overlaid – with frost filters, animation wheels and a three-36° zoom. Weighing only 23kg, the purchase was a “no brainer” for Lewsey. “We had previously seen the fixture in March 2019 and were about to order then, but due to a change in UK distributors, we had to wait until Claypaky confirmed who would be taking over the UK market. As soon as we found out A.C. Entertainment Technologies had taken on the distribution, I called Jonathan Walters at AC and gave him our first order of 18 Sharpy Plus.” As

soon as the fixtures landed, they were straight out on their first project – The UK Festival Awards 2019 at the Troxy London. Light Design supplied and designed the lighting and video for the show on behalf GoTo Live. A total of 18 Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures were installed, along with eight Robe LED Wash 1200s and uplighters to compliment the Troxy’s in-house rig to create the room ambience, all operated from Avolites Tiger Touch II, by Light Design’s Kostas Ntounis. The video design was centred around a 7m by 3.5m 6mm LED screen, which ran all the show content, VTs from Hippo Amba+ media servers operated by Phil Blue, with video specialist Transition Video being brought in for the show, supplying a bullet camera package for the Scratch Perverts live DJ performance. Lewsey concluded: “Light Design would like to congratulate all the nominees and award winners as well as the UK Festival Awards and GoTo Live on another successful show. We would also like to thank Claypaky and A.C Entertainment Technologies for the fast turnaround and excellent service in delivering our new Sharpy Plus fixtures.” TPi Photo: Light Design www.lightdesignltd.co.uk 18

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EVENT FOCUS

QLIMAX Backbone International extends its production partnership with Q-dance, deploying a technical package and personnel to one of the biggest indoor hardstyle and hard dance events on the planet.

Organised by Q-dance and heralded as the leading hardstyle and hard dance event in the Netherlands, for almost two decades, Qlimax has transformed the GelreDome, Arnhem, into an annual haven for nearly 30,000 ravers. TPi sat down with Backbone International Technical Producer, Jari van Leerdam and Q-dance Production Manager, Jeroen Beverwijk, to reflect on the mammoth undertaking. Dubbed Symphony of Shadows, the latest edition of Qlimax featured 11 of hardstyle and hard dance’s most iconic artists. Once again enlisting the technical expertise of Backbone International, Beverwijk explained how the event’s design was conceived. “We at Q-dance came with a creative drawing, and the technical team at Backbone International was able to

turn a rough sketch into a reality,” he explained. “They ensured everything was technically feasible, from trussing and lighting fixture placement to decoration.” Beverwijk described Q-dance’s relationship with Backbone International as “essential” to the delivery of the event. “We don’t have in-house technical support at Q-dance,” he said. “Of course, we have experience with technology and live events, but Backbone International is a specialist when it comes to putting the big picture together.” Building on the company’s pre-production knowhow and in close cooperation with the client, Van Leerdam oversaw the technical production of the event: “We translate the creative ideas of Q-dance into a technical 20

QLIMAX

design that is not only buildable – especially within the boundaries of the budget – but feasible within the load in and out timeline.” Backbone International worked to a nine-day load in schedule, with the final two days being used for programming. The main challenge in holding the Qlimax at GelreDome Arnhem, home of Dutch football team SBV Vitesse, meant the team had to work within tight parameters and strict stadium sound restrictions. Having built three decks in the stadium to increase the capacity, Beverwijk proudly stated: “Every year, we improve the production values and the show becomes even more technically advanced.” This year, the

production came up with a new way of rigging the audio, so the sound came from above. “An indoor show is difficult, but it’s something we have experience in,” Van Leerdam said, referring to more than 30 sound clusters hanging from the roof. “They are rigged above and pointed downwards to prevent spill outside the stadium, focussing the sound to the centre of the stadium.” Flown dancers in cable harnesses with corresponding interactive LED panels were among the technical talking points. Beverwijk explained: “Our two main priorities are decoration and technical, which Backbone International is an expert at.” Of equal importance was health and safety,

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“With nearly 30,000 visitors, it was crucial to ensure that the square footage was exact in our measurements.” Van Leerdam furthered: “First and foremost, wearing a safety helmet and a high-vis vest. Secondly was the logistics, ensuring everybody has a safe environment to work on each facet of production – which were prepped on the ground level when possible, and then rigged or rolled into place.” Along with all the pre-planning, Backbone International worked closely with Q-dance on the technical design. “The production value amazes both the technical team and visitors every year, exploring new technologies and ways of reworking existing techniques – it is important to Q-dance as a company and Qlimax as a brand,” Van Leerdam commented. The masterplan of how to load in the equipment, while keeping in mind the efficiency of the crew and the arrival of materials, was something that Backbone International and Q-dance really concentrated on during production meetings. Van Leerdam reminisced: “Working with creatives, finances can sometimes be a challenge, but it’s something we accept and have experience with delivering.” Combining automation, video and LED, Backbone International was also keen to explore the famed decorative elements of Qlimax. Van Leerdam said: “The decoration and themes of the festival are equally as important as the tech; without that, it would be a shadow of the event that it is considered to be today.” Backbone International and Q-dance introduced two layers of LED, with the header video wall translucent,

creating a series of big looks. “Combining those graphics added an exciting dynamic to the show,” Van Leerdam explained that together with the lighting and audio design, it was an “amazing” addition, which made the “budgeting and sleepless nights” all worth it. Other advanced show elements were the projection of the hologram on the screen behind the DJ booth accompanied by a flying aerialist, a hardstyle choir, stage and scenic design as well as the impressive light, laser and pyrotechnical show. Van Leerdam enthused: “Q-dance is always pushing the boundaries of technical innovation, and that motivates us to make sure that we get the most out of every piece of truss, LED panel and lighting fixture we put in.” Beverwijk explained that the feedback among industry peers was favourable: “The design of the stage, show and the music is really important because we’re presenting to a hardcore fanbase and this is one of the most important dates in their calendar.” Van Leerdam recounted the company’s ethos, by translating sketches of the creative team into a feasible project. “It’s a continuous challenge, which we happily accept,” he commented. “It’s why we wake up in the morning and don’t go to sleep at night.” TPi Photos: Backbone International & Q-dance www.backbone-international.com www.q-dance.com 22

“We’re an agency that finds inspiration in realizing complex and prestigious projects. Lead by the ambition to produce unimaginable experiences, we love events, the crowds and the endless technical possibilities.””

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

TECHNICAL PRODUCTION

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68 Jay Street, Suite 201 Brooklyn, NY 11201 na@backbone-international.com

TECHNICAL DESIGN HONG KONG

2207-9 Tower Two, Lippo Centre 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong asia@backbone-international.com

WWW.BACKBONE-INTERNATIONAL.COM

OVERLAY MANAGEMENT INDONESIA

Sahid Sudirman Center 11th Floor Suite A Jl. Jend Sudirman 86, Jakarta Pusat 10220 indonesia@backbone-international.com

EVENT FOCUS

AJ TRACEY

AJ TRACEY: LIVE & DIRECT Celebrating a breakthrough year as the new poster boy of London’s independent urban music scene, AJ Tracey embarks on two consecutive sold-out shows at the Alexandra Palace. TPi’s Jacob Waite reports.

Nine miles separates Alexandra Palace from AJ Tracey’s home turf of Ladbroke Grove – a short tube journey, yet a huge career milestone for the fiercely independent artist. Embarking on two consecutive sold-out shows in November – which had guest appearances from the likes of Dave, Skepta, MoStack and Stormzy – the AJ Tracey production team saw ecstatic fans surround an ambitious in-the-round show, featuring a TAWBOX design as dazzling as the artist’s charisma.

no margin for error,” he recalled. “We had two production meetings with all the suppliers, which were invaluable.” Following the meetings, Video Design was chosen to supply a stunning four-sided LED display above stage that TAWBOX conceived to contextualise the energy of AJ Tracey’s live performance. “TAWBOX’s creative side knows no bounds,” continued Stanley. “They confound us with ever more amazing platforms for performers.” Neg Earth Lights supplied lighting and rigging, while SSE Audio provided the audio set up. “Choosing vendors we have worked with before, like Neg Earth Lights and Video Design, proved pivotal,” Stanley explained. “Most of the crew chiefs knew each other from jobs they had done with me previously. When planning time is short, such relationships are crucial.” Stanley also put together a raft of familiar faces from the ground up. “I can’t function without my production co-ordinators, stage managers, riggers, runners, head carp, crew chiefs and chefs,” he explained graciously. “I’m so honoured to have a loyal team that say yes when I call them, and they keep coming back after all the crazy builds and long hours.” His main issues involved the weight of the rig, a short time window and, as always, the budget. “Our approach was formulaic based on a series of

‘A CAREER HIGHLIGHT’ Production Manager, Joel Stanley was approached by TAWBOX to handle the production build and budgeting for the completely self-funded show. As an ambitious in-the-round show, the creative studio required a reliable face. “I certainly felt this was a career highlight,” Stanley began. “Creative Director, Bronski and I had a long chat. I was informed that the show would be streamed live, so we knew it had to be the best quality. Time was of the essence, so we hit the ground running.” Stanley detailed a tense pre-production period absent of production rehearsals with only 24 hours to build the daunting show. “There was simply

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AJ TRACEY

challenges,” Stanley recounted. The Production Manager recalled how the budget gradually spiralled out of control. “The winter loading was in effect, as well as factoring an additional day to pre rig and load in before show day. On top of that, Ally Pally required rigging to take place with cherry pickers. It’s a very tricky venue, but we like a challenge!”

spectacle. Rimell noted: “AJ and I worked together to make sure that he interacted with all areas of the stage.” The video cage comprised wall-to-wall ROE Visual Vanish-8 panels which, utilising their transparency, allowed the team to shoot pyrotechnics inside. Bronski explained: “It was an important part of the design process. The screen looks great turned on; the transparency is perfect and it’s aesthetically menacing when lit right – we love it!” Bronski shared: “The strength of the design was how it kept moving. Even though we had one theme in broadcasting, it didn’t get close to becoming boring.” Rimell enjoyed all the interactive moments – particularly when the team made Alexandra Palace rain custom AJ Tracey money. “That was cherry on top for me!”

‘THE CHERRY ON TOP’ TAWBOX – made up of Creative Director and Choreographer, Amber Rimell, and Creative Director, Bronski – began working with AJ Tracey in summer 2018. “He had seen some of our work and was keen to bring us in to help him design his most ambitious tour to date,” Bronski said. “The AJ Tracey tour was a big success, so that naturally lead to the two dates at Alexandra Palace.” Rimell echoed: “AJ wanted to bring us in to expand and elaborate on his live shows, so audiences engage on a bigger platform.” TAWBOX worked with Musical Director, Kojo Samuel to align musicality with creative. “Show flow was important to keep the audience engaged during transitions into sections,” Rimell explained. For the Ally Pally shows, the creative design team took a step away from the album theme. While Ladbroke Grove had been such a huge success in the charts all summer, “AJ Tracey focussed on giving his live shows their own persona”. TAWBOX then discussed with him how Alexandra Palace had such an important role in the history of broadcast, being the home of the first BBC television broadcast in 1936. “We were all into the idea of using the shows to celebrate the venue, it’s heritage, and what AJ could be within that context,” commented Rimell. The artist was also very much involved in the creative collaboration. “AJ shares ideas as well as us, so we’re able to work together to achieve his vision,” the designers said. AJ Tracey wanted the show to be an experience for the audience. “We discussed smells and interactive ideas to create not just a visual and audio experience.” For example, a section of the show was based on sports, where TAWBOX used a ‘fresh cut grass’ smell supplied by Pyrojunkies as AJ Tracey performed Thiago Silva with guest artist Dave. “It was as if they were on a football pitch with a sensory experience for the audience. Our video screens became score boards and a Sky Sports newsfeed with live IMAG.” Once the rig was designed, it was up to Bronski and Rimell to ensure AJ Tracey worked “harder than he ever before” on a stage to create a real

‘AN UNFORGETTABLE SHOW’ AJ’s big reveal featured a pre-recorded opening VT, an automated video cage was operated via Kinesys and the lone artist appeared in the middle of the video box, illuminated by negative space content. Stanley praised the influence of TAWBOX’s Bronski and Rimell. “Both of their backgrounds are different, and they play to their strengths as a dynamic design duo,” he said. “The show involved lot of content, building set lists, choreography, strong bold looks. AJ Tracey barely sound checked or questioned any of their work, which is a testament to their expertise.” Stanley also praised the work of Video Design in delivering the video kit required. “Video Design invested heavily for this show,” continued Stanley. “Bronski and I agreed they would give more care and attention to the job. That’s what made this work so well.” Stanley recalled their load-in where Video Design’s Alex Leinster was on site to roll up his sleeves. “I’m not sure I could say that about other video company CEOs!” On a central stage, with all departments working in close confines to a restrictive timeline, Stanley acknowledged the importance of boosting team morale. “We had a couple of small hiccups in our plan, but I never heard anyone shouting – everyone worked harmoniously,” he commented proudly. “I won’t forget this show for a while. I’m very grateful to Alex and the other suppliers for helping us pull this off. It was a terrific show for an equally terrific performer.” 26

P re s e n t in g a t IS E :

The new s t a n d a rd fo r

s tu n n in g v is u a ls

B L A C K Q U A R T Z 3 .9 / 4 .6 B la c k Q u a r t z b y R O E V is u a l s p o r t s a n in t e g r a t e d w in d -b r a c in g s y s t e m , p ro v id in g a s a fe s c re e n s o lu t io n . W it h it s c u t t in g -e d g e c o m m o n c a t h o d e t e c h n o lo g y a n d b la c k L E D fo r u n r iv a lle d v is u a ls , B la c k Q u a r t z is t h e p e r fe c t a ll-in -o n e s o lu t io n .

