JAY-Z & Beyoncé

PRODUCTION PROFILE

BEYONCÉ & JAY-Z - OTR II

Back together on the road, Beyoncé and JAY-Z’s joint tour On The Run II blends giant cinemascopic spectacle with astounding automation worthy of their pop royalty status.

BEYONCÉ & JAY-Z

As the story behind the On The Run II (OTR II) tour is told, there’s much to be impressed by. Naturally, any show involving Beyoncé is always destined to wow. But for this latest tour - a double-header that sees both Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z hit the road together in an evolution of their original OTR shows in 2014 - things have been pushed to a new high. It reveals a story that started with Formation and 4:44 tours. A combination of creative ambition and a can-do crew spirit has made possible an astounding array of automation and effects, from giant moving screens to huge moving stages, ‘star lifts’ to 4-storey ‘performer walls’.

It is, in short, a big show - one made all the more impressive by the fact it comes straight off the back of 2 massive 30-truck Coachella performances by Beyoncé - produced by the same team, but completely different in concept and execution to OTR II. Thus, while everyone was working on the Coachella design, they were also advancing and working on the details for the tour that would follow quickly on its tail.

“That period definitely challenged everyone,” remembered PM Bill Leabody. “Coachella was a momentous event and something that was unique. We all knew we were working on something very special and it was definitely a highpoint of my career. Going straight from that into the tour rehearsals was tough, but we managed to pull it off thanks to the ability of the team.”

Leabody came on board in January after diary conflicts meant previous PM Malcolm Weldon would be unavailable. Having just wrapped on Coldplay, Leabody had not only the necessary huge-scale-tour experience but also an equally adept team he could bring across from the Coldplay crew. These included: Craig Finley and Russell Glen, who came in on the stage managing side; Advance Coordinator Nicole Massey; Toby Fleming,

Bart Durbin and Robert Hale, who came in as the Site Coordinators; Dressing Room Coordinator Tiffany Henry; and Head Electrician Paul Traynor. Much of the crew was already in place from past Beyoncé tours, indeed some like Production Coordinator Carmen Rodriguez, Stage Manager Terry Cooley, Head Rigger Bill Rengstl, Head Carpenter Jamie Pharand, and the audio and backline crew were long-term employees. “We managed to find a good blend and we soon managed to get into a groove,” said Leabody.

Designing the look of the tour (in tandem with Coachella) was Stufish, who worked closely with Ed Burke, Todd Tourso and Erinn Williams from Beyoncé’s creative team.

Thematically, the show tells the story of the 2 artists Jay-Z and Beyoncé, who arrive together before splitting into their separate worlds, represented by 2 parallel 52m runways. Throughout the show their separation forms the emotional rollercoaster of the scenes. Towards the end of the night, these worlds are brought back together - both figuratively and physically - by a giant automated floating stage that bridges the catwalks and moves outwards, connecting the thrusts as one. Live performances are interspersed with pre-filmed video-art content by director Andrew Makadsi that move the narrative along - displayed on the 58m x 14m kinetic videowall at the back of the stage.

Echoing the success of the pyramid of performers created for Coachella, here the videowall opens out (wrapping around the side of the stage) to reveal a giant performer wall - a 5 x 4 grid of bays, backed by another videowall - that shifts the energy of the band and dancers into the vertical.

CONSTRUCTION & RIGGING OTR II is made possible through the use of 3 steel systems and 2 advance

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teams that leapfrog each other from city to city. The production fills 47 trucks - not counting the 6 trucks required for advance and a combined 17 trucks to transport the 3 steel systems. Transport was provided by Stage Truck. “Stage Truck is a vendor that we use quite often - they’re a great group of drivers,” commented technical Stage Manager Russell Glen. A sentiment echoed by the PM: “I bought in Stage Trucks to do the trucking as there were not many suppliers who had the numbers we needed,” noted Leabody. “Finding the drivers is the biggest challenge these days, and something that needs careful planning.”

