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.

‘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 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 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.”

‘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 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 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.” Yo ung’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 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.”

‘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 se ven 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 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.”

‘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.” Bu rns 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 la tency, 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.”

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 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.

‘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