R U B Y R 2 .3 T h e R u b y L E D p a n e ls c o m p r is e o ff t h e la t e s t t e c h n o lo g y , e q u ip p e d w it h fe a t u re s t h a t a re b e n e fi c ia l fro m b u ild t o p e r fo r m a n c e . T h e e x c lu s iv e 4 in 1 L E D w it h o p t im iz e d b la c k b o d y , p ro v id e s s t r ik in g c o lo r s , re d u c e d g la re a n d p e r fe c t o n -c a m e r a p e r fo r m a n c e .

Vis it R O E s ta n d # 1 2 F 8 0 a t IS E , 1 1 - 1 4 F e b ru a r y, a n d b e th e fi rs t to e x p e rie n c e o u r in n o v a tiv e n e w p ro d u c ts. V o u c h e r c o d e : 2 4 6 0 2 6

Yo u r S t a g e . O u r P a s s io n

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AJ TRACEY

‘VISUALLY IMPACTFUL’ Suluko’s James Scott was drafted in by TAWBOX to put together a small tour package for AJ Tracey’s academy campaign in early 2019, which was subsequently operated and toured by Lighting Director, Jake Whittingham. Stanley believed bringing Scott onboard as the lighting designer was a “perfect move”. He commented: “Not only have we all worked together before, but he was able to adapt the rig around the building, so we never encountered any issues. He put together a beautiful design.” Asked about his creative vision, Scott shared: “The initial concept was to cover the entire audience with lights to create a much more intimate environment for fans, creating a club-like environment with lighting fixtures spanning the audience trusses to replicate one big, immersive show.” The production livestreamed the second of the two nights, which relieved some pressure on the opening show. “Ally Pally is historically a broadcast venue, so the initial creative by TAWBOX was a radio tower in the middle of Ally Pally with radio waves branching out into the audience on trusses.” However, after careful consideration, the AJ Tracey camp and production decided against a big structure in the middle of the

stage, taking into consideration the sightlines of the audience. “The new design allowed the audience to see AJ the entire show, regardless of their position,” Scott acknowledged. Utilising ROE Visual Vanish V8 to replicate a four-sided cage, Scott designed a matrix of lights backing all four sides of the blown through screen, housing four grids of 64 Robe Spiiders. While budget was definitely a factor, the overall impact was equally important. “It’s a constant battle between delivering something visually impactful but also within the budget,” Scott added. Both the floor and flown lighting package comprised 72 Claypaky Mythos 2s and 168 Martin by Harman VDO Sceptrons. “The great thing about Neg Earth Lights was, given their vast inventory, every fixture I specified was available.” Scott explained that the show was broken up into sections. “There was a conscious decision to hold back from using the strobes until halfway through the show,” he revealed. During the start of the show’s seventh section, AJ started off his verse walking through the crowd in a single spotlight. “At the climax of his verse just before the drop to the chorus,

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AJ TRACEY

that’s when we unleashed the power of 96 TMB Solaris Flares. The collective gasp from the audience was audible.” Scott specified an MA Lighting grandMA2 system to control four Robe BMFL WashBeam Robo Spots. Meanwhile, the show was fixed to timecode, barring an acoustic number. “With three moving artists on the stage, as well as an in-the-round set up, I had to ensure the spots were carefully positioned,” he shared. “When you introduce multiple people on stage, it can become quite tricky, but thankfully everyone was lit constantly.” A total of 96 GLP X4 Bar 20s spanned the perimeter of the stage, mirroring the video box below to create a continuous line of light. “This allowed me to use the floor fixtures as footlights, while 24 shuttered Martin by Harman Viper Performances delivered a wash output,” Scott explained. “We didn’t want to blast the stage with light, instead keeping it in line with the moody aesthetic.” Adding to the intensity of 36 hours of rolling crew, Scott received the rig during daylight and, in the Ally Pally, “you don’t get darkness, other than at night,” he said. “Having a two-night, one-off show makes it a spectacle, rather than it being a touring production.” With one-off sold-out shows becoming commonplace in 2019, Scott believed the show of this calibre helps “create a culture of concertgoers” flocking to see their favourite artists for one-night only – transforming the experience from show to spectacle – an event rather than a tour. For Stanley, the tour was a success, “other than gaining a few more grey hairs,” he joked. The PM described the show as “genuinely one of the best” he has ever had a hand in producing. “I was so happy with the outcome and proud of the team, especially as it was put together in such a short time frame.” TPi Photos: Scott Garfitt – www.scottgarfitt.co.uk www.ajtracey.co.uk www.video-design.co.uk www.tawbox.com www.suluko.com www.negearth.com

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02/02/2018 09:36

THE 2020 SHORTLIST THE DENNIS SHEEHAN TOUR MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD

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THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: NO GEOGRAPHY Known for their impressive visual offerings, the British electro innovators and their loyal crew are renowned for pushing the boundaries of lighting, video and laser integration further than ever before. TPiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stew Hume visits the crew at their 2019 finale at Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s O2 Arena.

PRODUCTION PROFILE

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

It was certainly a stellar 2019 for Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. Proving that The Chemical Brothers’ decades of influence have never slowed down, with the output of live performances, interest for the group was at an all-time high. From a much-raved-about headline slot on The Other Stage at Glastonbury to an intense arena run, the band’s loyal crew continued to elevate the boundaries of live production to new heights. Undoubtedly ready for a Christmas break, the band and crew opted to go all out for their final show of 2019 at London’s O2 Arena, stretching their already expansive square footage of LED screens and lighting rig to new limits. In the midst of the busy show prep, TPi checked in with the team to catch up on a busy year of touring. A long-standing member of The Chemical Brothers touring family, Toby Dennis of I Smashed It Productions has worked with the duo for 14 years, progressing through the ranks as a lighting technician, programmer, rigger, media server tech and finally, technical director. For this album cycle, Dennis added Production Designer and Production Manager to his everextending CV. In the midst of orchestrating the changing set for the London show, TPi stepped back as Dennis and his team figured out a way to introduce additional side screens and a new automated entrance for George and Mildred – the band’s iconic giant robots – that flew in from the rig. Away from the show floor, Dennis expressed his enjoyment at working on the logistics side of the tour. “My wife often calls me Rain Man because I think in ‘ones and zeros’.” In Dennis’ world, he said, everything has a spreadsheet: “I’m obsessed with organisation.” The PM went on to outline the “near-military precision” needed for complicated moves and

coordination of trucks to go to various locations. “For us, particularly in the midst of festival season, it’s never a case of putting equipment into a truck and going to the next venue with equipment all going in various directions,” he said, relishing the challenge. “I get the best of both worlds with balancing the logistics and the creativity of this show.” Dennis called upon Fly By Nite to provide eight vehicles for the tour with an additional two trucks for the London show. Phoenix Bussing also provided two 16-birth busses, and freighting achieved via Global Motion. Global Motion’s Adam Hatton described the “careful freight handling” required of The Chemical Brothers. He explained: “This production isn’t simply about music; it’s a very interesting show and we get asked to do some amazing things for them. Their custom robots, for example, are vital to the stage design and are a significant size, requiring careful freight handling,” he said. Hatton, who gets involved early on in the tour’s planning stages, has worked with members of this production for more than two decades, and praised their professionalism. “A couple of years ago we had The Chemical Brothers’ kit departing Frankfurt and arriving in Hong Kong on a very tight timeframe,” he recalled. “So, of course, we were then faced with a typhoon. It was pretty brutal to say the least. If it wasn’t for such a well-organised team, it wouldn’t have worked. “Touring high profile acts on promotional schedules can be demanding on everyone and you can’t predict everything, but this is a really lovely crew to work with. It’s always a pleasure to be a part of the team,” he concluded. Filling out the rest of Dennis’ supplier spreadsheet was Skan PA, Lite Alternative, Universal Pixels, ER Productions, and Eat to the Beat. 34

P R O U D TO S U P P LY

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

NO GEOGRAPHY TOUR LASERS & SFX

ER Productions are thrilled to be the official supplier of Lasers and SFX for The Chemical Brothers on their 2019 No Geography tour. Adding to the immense visual experience that exhilarates the audience with surreal imagery on vast screens, ER Productions Lasers and SFX play a key role in mesmerising the fans, with carefully-timed laser choreography occurring during tracks ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’, ‘Chemical Beats’, ‘Got Glint’, ‘Eve Of Destruction’ and ‘Under The Influence’. During ‘Got To Keep On’, 10 Swirl Fan XLs cover the audience with a cascade of white confetti.

26 Kinekts | 4 BeamBursts | 1 AT30 | 1 Tri Green | 10 MagicFX Swirl Fan XLs

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THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

Playback and Keyboard Technician, Matt Cox of Gravity Rigs; Monitor Engineer, Ian Barton; Production Designer and Manager, Toby Dennis; Show Directors, Marcus Lyall and Adam Smith; Laster Programmer and Operator, Tom Vallis; Lighting Crew Chief, Alex Johnson.

GALVANISE Any conversation regarding the creative process behind The Chemical Brothers live embodiment would not be complete without Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall. Under the banner of Smith & Lyall, the collective is firmly woven in the fabric of The Chemical Brothers camp, creating much of the aesthetic that has become synonymous with the band’s live identity. “I joined when the band were called The Dust Brothers over 25 years ago,” began Smith, who retraced the journey with the band, which started with a simple slide and film projector. Shortly after, Lyall joined the ranks. Initially brought in to create animations for the group’s show, the creative force was hereby formed. Two-and-a-half decades later, Lyall and Smith sat down with TPi in a backstage room aptly labelled ‘The Creatives’. “This camp is very different from the usual lighting designer hierarchy,” said Smith. “For this show, you can’t just think about one department such as the lighting, video or even lasers by themselves. Each department is part of the bigger picture.” Take for example, the song Go, which featured animated characters performing a dance routine. Each character held a torch, when pointed, the lighting fixtures behind the LED screen fired through the video surface, acting as the beam. “This required a great deal of planning,” explained Lyall. For the song MAH (Mad as Hell), the ‘king’ character fired lighting beams from his fingers. “We had to consider the hand movements of the character when filming to line up automation plots for the lights and the video.” Having worked with the group for such a long time, both Lyall and Smith commented on the level of freedom that was bestowed on them throughout their time working with the production. “You see this across the

board with their visual elements. They pick people whose work they like, which is why they have such idiosyncratic visual. They get the right people and let them run with an idea.” COME INSIDE The first thing people often mention when leaving The Chemical Brothers’ 2019 shows is the video content. For the latest tour, Universal Pixels provided the touring party with a 19.2m by 10.8m LED screen made up of ROE Visual Vanish 18mm LED panels, which was increased for the London’s O2 Arena show with two additional 5.4m by 10.8m side screens. Not forgetting the extra two crew to aid full-time LED Technicians Sam James, James Kerr and Colin Mudd. “Phil Mercer and the UP team were instrumental in finding the right product for the tour,” stated Dennis. “Along with our lighting supplier – Lite Alternative – we did a shootout where we got to compare a selection of products and see how they work alongside various lighting fixtures.” Following the shootout, Dennis said the ROE Visual Vanish 18mm came out on top. “It really is the next level. It’s so quick to build, load out and has held up really well during a busy festival season.” UP’s Phil Mercer joined the conversation: “In order for Marcus and Adam’s content to have the maximum impact, we devised two packages – one for festivals and another for arena shows.” Both packages, Mercer explained, featured ROE Visual Vanish 18mm screens, which delivered an unmatched combination of transparency, brightness and pixel pitch. “Smith & Lyall are very particular about picture quality, leading to a specific request for Brompton processing, which always delivers on that front.” 36

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Having been involved in The Chemical Brothers’ shows for more than 10-years, Mercer has witnessed the evolution of the band’s live shows, “I think it’s fair to say that, particularly from a visual point, this is the show that everyone is talking about.” On top of the LED solution, Universal Pixels also provided the video elements for the two giant robot mascots, George and Mildred, complete with a custom Barco Olite package. With the hardware in place, Dennis pointed to the individuals who helped pull many of the visual pieces together. “In the early stages, I began to map out how we were going to integrate all the visual elements. What became clear was that our automation system, the MA Lighting grandMA3 for lighting, and the Catalyst Media server, had to interact.” Dennis realised that they were going to need a third-party solution to link each element together. “Essentially we needed an App to keep track of all these elements,” explained Dennis, calling upon the expertise of James Cooksey from Basic Monkey. “He has been an integral part of our team on the media server side of things – a great coder and a true genius.” Speaking of his work on the show, Cooksey outlined the mammoth undertaking. “Kinesys has its own protocol while the grandMA3 uses PosiStageNet (PSN), so we had to create an interface to enable each system to communicate effectively.” Cooksey outlined the importance of the Catalyst media servers. “They’re ideal for this project due to the nature of non-linear timecode,” he explained. “Catalyst also has the ability to trigger lighting outputs and write custom fixtures. For this project, we create a few profiles for the TMB Solaris Flares and the Robe MegaPointes.” Cooksey explained that handling the servers during the set was just one of the jobs that fell under his remit. “It’s one of the best things about this camp – you never get bored. During the show, I also helped out with the deployment of the robots and the mirror ball gag. This is definitely not the show where you’ll stare at a monitor or flick through Facebook.” UNDER NEON (AND LED) LIGHTS The other arm of the visual team was 4Eleven – consisting of Thomas Dechandon and Jean ‘JC’ Aubree. “We began working with Tom on this project but due to his schedule, JC came in to do the majority of the programming at the start of this cycle,” stated Dennis. “JC has been a 37

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fantastic programmer and can translate the syntax from Adam and Marcus in to lighting movement really well.” It was a complement shared by the two show designers. “Marcus and I don’t really design lights in the conventional way, instead seeing them more as points in an animation,” commented Smith. “JC has really embraced this style and run with it.” Once again supplying The Chemical Brothers’ lighting needs were Lite Alternative. Leading the charge was Alex Johnson: “I first started with these guys back in 2015,” he said. “Their schedule really worked for me as the warehouse manager for Lite Alternative.” One of the fixtures of choice were Robe MegaPointes. “They play a massive part in the show,” commented the Crew Chief. “It’s the advantage of doing these shoot outs – you get an A and B comparison of what is out there.” In total 80 MegaPointes were set out across the stage. “They have been key to the look of this show,” stated Johnson. Also providing an added dynamic were eight Martin by Harman MAC Quantum Basics, three MAC Auras, 26 MAC Viper Performances, 12 MAC Viper AirFXs, 10 GLP impression X4 Bars 20s, 24 JDC1s, two Ayrton MagicBlades and 16 Claypaky Sharpys. One of the big looks created from the show came from what Directors, Smith & Lyall referred to as the wall of strobes. “We have 45 TMB Solaris Flares across nine ladders,” he explained. Also being made use of from the TMB catalogue were the Solaris Mozarts, which were placed around the duo’s performance space, known collectively by the crew as ‘the Hub’. Out front, the Lite Alternative team provided JC with one of their latest MA Lighting grandMA3s. “We spoke to the guys from 4Eleven and they were both behind the idea of making the switch from the MA2 to the MA3,” reflected Johnson. “We have found they have worked really well; this

particular desk was also used on Massive Attack’s latest tour.” To close Johnson described the transition from the extensive festival season to the world of arena touring. “For the festival season, we had four of us on the lighting crew, which included our Kinesys Operator, Mark Goodall.” As soon as the team moved into arenas, he brought in another team to handle the flown rig. “The idea behind this was that we had got into a routine during the festivals of bringing in our touring rig into a set that was already partly provided.” To keep up with this rhythm, Johnson brought in another team of four, so it was “almost like coming into other festival set up.” Johnson explained that this crew number was increased to 10 faces for the O2 Arena, London dates. “This might seem like a lot, but some major changes were made for the O2 Arena show that needed to be taken care of. Specifically, the fact that the giant robots would descend from the ceiling rather than our usual process of building them stageside during the show.” One the subject of automation, Lite Alternative provided 22 Liftket 500kg hoists along with a Kinesys K2 control system and a Vector system. The giant robots are a familiar sight to any long-time Chemical Brothers fan, having been part of the duo’s video footage for a number of years. During the last tour cycle, production commissioned Specialz to create the two larger-than-life characters, who have been a mainstay of the band’s performance ever since. “They have become so iconic I don’t think we would ever be able to lose them,” laughed Dennis, exampling how each month they are sent pictures of George and Mildred tattoos on the bodies of dedicated fans. “It’s testament to Specialz build quality that they are still going strong.” 38

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THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

IN DUST (AND HAZE) WE TRUST Adding the final element to the visual cornucopia was the special effects division, consisting of Laser Programmer and Operator, Tom Vallis and Laser Technician, Joey Jackson. Representing ER Productions on the tour, both oversaw a package of 26 Kinekt Lasers, one EX25, an AT-30 and four Beam Bursts. “I started working on this run in Fly By Nite Rehearsal Studios in April 2018, programming the show,” stated Vallis. After another festival season, he expressed his joy at being in the controllable enviroment of arenas. “We added eight Kinekt units on the front truss laid out into three rows,” stated Vallis. “The final two are on a Kinesys pod that tracks up and down for one song, which creates a laser look through the LED screen.” Another automated laser element came in the form of what Vallis referred to as the ‘vortex’. “It’s our own AT-30, which creates a cage around the band and then moves out of the way after its movement.” The addition of automated elements to his laser rig was very much a trend taking place in other projects with ER Productions. “One of the main

issues we see with most shows is that you’re never able to put fixtures where you would prefer as you’ll be blocking a video screen or a piece of set. It’s one of the reasons why ER has invested so heavily in the Wahlberg Motion Design winch systems.” For the tour, all automation for the lasers was handled from Vallis’ control station running Pangolin Beyond software. “I’ve scripted everything in Beyond so that if the lifts are not in the correct final position, they will not output anything.” Vallis concluded by describing how he fit in to the other visual works with the other department. When it came to programming, the Operator stressed the importance of getting the right balance between lighting and lasers, allowing each department their moment to shine. “I have four major laser moments, although there is still video running. The majority of the content is black, thereby not effecting the impact of the lasers.” Dennis interjected: “Tom has a fantastic eye for laser looks. The entire team from ER are legends,” he continued, recalling first meeting founder Ryan Hagan and Marc Webber at their first warehouse under a railway 40

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arch in Brixton. “All these years later, they are a full-blown international company, holding Guinness World Records. They are true pioneers.”

part in his workflow. He explained: “I’ve got a whole host of outboard. I just see it as options to enhance what the boys are doing on stage. There are certain elements that I will bring in at the same point in the set, but other times, when they are jamming, I’ll bring in something that I feel works for the moment. That’s why a digital workflow would not work for this gig; by the time you find the effect, the moment would be lost.” As has been the case for a number of years, Skan PA supported the group with a d&b audiotechnik system. The main PA comprised 96 KSL8s and 12 KSL12s with 16 J Subs, 15 SL-SUBs and eight V12s. A pair of J8s and J-SUB sidefills per side, eight M2 wedges with two B6s and two V8s, with one V Sub per side. “Our relationship with Skan began in the early 2000s,” stated Hira. “We were set to play Glastonbury and thought it would be a good idea to bring in the company who were supplying our stage for our warm-up shows; we’ve used them ever since. They have great techs and the gear they supply is immaculate. It has been a pleasure to work with them for the past 15 years.” Moving things to the onstage sound, Barton discussed his workflow to ensure the two producers got a clear audio mix on stage. “First thing to know is that they are not on IEMs, with all sound coming from side fills and onstage monitors,” said Barton. “Also, one of them uses ear plugs and the other doesn’t, so it can be tricky to get the balance.” Within the duo’s performance ‘Hub’ there were several work stations with a central mixing console surrounded by a selection of keyboards. “There are times when they will move over a selection of keyboards, at which point I use the nearfields closest to them, which I then take out when they move away. “The mix is really quite dynamic from my end,” he continued. “For example, during a quieter moment of the set, I’ll actually increase the volume on stage, so they can really hear what they are doing.”

THIS IS NOT A GAME As you might expect with the electro-pioneers, there were numerous pieces of vintage analogue synths, keyboards and drum machines. Interestingly, this inclination to analogue gear also transcended the wider audio department, with both FOH Engineer, Shan Hira, and Monitor Engineer, Ian Barton, opting for Midas XL4s. “They go with us everywhere,” began Hira. “I still think it’s the best sounding desk out there and they really suit how both Ian and I mix.” Barton added: “There is a lot of subtlety when it comes to this mix and having all the faders out in front of you means you can make those subtle changes rather than flicking through pages and layers.” What became clear from speaking to the two engineers is that The Chemical Brothers’ audio arrangement is far from regular. “From the outside, you might look at the input list, with eight subgroups and a main left and right mix and think, ‘how hard could that be’,” began the FOH Engineer. However, Hira explained it was actually quite the intricate design. “I send a post-fade mix from FOH to Ian’s desk via a pair of auxes. He can then use this as the basis of his mix and send it back to the band on stage. This means they can hear exactly what is going on at FOH and we are all hearing exactly the same thing. It’s just how it has evolved over the years.” Another misnomer that Hira was keen to quash was that the group’s live set up was just a replication of their records. “If you go to two Chemical Brothers shows, you will see how drastically different they can be. Tom and Ed are in complete control of the mix. They can hang onto a song for a bit longer if they want or go off on a tangent – it’s an ever-changing journey.” Hira also pointed to his vast array of outboard gear, which played a vital

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

ANOTHER WORLD Matt Cox of Gravity Rigs has been central to The Chemical Brothers live shows since 1997. As the Playback and Keyboard Technician, he was responsible to ensure the band stayed on track throughout the show. “Everything that happens on stage, from synths to keyboards and drum machines, are all synced,” he said, unpicking the layers of faders and wires that made up live rig. “We then have playback world off stage, which then sends out timecode to all the various visual departments, so everything locks into one another.” The difficulty for Cox was that unlike other performers where you would have a three- to four-minute song that would start and stop, “The Chemical Brothers’ performace is one continuous mix from start to finish. From the point they press go at the start of the set, everything has to be aligned and in time with one another.” The playback workstation Cox created comprised two major protocols, with Logic running in the background and with Ableton Live used as a live drum machine. “The way they’ve created the show gives them the flexibility to decide on Tom’s live desk whether to mix in or out of a track,” stated Cox. “It means it’s really quite organic and keeps each show unique.” Throughout the set, Cox ensured both A and B rigs were synced as well as ensuring that all the patch commands were being sent to the relevant keyboards for certain points in the set. Although the Playback Technician was quick to comment on the build quality of some of the older pieces of the band’s set up that were still going strong. “I have to point to our other backline guy, Aaron ‘Crippsy’ Cripps. He’s a qualified electrician as well as backline tech and very handy with a soldering iron if anything goes wrong.” During the conversation, none other than Tom Rowlands dropped into the chat to commend the work of his Playback Technician. “I really don’t

know how he does it,” commented Rowlands. “Somehow Matt is able to synchronise the internal clocks of every single keyboard and synthesiser on the road – it’s remarkable.” GOT TO KEEP ON For the longest time, The Chemical Brothers have followed a rhythm of two years touring with one year off to write an album. However, with the band’s popularity at an all-time high, and if the latest Instagram posts are anything to go by, the No Geography tour still has legs – with a selection of dates already confirmed in 2020. Boasting a crew that’s clearly invested in the tour, the entire production seemed to welcome the news of an extended run. As Dennis concluded: “It’s a case of getting the family back together and heading out again.” TPi Photos: Ray Baseley & TPi. www.thechemicalbrothers.com www.ismasheditproductions.com www.flatnosegeorge.com @smithandlyall www.skanpa.co.uk www.lite-alternative.com www.unipix.tv www.er-productions.com www.gigcatering.com www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk www.flybynite.co.uk www.globalmotion.com www.gravityrigs.com www.4eleven.fr www.basicmonkey.net 42

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TOOL Following one of alternative music’s most anticipated releases of the decade, cult icons Tool are very much back in action, with 2019 marking their most extensive touring schedule since the band’s 10,000 Days album cycle. TPi’s Stew Hume caught up with the crew at their Brooklyn show to uncover some of the mysteries behind this famously illusive four-piece.

PRODUCTION PROFILE

TOOL

For Tool fans across the globe, 2019 was certainly been an exciting year. Not only can all the jokes and memes about ‘waiting on the new record’ now be put to bed, but the LA four-piece are very much back as a certified touring act. Since the release of 10,000 Days back in 2006, the band have rarely toured save a few weeklong stints here and there each year. Following the release of Fear Inoculum, band and crew have once again joined forces for one of Tool’s most ambitious touring productions to date. With many familiar faces, each department used the opportunity to flex their creative muscles – from an immersive audio rig, to dual video solutions of projection and LED, to extensive laser mapping. For any fan of the band, this was certainty not one to miss. Jumping off a plane from the UK, TPi set its sights straight on the Barclays Center, Brooklyn – home of the Nets – to meet up with the crew that have worked tirelessly to create this latest production. Our first stop was with Production Manager, Matt Doherty. The Aussie native has been with the band for the best part of a decade, having filled in for previous PM and friend Chris Roberts. “I stood in for him for an Australian and Japanese leg he couldn’t make,” reflected Doherty as we sat in catering with the distant sound of the band’s soundcheck audible in the background. Following that run, and with the blessing of Roberts, Doherty took over as the band’s permanent PM. “Up until this year, we’d only ever done four weeks of touring a year,” explained the PM. “All the guys we have with us have a lot of experience on the road, but there was some nervousness of fatigue, as we had not toured this extensively in a long time. With only a few shows left this year, I’m glad

to say it has gone very well.” The PM went on to describe some of the processes that went into getting this show to the finishing line. Similar to the band’s writing process, the stages that went into creating the show were meticulous, with every element being considered carefully. “These guys have always been good about spending money in the right place,” he asserted. “They always think about how it will benefit the show and if it’s worth the investment. The immersive audio setup we have on this run is a good example, which was considered long and hard before investing. This attitude really makes the show better as a result.” The PM chuckled that this attitude was not always the most conducive to meeting deadlines, but drew comparisons to the writing process for the new album. “If it’s not right then it doesn’t come out,” he stated matter-of-factly. As hands-on as the band were about the decisions made on the production, the PM explained that each department was given the creative freedom to put their own individual spin on the show. “The band really understand that other people are expressing themselves in their respective mediums. It essentially all comes down to trust. The main thing is that you really have to fit into this family, and all work together.” What was clear from meeting the various crew throughout the day was that once you join the Tool family, it’s hard to change, with many of the main personnel having at least 10 years’ worth of experience with the band. “Maynard [James Keenan, singer] told me a long time ago, ‘we don’t like change’. In past when we’ve brought in a new face, it’s a notable change and can be offputting. We prefer to develop and improve the show rather than making drastic changes in personnel.” This mentality also rolled into 48

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TOOL

FOH Engineer, Alan ‘Nobby’ Hopkinson at the helm of his Midas XL4; Video Director, Breckinridge ‘Breck’ Haggerty and Laser Operator, Scott Wilson; The Audio Crew: Chan Howard, Nils Knecht, Declan Povey, Liam Halpin, Beau Alexander, Alan ‘Nobby’ Hopkinson, Dan Buckley and Jerod Untiedt; Automation Operator, Frederic Jacques and Lighting Designer, Mark ‘Junior’ Jacobson.

Doherty’s long-serving suppliers for the production, which included: Eighth Day Sound, Delicate Productions, Show Distribution, Production Design International and Big Picture, with Upstaging handling trucking.

2019 with the idea of using the SoundHub spatial processing in a threedimensional manner for the elaborate stage set up. What emerged after the initial days of testing was that Halpin wanted to go beyond just ‘surround’ sound, to also employ overhead channels focussed vertically down, forward and back, alongside adding spatial elements to serve the side seats of the arenas. The end result was multipoint spatial mapping that could be adapted for any arena that could accommodate the system, and spatial imaging incorporated all the separate channels so every seat could benefit from some degree from the 3D placement. The room mapping was rendered by dropping the multichannel loudspeaker locations onto a TiMax PanSpace map. The TiMax system then calculated the relevant levels and delays to allow placement or panning of sound between the required locations. During the show, spatial events were performed on PanSpace as cues or to be triggered manually via a TouchOSC on an iPad. “One thing I was keen to incorporate when we first came up with this idea was that the surround system would have the ability to be controlled manually,” explained Nobby. “The funny thing about this band is that there is absolutely no playback,” stated Halpin. “Nothing is synced as there is nothing to sync to. The closest things we have are some of Danny’s [Carey, drummer] MIDI pads, which he uses to trigger samples.” While the idea of the immersive sound was discussed, it was some of these samples that Halpin and Nobby thought would work to split off and bring into the room. After spending a few weeks experimenting with a scaled-down system in his home with Pro Tools, Halpin created some potential elements. “There were certain songs that I had ideas about from the get-go. Vicarious, for example, starts with these chimes, which I thought would be great to bounce around the room. With Pro Tools, I started to see if it was possible.” After coming up with some ideas, Halpin then took the Pro Tools files to Eighth Day’s UK base, where they created a miniature version of what the system would eventually end up being. The immersive audio rig was very much its own beast, comprising two sides of a centre reverse hang of six d&b audiotechnik V8/V12s, and a

‘NOTHING IS SYNCED’ Although Tool are famed for their impressive visuals, one of the most notable production elements of this run was hidden from view, with an elaborate surround sound system created under the long-term partnership of FOH Engineer Alan ‘Nobby’ Hopkinson and System Designer Liam Halpin. Meeting the duo at FOH, behind Nobby’s imposing Midas XL4, the two engineers spoke about how this creation came into being. “Tool by their very nature are a very trippy band, so when we were on the festival run earlier this year, we began discussing how we could push these themes on the audio front,” stated Halpin. The result was a regular left and right d&b audiotechnik line array, but with several additional hangs that came out into the audience – which served the purpose of taking certain elements from the band’s mix and sending them across the room. The left and right PA rig consisted of a main hang of 16 GSL8s over four GSL12s with a side hang of 16 KSL8s. The 240° hangs comprised 12 V8s with six flown SL-SUBS. On the floor were 18 B22s, which were distributed across the front of the stage. Finally came two V7Ps and one Y7P per side of near fills, with centre fills coming courtesy of two Y10Ps. “I started using d&b due to the B2-SUBs several years ago,” stated Nobby. “The sub was just so good.” It’s an element the Engineer was keen to replicate, opting for the B22s – the modern iteration of the original sub that had piqued Nobby’s interest. “The term ‘immersive’ has become a bit of a buzzword,” continued Halpin, moving the conversation onto the speakers hung above our heads. “I looked into all the options but none of them did quite what I was looking for. Most systems are perimeter based, so they can fire into the centre of a space but, in my opinion, there’s not a solution that would have worked in an arena and kept pace with our touring schedule.” Halpin selected an OutBoard TiMax system for control. The System Designer first approached Dave Haydon from OutBoard in Autumn of 50

TOOL

System Designer, Liam Halpin; Laser Operator, Scott Wilson.

forward hang of seven V8/V12s with an eight V8 hang for surround, five Y12s for the side upper level and six Y12s for the rear upper level. Both the main and surround system were ArrayProssessed and driven via Dante through redundant pairs of DS10s with signal matrixing on two Outline Newtons. Control and design were done through d&b ArrayCalc and R1 remote software, with additional monitoring from Wavetool. Orchestrating the mix, Nobby relied on his tried-and-true Midas XL4. “We’ve tried a few other desks with this camp, but I’m a Midas guy,” stated Nobby. “For this run, the desk is completely full. We then send channels to another Midas PRO2C.” The PRO2C was responsible for sending channels into the TiMax system and was overseen by Halpin throughout the show. Also essential to Nobby’s FOH set up was a selection of outboard gear, which the Engineer used throughout the set. “I have two TC Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delays that are always on hand, with one dedicated for Maynard’s vocals and the other used for modulations,” he said. “I also get a lot of use out of the TC Helicon from some harmonising effects to replicate some specific moments from the album.” Nobby also discussed some of the challenges of mixing drummer, Danny Carey. “He goes from incredibly gentle sections to points where he really goes for it. We’ve developed a vibe over the years, so I’ve locked into what he’s doing behind his massive kit.” Reclaiming his Monitor Engineer mantle was Beau Alexander. “Their on-stage sound has pretty much remained the same over the years, although we are in the process of getting more members on in-ears,” stated Alexander. “Maynard has always been on ears and now Adam and Danny are wearing them as well.” Through this transition, the Engineer explained how they still kept a full wedge and side fill set up. For RF, the audio crew handled 10 channels of Shure PSM1000s for IEMs and two channels of ULXD for the megaphone that Maynard uses at the end of the set. “I prefer using the DiGiCo platform for all my projects and am using the SD7 with Tool,” stated Alexander. “We have been using it for at least eight or so years with the layout of the surface being the main draw for me.” Capturing Maynard’s voice was a DPA D:Facto 2 linear microphone. “We love

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TOOL

it,” stated Alexander. “It does a great job with rejection, which is crucial due to the volume of the stage. “This run has been great,” concluded Alexander. “It’s all down to an amazing crew, a great band and, of course, incredible music. It all goes together to forge the success we’ve had. I’m looking forward to continually helping the band bring this amazing show to more and more audiences.”

live, as we don’t use timecode.” For the screens, Breck and the video team deployed a ROE Visual MC-12H for the rear wall alongside a total of eight Barco UDXs, with four set out at FOH and four hung in the flown rig. The Director utilised the FOH projectors to stream content onto the automated curtain, which hung upstage of the band, while the flown projectors produced images onto the surface of the stage. “One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to contend with is balancing the brightness of the LED and the projectors,” stated Breck. “Right now, I have the LEDs at 14%, while the projectors are on full.” For control, Breck manned all the cues from an MA Lighting grandMA2 which, along with the LED and projectors, were provided by Big Picture. “With Big Picture, it’s all about consistency,” commented PM Matt Doherty, jumping in to give his opinion on the video supplier. “There was a time after we had brought them on for an Australian run, where they flew the entire screen and crew over to the States. Joe Bonanno [CEO] from Big Picture always makes sure any act he works with is very well looked after.” The final element of Breck’s control package was his media server set up – a creation of his own design. “It was one of the ways I secured the job,” reminisced the Director. “It was in 1999 when the technology at the time didn’t have the horsepower to create what we were trying to do. So I opted to build my own server with an embedded control. I’ve looked at other options over the years, but I find many of them are too timeline-centric, which doesn’t allow the freedom that you need during a Tool show.”

‘IT’S ALL ABOUT CONSISTENCY’ Tool have always been known for playing almost entirely in silhouette and accompanied by impressive video content. This current production was no different, although this time round, the video content also incorporated a projection curtain utilising both LED and projections solutions. Video Director, Breckinridge ‘Breck’ Haggerty talked about juggling all the iconic visual elements – a role he has held since 2003. “We started making plans for this run at the end of the last tour,” began Breck. “This is always a great time as everyone is still around and you can share ideas off the back of the last set of shows. We are always improving this project.” One of the key elements to Breck’s set up was flexibility. “There are some parts of the show – especially if it’s a song that has an official video – where we run the footage verbatim. Other times, we break the video content into chunks, so I can keep pace with the band. I have a timeline for each of the songs, which I’ve marked into sections. I set off each of these 52

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A MAINSTAY SINCE 1996 Lighting Designer, Mark ‘Junior’ Jacobson was once again on the roaster handling the visuals for the four-piece. A mainstay of the crew since 1996, he has been a key part in the band’s illusive live shows for more than two decades. “I remember I took them out on one of their first arena runs and, at the time, they were all really against the idea of moving lights,” recalled the LD, as he discussed how the live aesthetic of Tool had changed over the years. “To be fair to them, around that time there were a lot of ‘flashy’ stage shows where LDs seemed to just be showing off what they could do with moving fixtures. I started to bring them around to the idea of movement and it was Adam [Jones, guitarist] who began to start suggesting ideas of how to incorporate tasteful movement. “There are some design ideas on this run that date back four years or so while we were still waiting for the guys to release the latest album,” stated the LD, while sitting behind his MA Lighting grandMA3 and the largest lighting set up that had ever been rolled out for the band. “My main workhorse fixtures that are producing all the back key lights are the Ayrton Khamsins, with all the front keys being the Martin by Harman MAC Auras,” stated the LD. Junior also pointed out the High End Systems Turbo Rays, which served as an “art fixture” on the rig, with 24 spaced out across the set up. Another notable element of the lighting rig was automation, with 16 moveable pods allowing Junior to create a number of interchangeable looks throughout the show. Also on the automation set up was the giant custom star structure, which acted as a centrepiece for the show. Operating all the movements was Frederic Jacques alongside Automation Rigger, Jerome Labonte, with all equipment provided by Montreal-based Show Distribution – all controlled by The Raynok Motion Control System. “Both the lighting pod and the star could move as quick as

1.7ft a second,” enthused Jacques, discussing the ability to change the look of the rig. Junior added: “Frederic sits next to me thought the show. Before this tour got started, I created a selection of looks within MA Lighting MA 3D software to give him some ideas of movements that would be needed for the show. He then fleshed everything out on his side. Throughout this run, he has been adding bits here and there as well.” During the conversation about automation, Junior turned his attention to the star structure and explained how he illuminated it. “I was after a fixture that was small enough to be fitted to the structure but was bright enough and could turn 360°,” he recalled. In the end, the LD opted for the Aytron MagicDot-Rs. “They are a simple solution, but they work really well with the structure. On top of the looks produced with the Dots, we have our laser team mapping onto the star.” Also flown on the rig, lining the track used for the video curtain were a selection of Robe Pointes, which Junior used a number of times to create some “Pink-Floydian” looks with the beams. The rig also had GLP JDC1s for strobes with GLP impression X4 Bar 20s laid out on the downstage edge. Alongside some of the modern fixtures, Junior also opted for some more vintage products such as the Ayrton MagicRing-R9s. “They are hard to find these days, but you’re able to create some great looks with the R9s,” commented the LD. Finally, also making an appearance from the Ayton back catalogue were WildSun K25-TCs. Moving the conversation away from the rig, the LD discussed his transition to the MA Lighting grandMA3. “I started using it in August while we were in pre-production,” he began. “Obviously, I’m still running it with MA2 software, but as I knew this campaign is likely to go on for some time, I thought it would be good to get used to the hardware and then when the software is released, slowly convert the show over to the new version.” Supplying the rig for Junior was Delicate Productions from Camarillo, 54

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TOOL

California. In anticipation of the tour, Delicate made a significant investment in Ayrton fixtures to supplement Junior’s request. “The Khamsins are our first Ayrton fixtures,” said Joe DiCarlo, Director of Operations at Delicate Productions. “Junior is a long-time client of ours for concert tours and was looking for an LED source profile fixture for the anticipated Tool tour. That started us on the path of exploring these types of fixtures. Multiple manufacturers sent us demo units – Brad Nelms at ACT Lighting supplied the Khamsin fixtures and we staged a shootout.” Angelo Viacava, Lighting Operations at Delicate Productions, added: “Khamsin had the most lumens on paper and didn’t disappoint, as it was the brightest of all of the fixtures we had for the shootout. It was able to cut through the brightness of a video wall with ease. A Tool show is normally very video heavy, and the Khamsins’ output was sure to rival the video wall’s intensity.” A final addition that was different from previous runs for Junior was the addition of full-time FOH Lighting Assistant, Graham ‘DB’ Jelly. “We’ve had him as a Crew Chief in Australia for a number of years, so we were already familiar with him – he was the ideal choice,” stated Junior. “It’s been great bringing him on full time. He’s got a really good eye for detail. More importantly, he knows when things are not going right rather than me having to tell him. He picks up on elements like needing more haze on stage, which leaves me to concentrate on the show.”

“In total, I have four at stage level with another four on some of the moving lighting pods,” stated Wilson. “The automated pods are fantastic as it means they’re dynamic and you’re not creating the same looks each time you use them.” Wilson also had four fixtures at FOH for the “high-speed scanner looks”, which involved mapping both the star set-pieces as well as the left and right PA hangs. “It’s really making use of some unused space,” stated Wilson, while talking about mapping graphics onto the d&b black boxes. “It makes the show much wider and almost functions as another video screen surface.” At FOH were Kvant Lasers ClubMax 6000 6W fixtures with the Saturn scanner system. “This meant they could scan faster than a traditional fixture, meaning we could draw more images without the end result flickering,” stated Wilson. Meanwhile on stage, the Kvant Lasers products in question were a combination of four 30W and four 20W fixtures. BOREDOM’S NOT A BURDEN, ANYONE SHOULD BEAR With Killing Joke having fully prepped the audience for the evening’s main event, over the PA system, an announcement blared out explaining that the use of recording devices was strictly forbidden at tonight’s performance. The result: the Barclays Center was plunged into true darkness bar the stunning visual performance. For over two hours, the LA four-piece transported their loyal fans into their world with the aid of trippy visuals and audio that appeared to fly around the room. With more dates already confirmed for early 2020, it’s clear that this mysterious band is back in action and ready to push the boundaries of the audio-visual experience. TPi Photos: TPi www.toolband.com www.8thdaysound.com www.delicate.com www.showdistribution.com www.pdifx.com www.bigpicture.com www.upstaging.com

HIGH-SPEED SCANNER LOOKS The final visual element of the band’s latest run came courtesy of Scott Wilson from Production Design International (PDI), who provided lasers for the show. Having worked with the band since 2007, Wilson had very much ingratiated himself with the design duo of Breck and Junior. “A lot of the preproduction stage of this tour – like each campaign – included a lot of interface with Breck and Junior,” stated the Laser Operator and Programmer. “They both bring the concepts and look for each track, then I try to slot the lasers into certain looks. Over the years, we have found some really nice moments that lend themselves well to lasers, all of which lend to the overall cohesion of the show.” In total, Wilson operated 12 laser fixtures via Pangolin Beyond software. 56

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PRODUCTION PROFILE

LIAM GALLAGHER The rock ’n’ roll star rolls back the years with raucous performances throughout the UK and Ireland in support of his second solo album, Why Me? Why Not. TPi’s Jacob Waite catches up with the production team and beer-proof consoles at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool.

Famed for his raucous live performances, distinctive dress sense and comedically caustic characteristics in the eyes of the British music press, Liam Gallagher remains one of the most recognisable figures in modern music. His latest album, Why Me? Why Not., became the fastest-selling vinyl of 2019, and while he’s never pandered to critical acclaim – see his infamous 2010 BRIT Awards trophy scoop – nowadays, broadcast bravado has taken a backseat for sold-out arena tours. As LG and his production team rolled into Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena, TPi battled through 11,000 ‘mad for it’ Liverpudlians and torrents of flying beers to catch up with the crew on the frontline.

invaluable,” Murphy said – a complement he also shared for a new vendor for camp LG: video supplier, Transition Video. “They have a great attitude and the equipment has been second to none,” said the PM. Providing staging infrastructure was All Access Staging UK. On the audio front, Skan PA provided “amazing support” throughout the campaign. “Skan’s attitude and equipment has been second to none. They provide a service you wouldn’t find anywhere else, and that’s down to their Director, Chris Fitch,” commented Murphy. On the logistics front, the production put its faith in Fly By Nite, Beat The Street and Infinity Travel. Murphy underlined the importance of FBN, reciting a last-minute booking for LG’s slot at the MTV EMAs. “We phoned Fly By Nite and asked if we could get all our kit freighted to Seville at the very last minute and they agreed instantly, sending a driver the very next day.” He added that Lead Driver, Andy Buckley had “gone above and beyond” on many occasions, “I’d also like to thank Matt, Dave, as well as Colin and the warehouse staff that deal with me sending truckloads of equipment for storage at a moment’s notice.” The team also spent four days of pre-production at FBN Studios in Redditch. “Scottie Sanderson is brilliant. He arranged for some of us to stay on site as well – it was fantastic to have that luxury,” stated Murphy. Keeping communication clear on the road was Radiotek. “They have supported me on other projects, so it was great to bring them onboard.” The addition of catering team, The Pantry Maid was down to Pomphrett. “I make a habit of getting the details of good caterers,” the Tour Manager explained. “Being able to get restaurant-quality food on the road makes

‘EVERYONE AND THEIR MUM TRYING TO GET IN’ “It’s a dream come true to work with an icon like Liam Gallagher,” Production Manager, David Murphy began, recounting a particularly “frantic summer”, packed with festival appearances and intimate, hometown gigs. At the O2 Ritz Manchester, the PM joked: “We had everyone and their mum trying to get in.” Working closely with Murphy on the road was Tour Manager, Ben Pomphrett, Tour Assistant, Amy Williams and Production Coordinator, Amanda Davies – the latter primarily oversaw the day-to-day and crew welfare, while Murphy focused on tour advancing. “Amanda is the much more approachable face of the operation,” he remarked. “Thanks to this production team, we are constantly two weeks ahead.” Supplying the visual backbone of the tour were Neg Earth Lights, Transition Video and Touring MiniCameras. “Their service and support are 59

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such a difference.” In his eyes, “the caterers have one of the toughest jobs, trying to keep a bunch of roadies happy and fed.” Back in Liverpool, as swathes of expectant faces filled the M&S Bank Arena, Murphy discussed the turnout they had seen on this run. “It’s a really diverse demographic,” he stated. “If you look at the crowd, you will see fathers and sons, as well as families and younger children.” Production also introduced console shade covers supplied by Nashville-based Console Shades for the lighting, audio consoles and video switcher – all located at FOH – to mitigate the potentially disastrous effects of flying beer. Murphy explained: “A lot of the time if you’re outdoors in the sun, you can’t see your computer screen, so Console Shades have cleverly designed covers to not only keep our gear waterproof, but also visible. It’s worked perfectly for this tour.”

posters and artwork as well as recordings of Sex Pistols shows – provided Cassius Creative plenty to work from. “The feel and visual quality these have, both in terms of their design and how they’ve been recorded through the technology available then, is really what we then worked with as a base for how the live show should look.” Cassius presented team LG with an array of imagery of colours and textures, which the duo was keen to incorporate into the live show from both a lighting and video perspective. As well as stills and live footage of the shooting style and directing, the creatives we were keen to incorporate and exaggerate handheld camerawork from the beginning. ‘UNPOLISHED AND VISCERAL’ Cassius Creative worked closely with FRAY Studio to create the array of video content and Notch looks for the rear wall and the flown LED crown consisting of three surfaces. Video Director, Phil Woodhead then steered the show into the realms of punk, referencing the aforementioned conventions as accurately as possible. Cassius Creative commented: “Notch was crucial for all the video looks, and helped us transpose the visuals into the scuzzy, punk and analogue world we were after.” FRAY Studio’s Adam Young joined the conversation: “The look and feel of this show had a couple of influences,” he commented. “One being the campaign artwork – using screen printing techniques with misprints/ placements. The other main influences were vintage Sex Pistols videos.” The idea was to try and pull these two worlds together. The Sex Pistols provided a soft haloing vintage glow along with muted colours. Young retraced the roots of the project: “Originally, this would just be natural camera and lens produced, but we found that we had to replicate this effect in Notch to tone down the crispness of modern cameras.” For the

‘A CREATIVE STEP UP’ Cassius Creative’s Dan Hill and Chris ‘Squib’ Swain have devised the aesthetics of LG shows following the release of the singer’s hotly anticipated debut solo album, As You Were. From comeback club shows to an arena run at the end of 2017, creatively, Liam Gallagher tours have benefitted from the design duo’s input. “This tour is a step up, creatively,” Murphy said. “Cassius Creative are fantastic. They’re not bullish in the way they present ideas and take into consideration the thoughts of everyone.” During the planning stage, Cassius Creative sat down with team LG to reflect the foundation of the album artwork, which was based around real screen prints and a lucid colour palette, both muted and layered with screen print and paper textures. This mixed with conversations with team LG about punk references from various artists in the ’70s and early ’80s – particularly vintage gig 60

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Tour Manager, Ben Pomphrett and Production Manager, David Murphy; Transition Video LED Tech and Camera Operator, Carl Stage; Tour Rigger, Sean Pagel; The Skan PA team: Maria Head, Finlay Watt, Richie Gough, Craig Burns and Adam Dickson; Systems Engineer, Craig Burns.

printed influence, the collective examined alternative printing methods, working with artists to physically create all of the textures and frames in the show – from screen printing to ink, halftones, vinyl printing and more. Young reminisced: “This gave us a huge library of options to be able to layer up to create complex and unique textures and looks.” Young’s favourite looks were some of the simplest – “Particularly where we worked with lighting to make the most of the Vanish screen,” he commented. “Where we put a very precise tear diagonally to leave half the screen black to allow a way of lights to come through the negative space.” He highlighted moments like the lyrics in Acquiesce, where “the picture just feels like its suspended in mid-air”. The entire production was built and run in Notch via disguise media servers. Young dubbed Notch as “perfect in this environment for allowing you to respond quickly in rehearsals”. He continued: “Everything looks different when you see it with all the other elements in a rehearsal room. Notch, along with superstar programmer Leo Flint, allowed us to be able to instantly tweak the balance of textures and cameras to marry the colours from lighting and video together into one world.” Leading the LED charge was Crew Chief and Lead LED Tech, Jolyon Olivier. Transition Video LED Technician and Camera Operator, Carl Stage was brought in to take care of three centre-hung ROE Visual CB5 5.9mm IMAG screens, spanning 4.8m by 3.6m. “We are 100% a ROE Visual LED house,” he confirmed. A video wall, spanning 17m by 9m, comprised of ROE Visual Vanish 8mm LED panels, was housed on the upstage wall, along with the IMAGs in ROE Visual CB5 T4 frame touring system. The bespoke PPU was built and at Transition Video’s HQ in May. “It’s our second PPU, featuring our latest purchase of Sony HXC-FB80 HD camera system, which is very lightweight. Initially, I didn’t realise how much of a benefit that was until I came out and quickly learned that I was going to be

doing handheld camerawork all the way through,” he laughed. “I typically handle cameras on sticks, but an hour and 45 minutes every night on my shoulder with a lightweight camera makes all the difference.” A senior member in the Transition Video set up, Stage was happy to roll up his sleeves and get back on to the ground floor of live touring. “You get to a level after a decade in this industry, where your technical knowledge is really vast, so in the past few years there have been fewer gigs and more spreadsheets,” he continued. “I got into this industry because I like playing with toys and, to me,” he gestured to video screen, “that’s my big telly!” Stage’s only challenge was fitting the screen into all of the venues. “We had to trim the video during the first show in Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, cutting the three centre-hung video screens, instead hanging two traditional left and right IMAGs. Aside from that, the only other challenge is flying pints of beer and keeping everything dry,” he chuckled. A video director station was custom built specifically for this tour, in which the VD operated from at FOH. “We’re used to getting multiple HD signals to and from FOH using an Ereca Stage Racer 12-way system.” Stage explained that with 12 lines of fibre, he was able to set it up as a transmitter and receiver at each end. Handheld cameras, particularly mini cameras, both for repose and the pull-out shots, were essential. Touring MiniCams’ Founder and Video Director, Phil Woodhead continued the conversation. “It’s a rawer style of camera footage,” he commented. “Along with the graphics, the colour has been desaturated. Using disguise and Notch, we’ve been able to introduce a scratchy, filmic look on some songs for the video content.” As songs were plucked from different eras – from Beady Eye to Oasis or LG’s current solo material – Woodhead noted: “It’s a rock ’n’ roll set, which harks back to early Oasis gigs, and that’s what people want to hear, so it’s been hugely successful in that regard.” While Woodhead work through 62

LIAM GALLAGHER

camera placements for all of the looks that used multiple camera inputs, Cassius Creative ensured the right colour palettes were used for each song. The creative house commented: “We were very aware that an artist like Liam, playing the size of rooms he is, needs a show with impact – but this often juxtaposed the nature of the punk references we were working with and trying to reference visually.” Instead of framing the shot with a traditional zoom in and directorstyle video cut, Woodhead was keen to capture the unfiltered, raucousness of show, cutting to cameras as they refocused and repositioned the shots. “It’s unpolished and visceral, capturing the camera footage that you typically never use.” Woodhead specified a range of cameras to capture LG’s delivery and the musicality of the band, with one located at FOH, two in the pit, a handheld camera on the stage and seven TMC design cameras. One handheld mini camera was attatched to a pistol grip with a monitor and wireless transmitter; having both the main camera and minicamera cable free allowed Camera Operator, Carlos Rubio to move around the stage unhindered. Woodhead explained: “It adds an extra edge to the drum and key shots, getting in the tight spaces, giving a real visceral feel to the entire show.” Marshall Electronics CV225-M HD 2.5MP mini lipstick POV cameras with a weatherproof enclosure of 3.6mm M12 lens and with RS 485 remote control and power supply, partnered with various sized lenses and clamps. Woodhead said: “One of them is on Liam’s microphone stand so you get a real, visceral shot of his face, which looks great.” The pistol grip camera was a new addition to the tour. One of Woodhead’s favourite shots, which he flicked to via a Blackmagic Design ATEM 2 M/E Switcher at FOH, came courtesy of Rubio, who put his hands through a hole in an on-stage sub with the mini camera to capture the nuts and bolts of the show – wires and all. Woodhead commented: “Cassius and I give the cameramen creative freedom, which in turn adds so much more creativity to the shots.”

LIAM GALLAGHER

FOH Engineer, Sam Parker; Video Director, Phil Woodhead; Media Server Operator, Connor Canwell and Video Director, Phil Woodhead; Camera Operator, Jamie Cowlin.

TMB Solaris Flares. As well as cueing the lighting, Barker sent ArtNet triggers to the video department performing Notch effects. “There’s no timecode because there’s no track,” he explained, “I’ve got 34 songs programmed, and Liam performs around 20 a night.” The back wall comprised 91 Claypaky Sharpy Wash 330s. Cassius explained: “They have such a brilliantly cold white and a very ‘real’ beam. Against the pristine quality of the ROE Visual Vanish 8mm LED Screen, it helps generate a different feel and look that we can use to our advantage – creating a plethora of dynamic looks for lighting and video.” Columbia was a visual feast for Cassius. “Being a classic Oasis track, it’s very raw – huge guitars, and the grungy feel that’s created with the layering of video textures, merged with a colour palette of a pasty mint green and dusty pink, with some considered camera direction of curveball shots – this lead to an organised chaos of ideas that would usually raise eyebrows, but works cohesively to create a massive stage look for a massive song.” Neg Earth Lights Project Manager, Sam Rideway, Lighting Crew Chief, Jonathan Sellers, Dimmer Tech, Matt Flood, Network Tech, Jeroen Depaepe and Lighting Techs: Martin Golding, Aamir Riaz, Bianca Mastroianni and Neil Johnson joined the lighting team. Harnessing their relationship with both Neg Earth Lights and Transition Video, Cassius Creative praised the visual vendors: “Both companies have made it very easy for us to make our ideas a reality, leading to a greatlooking show.” Often an afterthought in terms of visual design, Cassius worked closely with the team at Skan PA to locate and secure ideal positions of line array, to the spacing of onstage speakers and subs. To close, the duo stated proudly: “Together we’ve managed to escape most flying pints, and none of them were warm, so we’d call it a success! Bring on 2020.”

‘ORGANISED CHAOS’ Although there was a big lighting rig that really kicked when required, Cassius Creative was also keen to keep things clean and avoid filling the stage full of lighting kit. “Keeping the lighting rig open allows everything to breathe and provides the video with a huge surface to fulfil its job, with lighting coming into play and merging or taking control as required.” This tour marked Cassius Creative’s first foray into new LED spot technology, thanks to the “punchy output” and “even field of colour” of 70 Ayrton Khamsin spots. A variety of pastel tones were used, including seven types of pale yellow, and five greens. “They are great – particularly on a gig of this calibre, where the subtleties of colour really matter.” Touring Lighting Director, Jon Barker added: “Having such a bright, even spot that you could rely on throughout the tour was crucial and very much appreciated. The consistency of them is fantastic. As they’re an LED source, rather than a normal lightbulb discharge source, they’re more consistent.” For control, Barker used an MA Lighting grandMA2 and back up to control 333 lighting fixtures, 60 of which were generics such as Mole Richardson 2-Lites and Par-64s, some hung and some on the floor, as well as two pairs of MDG theONEs and Breeza fans. “These are essential in creating atmospheric effects for the stage,” he said. “We use a really fine haze rather than a big, smoky cloud.” Featuring magnetic clip-on and fold-up capabilities, Barker’s MA Lighting grandMA2’s protective cover allowed console operators the ability to press buttons over the material. Barker added: “I can put my hands in and move the faders in and out. We’ve taken a direct hit from a pint and managed to live to tell the tale.” The three-tier, six-truss flown lighting rig also included 68 GLP JDC1s, 24 Robe Spiiders, a pair of BMFL Spots, nine Claypaky Scenius’ and nine 64

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Lighting Director, Jon Barker and Lighting Technician, Jeroen Depaepe; Cassius Creative’s Chris ‘Squib’ Swain and Dan Hill; The Pantry Maid catering team.

‘AN ALTERNATIVE TO PLUG-INS’ Assuming the role of FOH Engineer following the departure of Shan Hira to The Chemical Brothers was Sam Parker. “Shan has a natural point where he likes to do a handover and the FOH gig fell to me,” he began. “The production team are fantastic. I’ve been lucky enough to mix this gig concurrently with Years & Years during the summer months.” The PA comprised a d&b audiotechnik GSL system with SL-SUBs – the 220° hangs used primarily for the larger arenas came in the shape of V-Series for a short throw. Parker stated: “There’s not a long length of array with 12 boxes so the additional V-Series blend quite well with the GSL when you get to those other extremities.” Systems Engineer, Craig Burns explained the importance of d&b audiotechnik ArrayProcessing for all six hangs: “AP allows you to focus where you want,” he noted. “Temperature and humidity updates are crucial and something that manufacturers have ignored for years. To be able to update that on the fly is important. Otherwise, it doesn’t sound as it should.” Burns praised the PA system’s “unbelievable throw”. He said: “Typically when I’d come into a large arena, I’d tie into the delays, but I don’t have to do that with the GSL, which is great. For me, Liam’s music translates a lot better live and the dynamic lends itself to the live environment.” The audio team also introduced an additional hang of four d&b audiotechnik Y8s between the main and side hangs, as a disruption fill, sending information back that you’d hear if the PA was on from where Gallagher was, as he found it too quiet on stage. Parker added: “However, as the tour progresses, we’re gradually filtering that out and easing him into a direct PA source.” Burns explained the need for additional fills in the air to help deal with the noise off the back of the system. “The GSL is so quiet behind, it was creating a bit of unfamiliar territory for Liam, so we’ve flown a few fills to

give him some energy back. It’s a fantastic system and has made mine and Sam’s life a lot easier.” For control, Parker mixed on a DiGiCo SD5. “I’ve been on DiGiCo for a few years. It’s a very flexible console and, importantly, I don’t use plug-ins.” Instead, Parker utilised trustee outboard gear, supplied by Skan PA. “I tend to put a TCM6000 on whatever rig I’m with because I like having four classy engines of reverb. It’s a nice machine and elevates the reverbs above the onboard stuff,” he added. “I suppose it’s an alternative to plug-ins.” Parker also toured with a couple of old-school Roland delays for “slap effects” on LG’s vocal. “I’ve got a box that TC Helicon doesn’t make anymore – the TC Box Pro Live, which I own. It does a bit of harmonising and subtle pitch shifting,” he continued. “I’m sure there’s a plug-in for everything, but I like having an analogue touch. There’s no delay when it comes to digital latency, especially with the TC and Helicon, because they’re AES I/O.” When it came to his mix, Parker purposed snapshots for a total of 35 songs, which he rearranged according to the setlist. “I’m old-school – the snapshots are not very deep; they’re faders and mutes mostly, so I’m hands-on, changing parameters.” Adam Dickson, Finlay Watt and Maria Head made up the audio team. As one of the longest-serving members, Audio Crew Chief, Richie Gough recalled: “I’ve been touring for two-and-a-half years with Liam and he likes to keep you on your toes – it’s one of the best tours I’ve been involved in.” ‘EYE-WATERINGLY LOUD’ In keeping with the rock ’n’ roll trademark, LG had a mix of four d&b audiotechnik M2 stage monitors, with left and right V side fills consisting of four V8s and a V sub per side. “The wedges are set to be a front pair, and a pair at either side. The V side fills are on a stereo mix,” Monitor Engineer, 66

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LIAM GALLAGHER

Bertie Hunter informed TPi. “No day is ever the same on this gig, so we pick and choose – some days it’s time aligned front wedges, side wedges, side fills and in ears; other days it’s just front wedges.” Hunter gestured to his recently upgraded DiGiCo SD7 Quantum console. “The original point of this was the fact that we could nodally process each band member’s mix and have different input EQ settings for Liam’s wedges, in-ears and side fills.” Just before the UK tour, the decision was made to introduce a second Monitor Engineer, Ron Peeters, to take care of the band, allowing Hunter to devote his full attention to the singer. Hunter said: “We are now running my original SD10 show file for the band, and I am on the SD7 Quantum, mixing solely Liam. The nodal processing in the SD7 Quantum is still really handy to me as I can EQ the inputs to Liam’s ears, side fills and wedges without having to double patch anything and overcomplicate things.” Hunter told TPi the singer goes through phases of putting his in-ears in and pulling them out. “Liam and I are both currently on Jerry Harvey Audio Roxannes, and they seem to have the most amount of balls when put up against wedge and side fill levels. The rest of the band are on Cosmic Ears CE6Ps and we’re really happy with them.” Gough oversaw 18 channels of RF every day. Hunter said: “We have a Shure AXT600 and a computer running work bench, and Audio Crew Chief, Richie Gough, so we don’t tend to run into too many problems.” The audio crew have deployed numerous microphones since the start of the tour, but due to the sheer amount of SPL that the singer produces, many mics have

failed the test of time. Hunter acknowledged: “We keep reverting to the Shure beta57A, mainly for its robustness. We do, however, have to change this mic at least once a show.” For most of the run, Liam described wanting the sound to “rip his face off” – in much more colourful words, of course. “There have been nights where we have been in gain reduction across all four M2s, and eight V8s. Other nights can be much more sensible, and Liam can be looking for a crisp, clean vocal sound. You certainly have to have enough head room to make the stage eye-wateringly loud.” Hunter’s biggest challenge was getting the mic loud enough, and only the incredibly precise EQ-ing and mic placement allowed him to produce the serious SPL on stage required. He concluded: “The UK tour has been an incredible experience; every arena has been sold out and had a fantastic vibe. We’ve had brilliant support from Skan PA, and some great technicians have been working alongside us to deliver a pretty impressive package.” ‘A HEALTHY MOTOR COUNT’ “The past two tours I’ve done with this production have been festival campaigns that require our package to fit in around house festival equipment, so it’s been great to have a full touring rig,” Tour Rigger, Sean Pagel told TPi. As the sole member of the tour’s rigging team, additional local rigger calls asked for eight climbers and four grounders, to 12 over six, venue dependant. In Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena, Pagel explained that riggers 68

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LIAM GALLAGHER

don’t climb in the roof; instead, two cherry pickers are used to hang motors at height. “It’s great here because the venue riggers pre-rig before we come in, so the top rigging is already in place. You still have to mark out and verify the points of course and, once marked, the riggers use the cherry pickers to hook on. It all goes in pretty quickly,” he underlined. “Any venue doing a pre-rig for you is a godsend!” For the majority of the tour, Pagel’s heaviest single element and first priority was the back wall of lighting. “The Claypaky Sharpy mother truss behind the video screen is on five, two-tonne motors, with 26 sub-hung motors. The front screen header trusses are on six, two-tonne motors, with

a further 14 sub-hung hoists, so these, plus 80 rigging points for lighting, audio and video give us a healthy motor count.” Pagel furthered: “Although there are more than 120 motors, as it’s constructed in mother grid style, it keeps the overall point count down.” The fully installed rig weighed in at just over 35 tonnes at all venues in the UK bar Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, where some design changes were made due to the building’s low roof. The PA hangs were weighted at 1,800kg for the mains and 1,200kg on the sides. Skan PA supplied all audio hoists and Neg Earth Lights supplied all EXE Rise Hoists, much to Pagel’s delight. “I’ve loved using them; I haven’t

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experienced a single issue all tour, so I’m very pleased with their performance,” he concluded. ‘STRAIGHT-UP ROCK ’N’ ROLL’ By all accounts, LG’s latest live offering was a “straight-up rock ’n’ roll set”, packed with production values and raucous fanfare befitting the singer’s back catalogue. Leading by example, demonstrating personal protective equipment use in the workplace, LG donned a hardhat when belting out a rendition of Cigarettes & Alcohol. “It’s everything you expect from a Liam Gallagher gig,” Murphy said. Having recently announced a huge homecoming show at Manchester’s Heaton Park on Friday 12 June 2020, it appears it’ll be another biblical year for team LG. As you were… TPi Photos: Shirlaine Forrest, Joe Okpako & TPi www.liamgallagher.com www.cassiuscreative.co.uk www.beatthestreet.net www.flybynite.co.uk www.fraystudio.co.uk www.headlinesecurity.com www.infinitytravel.co.uk www.radiotek.co.uk www.skanpa.co.uk www.transitionvideo.com www.touringminicams.com www.allaccessuk.com www.thepantrymaid.com www.negearth.com

(r)evolution Every once in a while, something comes along that tears up the rulebook and revolutionises an industry. This is one of those moments: the Satellite Modular Laser System from the Visionaries of the display industry – Digital Projection.

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AUDIO CONSOLES An overview of some of the leading audio consoles in the live events market.

users to opt for the 48 in/16 out GX4816 as a partner I/O product, Avantis connects to the full ‘Everything I/O’ range of Allen & Heath audio expander hardware, making it easy to put together the right system for the job, whether you’re an owner/operator or a rental company with existing Allen & Heath I/O stock. Two additional I/O Ports allow Avantis to benefit from the full range of current dLive option cards, including Dante 64x64 and 128x128, Waves, gigaACE and MADI, expanding the scope for system integration, FOH/ monitor splits and multitrack recording. Available as an optional upgrade at any time, the dPack add-on enables additional dLive processing including the acclaimed Dyn8 Dynamics Engine, DEEP Compressors, and the Dual Stage Valve Preamp, plus more models as they’re added. Allen & Heath has also evolved the physical design of its mixers with Avantis, which shuns the ‘rectangle with plastic sides’ norm, in favour of a rugged, full-metal chassis with a tubular exoskeleton inspired by the latest generation of lightweight superbikes. www.allen-heath.com

ALLEN & HEATH The third mixer based on Allen & Heath’s 96kHz XCVI FPGA engine, Avantis is a 64-channel / 42 configurable bus console with dual full-HD touchscreens, an all-new UI, extensive I/O options and processing from the company’s flagship dLive mixing system. Following the success of dLive and SQ consoles, Avantis delivers the company’s next-generation technology at a price point where most other mixers are still based on DSP platforms, and largely 48kHz. Centred around two 1080p full-HD touchscreens and Continuity UI, the Avantis is designed to enable a fast, seamless connection between the physical controls and the displays, dynamically surfacing the information operators need at any moment and putting the required controls immediately at the end user’s fingertips. While Allen & Heath expects most 72

AUDIO CONSOLES

Composer, plus native support for third-party audio and video applications like Logic Pro, Cubase, Premiere Pro and more. Users can even switch between multiple applications – and workstations – at the touch of a button, providing the most fluid editing and mixing experience. Avid S1 integrates tightly with the free Avid Control app for iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, providing rich visual feedback to enhance workflows, ergonomic efficiency and Avid S6-style metering and processing views so users can navigate large sessions quickly, mix more intuitively and turn around better-sounding mixes quickly. From touch-sensitive motorised faders and knobs to fast-access touchscreen workflows and Soft Keys for completing complex tasks with a single touch, Avid S1 provides the speed and versatility to accelerate any music, audio post, or video project. Users also can easily scale the surface as their needs grow by connecting up to four units together – and even add an Avid Dock to create a single extended and integrated surface. www.avid.com

AVID Avid S1 delivers the unparalleled speed, rich visual feedback and software integration of Avid’s high-end consoles in a portable, slimline surface that’s an easy fit for any space or budget. Avid S1 gives audio specialists the hands-on speed, precision and software integration needed to deliver better-sounding mixes faster. From recording and editing tracks, to mixing and monitoring in stereo or surround, Avid S1 provides the comprehensive control and visual feedback to accelerate any music workflow. Like Avid S6 and Avid S4, Avid S1 is powered by EUCON to offer deep integration with Pro Tools and Media

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AUDIO CONSOLES

of user-assignable buttons. The rear panel boasts 16 analogue inputs, eight analogue outputs and eight digital inputs and outputs, as well as an integrated 64 x 64 Waves card. It has dual MegaCOMMS ports, enabling additional MegaCOMMS I/O interfaces to be connected. The CDC fiveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intuitive GUI has evolved from the CDC six and CDC seven-s, to include a swipe-down feature on its touchscreen. This brings up the menu screen functions normally found on the separate 6.5in control screen of its larger siblings. It also uniquely features 40 user-assignable buttons allowing the allocation of specific functions to quick access buttons to further speed up the workflow. The advantage of the CDC five over other comparative console, apart from its unitive operation, is the audio quality and a total throughsystem propagation delay, including all console processing and A-D/D-A conversions, of an astonishing 37 samples at 96kHz, or just under 400us. www.cadac-sound.com

CADAC Cadacâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CDC five takes the unrivalled audio performance, latency management and next-generation, glass-cockpit touchscreen-based user experience of the CDC six and CDC seven-s to a new, all-time competitive price point; making CDC five a unique and highly competitive entrant in the mixing console market. The CDC five runs 96k/24-bit audio and can provide up to 48 inputs and 24 assignable busses, plus LCR and monitors in FOH mode; or 30 assignable busses when operating in Monitor Mode. The CDC five features a single 23.5in touchscreen with 28 encoders and 16 faders, plus dual banks

AUDIO CONSOLES

efficiently build an engine with more than one FPGA, now Quantum 7 brings you the extraordinary might of three large-scale FPGAs working in unison. Inside the Quantum engine, up to 2,000 channels can be transported across 688 processing paths at 96kHz. New GTX ports run at 6.6GHz, while simple two-wire connections ensure the fastest possible data speeds to reach a new pinnacle in mixing capability. Fully scaleable and designed to communicate seamlessly with the next generation of FPGAs, the Quantum engine is a uniquely formidable platform for an ambitious industry. Quantum 7 places the world’s most flexible and feature-rich mixing experience at your fingertips. Standard channel processing across both inputs and outputs includes Channel Delay, DiGiTuBe, Single and MultiChannel Presets, Dual insert points, Hi- and Lo-pass filters at 24dB/octave, four-band parametric EQ with eight on the outputs, band curve selection and Dynamic EQ on each band, DiGiCo’s DYN 1 (Compressor, De-esser or Multiband Compressor) and DYN 2 (Gate, Compressor or Ducker). www.digico.biz

DIGICO Quantum 7 is designed to deliver the functionality, audio performance and sheer scale required to deliver the largest productions. With Quantum 7, you have the power to tackle any challenge and truly own the room. Built to exceed the ambitions of tomorrow’s touring productions, Quantum 7 breaks the barrier of seventh-generation FPGA technology to deliver a dramatic leap forward in power and connectivity. All of this can be added to your existing SD7 surface, ensuring rental partners benefit from an even longer return on investment. Where once it was impossible to

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AUDIO CONSOLES

Graphic User Interface (GUI), the control is all at your fingertips. Heritage-D HD96-26 is a vision of the future, with thought-provoking new features such as Channel AI. With 144 inputs, 96 Flexi-busses, 24 Matrix, up to 96 effects, a pool of 96 four-band Dynamic EQs and 32 four-band Multiband Compressors, the HD96-24 is a bold and visionary mixing console that raises the bar in terms of digital capabilities at the sound engineersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fingertips, whilst keeping the sound quality that has given Midas its legendary reputation. Midas has improved on its digital sound with its new 64-bit summing mix engine with increased dynamic range. The key to the Midas sound, they say, is in giving ultimate flexibility while still being delay compensated, which avoids the dreaded comb-filtering effect. www.midasconsoles.com

MIDAS Building on the prolific history of the Heritage and Pro Series consoles, the new Heritage-D HD96-26 is designed to reinvent the workflow of a sound engineer. Designed, developed and produced by a passionate and dedicated team of leading professionals in their respective fields, Heritage-D HD96-26 has been a tireless labour of love for Midas. Featuring a powerful 21in HD multi-touchscreen and formidable ultramodern

PRODUCTION FUTURES

Jason HyoYoung Ahn Emerging as ‘one to watch’ in the Asian live events market, 23-year-old Jason HyoYoung Ahn, has already played a key part in several productions in his native South Korea, as well as developing his own production entity, The Shine People. TPi’s Jacob Waite catches up with Ahn to recap a successful 2019…

As a burgeoning stage lighting designer in the entertainment industry, Jason HyoYoung Ahn has already crossed off several South Korean productions on his personal live events calendar. Having recently finished an Associate Degree on Stage Lighting at Seoul Institute of Art, he shared details of a breakthrough 2019 with TPi. Ahn began learning his craft at primary school, citing his musical background as a key factor in the success of his flourishing career. “Being able to understand the fundamental emotions of both music and lighting has been important to my development; I never stop thinking about lighting, and I’m constantly looking for new and exciting ways to light a concert, music performance, musical, or corporate event,” he enthused. Looking to provide the most realistic visualisation work, Ahn began to meet likeminded individuals, which gradually became his production entity, The Shine People – a design collective that handles visualisation

software. “I developed the name while I was in high school,” Ahn reminisced. “Nowadays, it’s an entity which my colleague, Set Designer, Paolo Gaddari, and I have harnessed on several projects.” Impressively, Ahn’s professional portfolio includes being Lighting Designer for the Seoul Institute of the Arts Applied Music Concert JangDokDae, Korea Folk Dance Festival, Sokcho Light Festival, as well as musician Park Kang Soo and theatrical production, Autumn Town. His Lighting Director credits include Seoul Street Dance Festival, Pure 100% Live, 2016 Rapbeat Show&Nite, Jaxcoco Launching Party with JYP, Ansan Street Arts Festival, and Pororo Cyberspace Adventure 2 Tour. He was also a Lighting Programmer for Traditional Korea Classic Music Festival, CCM Concert ComeTour 2012, The Wizard of Oz and Nation of Dosan. A lighting designer by trade, Ahn’s toolbox features Capture 2019 software and his trusty Macbook Pro and iPad. “These are very helpful

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PRODUCTION FUTURES

tools for a design, especially Capture,” he noted. Asked about the biggest difference between lighting design in South Korea and Europe, Ahn outlined, “fixture types and design shapes”. He said: “South Korea doesn’t typically use a range of lighting fixtures and new technology in the performance space. Stage design shapes, however, are more expansive and ambitious – in both shape and scale.” Many performances, Ahn said, encompass empty spaces of arena-sized venues, with speakers placed close to the lighting rig, as well as a range of colours in the performance. “These are becoming a trend in projects in South Korea, as opposed to Europe, which seem to be much simpler.” Last year marked Ahn’s busiest year to date. “I’ve been a part of the Korea Folk Dance Festival, Sokcho Light Show Festival and Seoul Institute of the Arts Applied Music Concert, to name a few.” His highlight of 2019, however, was his involvement in the Seoul Institute of the Arts Applied Music Concert. “It was one of the first times I witnessed my creative design become a reality – a debut of works my way,” Ahn enthused. “It was so fun and a very exciting experience for me.” Ahn described his biggest challenge as the sheer size and mechanics of the live events industry. “Although I know the theory, it’s terrifying to be in the driving seat,” he conceded. “When it comes to the operational side of running a large show. I think I’ve trained enough, so now it’s a case of rolling up my sleeves and getting more hands-on experience.” Having wrapped up the college music concert,

with his sights set on LD greatness, Ahn looked towards two exhibition shows – taking place from February until March. “It’s a project which is focused on sound,” he explained. “The creator wanted to experiment with the manner in which light reacts to sound, so it’s a fun project – something slightly out of my usual remit.” Inspired by world-renowned Director of Woodroffe Basset Design, Ahn shared the best piece of advice he had even been given: “Patrick Woodroffe once said: ‘You should use no more than two colours.’” Referencing it as a manual for design, Ahn plans to study geometry. “Many great designers’ output involves the basics of geometry,” he said. “Their lights have an element of similarity and are absolutely beautiful, so I plan to fully investigate those conventions. I’m thankful to Patrick for that important advice.” Looking to the future, Ahn would love to tour the world in the entertainment field – ideally, working on musicals. “It’s a funny world and it requires both sides of the brain to achieve; the artistic and the analytical. It’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s incredibly satisfying when you hear crowds applauding. I’d tell any prospective designer to study art, for that makes you the very best artist.” TPi Photos: Kim SungChan www.instagram.com/kimhaze www.theshinepeople.com

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INTERVIEW

THE ALD’S IAN SAUNDERS The Executive Director of the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) outlines the historic organisation’s plan for the decade ahead…

Formed back in 1961 from the hive of lighting activity in London’s West End for the pioneering lumineers to share ideas, information and opinions, The Association of Lighting Designers has been a staple of the theatre landscape for a number of years. However, with the everincreasing number of LDs moving from theatre to the live touring sector, the ALD’s Ian Saunders spoke to TPi about the importance of expanding its reach – as well as pushing for diversity within the inner workings of the organisation. Having joined in 2003 as Treasurer, Saunders has witnessed the development of the organisation in the midst of an ever-changing landscape. “In the early days of the ALD, we had two different member categorisations; Professional and Country. Unless you had worked on a number of West End shows, you would not attain Professional status.” Saunders explained that this out-of-date segmentation was very much based on the old model, where a theatre chief electrician would also be lighting a show – something that over the years had become much more of

a freelance role. “More and more theatres were buying in lighting services,” he stated. “Not only that, technology improved in such a way that LDs began leading teams due to lighting’s complex nature and the requirement for manpower to get jobs done.” The net result of these changes meant the ALD has expanded the reach of its Professional category to encompass all of those working within the field. “When I first joined, there was very much a practice where if you went to theatre school, you ended up in theatre, whereas if you worked at a rental company, you ended up on tour. This is no longer the case,” commented Saunders. “I always look to ALD members like Bruno Poet, who came through theatre and is now known just as much for his work in concert touring.” To draw on this side of the market, the ALD has been involved in the Knight of Illumination Awards and is continually looking for more people to join the board from the world of live touring. Along with focus on the live touring industry, the organisation has focussed on diversity within its ranks in recent years. “We’re proud to 84

ALD’S IAN SAUNDERS

Opposite: ALD’s Ian Saunders. Below: Prema Mehta, Founder of Stage Sight and ALD member; ALD Chair, Johanna Town.

currently have a board that is two-thirds female with an executive board that is far more diverse than in previous years,” he stated, citing notable example, the association’s first female Chair. “Johanna Town became Chair back in 2018 having been an official rep for a number of years, which has brought a very different dynamic to the board,” enthused Saunders. “She has several years’ experience within the fields and is very interested in helping the next generation of operators.” Saunders went on to explain what the ALD can offer those entering the entertainment industry. “The way I always describe it to people at trade shows is to imagine the ALD as the hub of a bicycle wheel and the rest of the industry as the tyre. What we are trying to do is create as many spokes from ourselves to the industry to showcase the breadth of jobs and scale of lighting. Essentially, we want to share as much information as possible.” The Executive Director added that this included expanding the social demographic of lighting designers from the white middle-classes majority. “For a long time, we have partnered with Stage Sight – an organisation set up by one of our members, Prema Mehta. Essentially, they raise awareness

of the need to achieve a more balanced off-stage workforce.” Before leaving Saunders, TPi discussed an incentive which has brought the ALD to many people’s attention: Save Stage Lighting. Created to counteract the Ecodesign regulations brought in by the EU that would have a serious impact on the world of live events. “It was just when Johanna had taken over as Chair when the news came through that lead to the creation of Save Stage Lighting,” Saunders stated. “It certainly raised the ALD’s profile, picking up an extra 70 members in 2018. We ended up getting 84,000 signatures, to raise awareness that the legislation did not take into account the world of live events – not just those who work in the field, but also those who enjoy going to events.” With a revitalised membership and a goal to increase in reach of the ALD, it seems like an exciting time as the organisation at it moves into its seventh decade. TPi Photos: ALD www.ald.org.uk www.stagesight.org

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CODA AUDIO N-APS

CODA Audio’s Director of Global Marketing, David ‘Webby’ Webster, discusses the benefits of the company’s latest N-APS system.

When was the concept of the N-APS conceived? It was two years ago, followed by a period of testing, proving, optimising and obtaining a patent. We then pre-launched the technology and products to distributors under the radar in April 2019. What solution were you hoping to solve with the new offering? We wanted to create a unique category of ultra-compact loudspeaker for small to medium-sized venues that combined the versatility of a point source with the perfect array ability of a line array, as well as offering sound designers the absolute maximum in power, flexibility and versatility. With an incredible dynamic range and variable horizontal directivity, N-APS contains the very latest in our driver and system design technology. Our new patented dynamic air-cooling technology (DAC) is central to its success.

CODA Audio’s David ‘Webby’ Webster. 86

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CODA AUDIO N-APS

How does the patented DAC technology benefit the performance of the N-APS? There is a significant change in sound quality when loudspeakers get hot. The problem of power compression distortion (PCD) gets exponentially worse as the driver gets hotter. Our new patented DAC technology keeps things cool so PCD is reduced significantly, resulting in more punch, a consistent sonic signature and far greater intelligibility. This dramatically improved heat dissipation effectively doubles the power handling and maximum SPL capability compared to conventional systems. The essence of this is that a smaller cabinet can have far greater power â&#x20AC;&#x201C; something that is of immense value to sound designers.

How does the system benefit from RDC Drivers? The unique Ring Diaphragm Curved wave-driver means there is very little distortion and no re-shaping required, offering extraordinary sonic precision. Consequently, multiple N-APS perform as a single cabinet with no interference whatsoever. What has the response been from the market since the product was launched at InfoComm? It can be summed up in one word: astounding. The success of the N-APS enables us to forge ahead with producing a whole series of products based around this technology that targets the wider corporate, rental, theatre and house of worship sectors. TPi Photos: CODA Audio www.codaaudio.com

How is the quick-release button beneficial to end-users? The quick release grill means that no tools are required in order to change directivity using our Instafit magnetic couplers. 88

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PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

SAFETY FIRST PSA’s Andy Lenthall shares some key insights from this year’s Event Safety Summit.

Safety Island: that’s what they call the UK, those touring folks from the USA – unfavourably, so we’re led to believe. When they come over here, legend has it that they plant a stars-and-stripes flag on stage and do what they jolly well like. Thing is, every time we pop over to the Event Safety Summit in Lititz, PA, the good people at the Event Safety Alliance continue to see that moniker as a light towards which they should lead their ever-increasing band of followers. There’s so much content delivered over two-and-a-half days that we can’t possibly cover it all due to lack of space and the inability to be in three sessions at a time. What we can do is share a few new insights and look at some responses to an audience survey that was carried out during the event. First word goes to Founder and President, Jim Digby, who left the conference with three takeaways before things had started, simply because he was working in Saudi Arabia before the event had closed. Learn CPR, get trained in the use of an AED and take mental health first aid training – three things that, if acted on by the hundreds in attendance, would see vast improvements. Engagement is always key to the Event Safety Summit; workshops on all manner of subjects ensure that but, as presentations in the main

space took place, the audience was polled on a number of questions. An encouraging split in the experience level of attendees showed 50% of those present having 16+ years of time served, with 16% stating less than five years, showing that there are old dogs willing to learn new tricks or happy to pass on valuable experience. A healthy 57% of attendees were at director or management level, giving the hope that initiatives and learning will filter down rather than struggle uphill through the ranks – crucial with something so critical as safety – even better when 60% have their hands on budget to buy and specify safety-related equipment and services, the majority being from actual production vendors rather than event safety people. Clearly the Event Safety Summit is still talking to the right audience and not preaching to the choir. With the right audience, questions turned to the assessment of safety culture in organisations, probing the attitudes of leaders but bearing in mind that with an audience at a safety conference, data may be skewed by a predisposition to already creating safe workplaces. Two thirds of those who responded claim that safety training is a job requirement. However, one third say the opposite, which on those results alone, leaves plenty of 90

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room for improvement. Further questioning on factors limiting the take up of safety training cite the perennial time and money conundrum from the majority. More interesting is the 13% of responders stating that quality of training is not up to scratch. It may not be a surprise that over two-thirds of those who responded said their organisation’s management supports their safety mission – no shock as they’ve given time to attend a safety conference. This makes sense in that two-thirds either directs, manages or owns the organisation they are representing at the summit, and most have responsibility for spending money on safety. That doesn’t mean that one-third don’t get support, in fact, 25% stated that support was there but was cost dependant. That just left 5% without support and 1% don’t know. Of course, there’s nothing like an accident to encourage organisations to review procedures, and just over half had reported an accident in the past five years that has led to a change in organisational policy, procedure or process. It can’t be said too often to those that see the cost of safety management that the cost of an accident can be much higher than the cost of preventing the accident and near misses are the very best opportunity to make changes. More enlightening perhaps, are more opinion-related responses, less influenced by audience make up. Just one question of this kind asked: “Which of the following do you believe to be the greatest inhibitor to the reporting of accidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences?” ‘Lack of understanding of importance’ accounted for 50% of opinion, with ‘lack of process’ coming in with 26%. We’re not sure of the legal obligations around reporting, but that is a concern. ‘Fear of retaliation’ is low yet perhaps too high above zero at 7%. Couple that with 18% of people suggesting a fear

that nothing will change as a reason for not reporting, and it is clear that there is an opportunity to educate workers about why reporting incidents is important and educate employers to have a process in place to accept such reports. The former could be achieved by greater uptake of the ESA’s Event Safety Access Training (ESAT) – an initiative similar to the Safety Passport over here; training that explains how a safe workplace is managed and the crucial part that workers play in management systems. With the right audience seemingly heading in the right direction, content is critical to ensure interest and engagement. Naturally, the usual suspects such as the eternal fight against gravity and the effective management of the all-important crowds were coupled with an increasing focus on wellbeing and a particularly interesting session on the effects of pyrotechnics and other SFX on rigging. You could probably guess the effect of a 35W laser on a fabric sling, but it’s always cool to see it melt on stage. We’re awaiting the copy of the presentation of results from measuring the effects of pyro on truss, looking into deflection caused by recoil. If nothing else, it was a story of how to annoy the neighbouring tenants on the Rock Lititz Campus. After all, the test really does need to involve the largest and most powerful explosions. There’s so much more to report without the space to do it justice. If we can, we’ll share more information on other presentations online, but let’s just say that the Event Safety Alliance is less about temporarily declaring independence on our small Safety Island and very much more about flying the unified flag of life safety first. TPi www.psa.org.uk www.eventsafetyalliance.org

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

ADJ International Sales Manager, Chuck Green, ULA Group Managing Director, Cuono Biviano and ADJ President, Toby Velazquez; Audiotonix CEO, James Gordon.

ADJ has named the ULA Group as its new distribution partner for Australia and New Zealand. ADJ President, Toby Velazquez, commented: “As we continue to expand more heavily into the rental, touring and event production sectors, I am excited to be partnering with the ULA Group to grow our market share in Australasia. It is a company with a solid reputation and proven track record, and I am confident that their team is ideally placed to maximise ADJ’s potential in the region.” Anna Valley has promoted for Operations Director, Peter Jones, to the position of MD with immediate effect. The move follows an extensive handover period with exiting MD, Steve Jones, who has led the company for 13 years. “As Operations Director, I’ve been as involved in the financial and business aspects of the company as I have in the process and procedure of service delivery,” explained Peter. Audiotonix has reached an agreement for a next stage investment from

Ardian. The company manages assets in excess of $90bn across Europe, the Americas and Asia. James Gordon, Audiotonix CEO, is clear on the benefits the new investment agreement will bring. “This is an outstanding opportunity to partner with Ardian to enable further growth, and it represents a significant step in the future development of Audiotonix.” CPL has made its first ever Robe purchase, investing in 40 new Robe LEDBeam 150 moving lights. “We needed a good, fast, reliable, versatile and small moving light – and all roads led to the LEDBeam 150, which fills a gap in our stock of small moving lights,” said Events Director, Lee Gruszeckyj. Robe’s UK Sales Manager, Bill Jones, added: “I have been talking to CPL CEO, Matthew Boyce for at least eight years about an investment in the brand, so I am very happy that CPL has made this first move towards Robe. I am positive it won’t be their last.” Delicate Productions has appointed Brian Boyt to the role of Chief

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Eurotruss Group’s Ralph Stockley; Entec Logistics & Dry Hire Sound Department Manager, Phil Waters, Head of Sound, Dan Scantlebury; Audio Warehouse Manager, Tom Pryce and Senior Sound Technician, Peter Eltringham.

Operating Officer. Boyt will oversee a broad range of operational areas including new business development, long-term strategic operations and operational effectiveness. “Brian is a multitalented and accomplished professional whose extensive experience working with artists, agents, producers and manufacturers brings a solid dimension to our leadership team,” said Jason Alt, President, Delicate Productions. West London rental specialist Entec is delighted to announce the appointment of Daniel Scantlebury as its new Head of Sound, effective immediately. The news of Scantlebury’s appointment coincides with another major move for the company’s sound department. A committed d&b rental house since 1995, Entec recently invested in the brand’s latest generation SL-Series with the purchase of 50 KSL line array loudspeakers – 28 KSL 8 (80° dispersion), four KSL 12 (120°) and 18 cardioid SL-Subs – for medium to large applications. “We are set up for the future,” claimed Scantlebury. “In my opinion, KSL and its sibling GSL have superseded every other brand on the market, so we are entering this new phase with seriously cutting-edge technology that has been proving itself over and over.” Eurotruss Group has appointed Ralph Stockley as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and board member for the Eurotruss Group. Martin Kuyper Eurotruss Group CEO stated: “Ralph’s role will be instrumental in the future global expansion planned in early 2020.” KV2 Audio has appointed Megatone as its exclusive distributor in Hungary. “Megatone has been working with our products for several years in the capacity of a main professional installer and dealer,” commented KV2’s Sales Director for EMEA & Latin America, Alessandro Pagliani. L-Acoustics has created new Authorised Calibration Centres, designed to both strengthen the technical partnership between L-Acoustics and its Certified Providers (CPs), and to deliver a greater level of system configuration and calibration expertise at a local level for small to medium installations. The first three CPs to become Authorised Calibration Centres are France’s 4J Evenements, Switzerland’s Hyperson and Creative Technology Middle East – all long-established L-Acoustics partners. “The partnership with our CPs is extremely important to us,” commented Arnaud Delorme, Applications Engineer at L-Acoustics. “We maintain a very close two-way relationship with them, keeping them up to date on innovations at L-Acoustics while also constantly seeing their field experience and feedback.”

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Luxibel Senior International Sales Manager, Michael Staffopoulos; Delicate Productions Chief Operating Officer Brian Boyt.

Belgian lighting brand Lucenti has hired industry veteran Jeroen Carette as Brand Manager. Karel De Piere, Co-Owner of Lucenti, commented: “His approach will be appreciated by our professional customers and leading designers. A firm sales structure will support our valued and trusted distributors worldwide.” Luxibel has appointed Michael Staffopoulos to role of Senior International Sales Manager. “I am delighted to thrive on the enthusiasm of Luxibel and spread the word for Luxibel worldwide to friends and partners in our industry.” Optocore and its partner company BroaMan have appointed Parma-based Audiolink as its sole distributor for the Italian market. “With Optocore and BroaMan as part of our already well-stocked portfolio, we are able to offer customers flexible solutions at the highest level, in both the live and fixed installation sectors – particularly theatres,” stated Audiolink General Manager, Stefano Cantadori. PROLIGHTS has appointed Exton as its distributor for Iceland. Vignir Hreinsson and Sigurjón Sigurðsson, respectively Project Manager and Sales

Manager for Exton, commented: “When we first approached PROLIGHTS, we immediately appreciated their vision, intuition and quality. PROLIGHTS’ broad selection of equipment really impressed us.” PROLIGHTS has also appointed A.L.A. Equipment as official distributor for Cyprus. Paolo Albani commented: “Having A.L.A. Equipments on-board make us really proud. Their 20-year experience is a strength and, thanks to them, PROLIGHTS will grow throughout Cyprus. We’re sure that this will be a successful partnership.” QSC EMEA has become the exclusive distributor of its live sound portfolio in Germany and in the UK and Ireland. Freddy Sicko, Director Live Sound Central Europe, will lead the organisation in those countries. Carsten Schiedeck, Sales Manager Retail, Germany; Emma O’Sullivan, Sales Manager Retail, the UK and Ireland; Jens Stellmacher, Director Business Development, AV Rental and Marius Creutznacher, Manager Training and Business Development have also joined the QSC EMEA team. TPi www.tpimagazine.com/category/industry-jobs/

TPi PRODUCTION GUIDE

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BACK CHAT

JÖRG PHILIPP Beat The Street’s Owner and Managing Director discusses the company’s new US branch.

What vehicles will be on offer following the 29 January launch? We will offer 16- and 14-berth double-deckers, as well as 12- and eight-berth single-deckers to start with. Artist buses, double-deckers and single-deckers, will follow by the end of 2020. This will be the first double-decker offering for the US market. Is there any reason why this has not been offered before? I don’t think there is a reason other than nobody has looked into it before. However, I believe that a lot of people are just used to 12-berth single-deckers in the United States. How long has Beat The Street’s US office been in the works for? We have been planning this adventure for two years, opening the office in Tennessee in August 2019. We plan to have our double-deckers on the road by February 2020.

What makes Nashville the ideal choice to put down roots? It all fell into place with the guys who build our buses over there. Since plenty of bus companies are based in and around Nashville, the infrastructure for buses in this area is fantastic.

Why was it the right time to create this new arm of the business? We were asked by many clients for many years why there were no double-deckers in the USA for the touring industry and, quite frankly, we didn’t have a good answer. The idea has been in my head for quite some time. Having pulled the trigger, we are very proud to be the only company in the industry to offer double-deckers in Europe and the United States.

Who will be the main point of contact for the US office? Tim King, who has run our UK operations for the past 17 years, has recently moved to Tennessee and will run our US office. You can contact him at: tim@beatthestreet-us.net. 98

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TPi January 2020 - #245

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AUDIO CONSOLES

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