Stageco provide the steel systems and construct them in each location. The overall stage measures 60m wide and 27m tall at its highest point. The central performer wall (16m x 12m) comprises 4 floors of 5 boxes, and provides the crucial structure that supports a scissor lift, 3 quick lifts and the tracking video system that is cantilevered into place. Also contained here are 2 stair houses, built by Stageco with scaffolding, that are used as holding areas for the artists.

The system’s design wasn’t finalised until just 3 weeks before the production loaded into the U Arena in Paris for its month of rehearsals - a consequence of the creative team’s pursuit of the best possible solution. “It was that close!” said Dirk De Decker, who managed the project from Stageco’s Belgian office.

“In their favour, they were working with Stageco, a company that has spent many years accommodating very challenging last minute requests of a structural nature. There are not many companies in the world that could find the suppliers, provide the solutions and turn everything around in a very short time.”

On average, the build takes 3 days at each venue, with Stageco completing the load out by 7pm the day after the show. With the steel

structure in place, the stage is set for the main tour crew to arrive. All rigging is done on the production load in and loud out, with kit and motors provided by Neg Earth and Eighth Day Sound. Headed by Bill Rengstl, a team of 4 (including Lenyn Barahona, Alex Bolduc, Dion Pearce), hang over 120 rigging points for all the light, video and sound. 64 tonnes of gear is flown from the structure, with a rigging height of 27m for the cantilever trusses that project out above the giant video screen.

AUDIO To allow the full magnitude of the vast downstage video wall to remain visually and physical unobstructed, the cantilevered trusses are used to raise the main PA way above the screens. This follows the template established on another of Stufish’s project, U2’s 2017 Joshua Tree Tour.

4 main hangs of 24 d&b audiotechnik J8 and 28 J-SUBs are flown above the video wall at a height of 27m, with the lower frequencies provided by 56 ground stacked B22 subs. 4 delay towers are used, each 12 J8 deep. The whole system is array processed and powered by 108 active D80 amps.

Such is the scale of the show, that the audio package supplied by Eighth Day Sound was far from straightforward - not least the network of desks required to wrangle the stage’s 124 outputs and 175 inputs.

“We have quite a complex DiGiCo system out here,” commented Audio Crew Chief / System Engineer, Arno Voortman. “In order to accommodate the amount of inputs and outputs required by a show this size we had to go to a max of 5 DiGiCo SD7’s in the primary fibre loop. 4 of these consoles are on stage for monitors. 2 SD7’s manage the 23+ band member mixes including all of the band talkbacks, and two more SD7’s manage the artist mixes as well as sidefills, wedges, and dancers. The artist desk also utilises the second fibre loop to manage sends and returns to a Klang over Dante.

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“At FOH there is one primary SD7 that is in the Primary fiber loop with the monitor desks. A second SD7 at FOH is setup on standby as a spare. This console also handles the support acts.” In total this complex console network consists of 5 SD7’s on the main fibre loop, 2 of which are equipped with the second fibre loop as well. There are also a total of 7 DiGiCo 192khz SD racks in use: 5 in the primary fibre loop and 2 on the second.

In terms of wireless, the tour uses 2 Sennheiser 9000 mainframes, 20 channels of Sennheiser 6000 receivers, 40 channels of Wisycom in-ear transmitters, 60 in-ear receivers, and 9046 handhelds.

A matrixed intercom system comprises 4 Riedel Artist 64 mainframes, 30 12-way intercom panels, 80 wired packs and 45 wireless Bolero packs.

VIDEO & AUTOMATION With video such a vital ingredient in the show, ensuring the artists are perfectly framed was essential. 17 cameras are used to capture the action - broadcast grade Grass Valley cameras in the main, along with a handful of Panasonic. Positions include 4 at FOH (due to the depth of the stage and the presence of 2 headliners), 2 at the sides of the arena, 2 rail-mounted cameras along the side of the runways, a centre stage moving arm and a stabilised head at the front of the moving bridge stage. The footage is augmented by the use of a Spidercam that swoops in to position to

“We’re taking camera tracking systems that are typically used in live TV shows and making them road ready to do a concert tour, night after night, in all weather.”

Brian Sheid, Railcam Robotic Systems

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capture the perfect angle to help tell the narrative of the show. “Spidercam is a huge part of our show,” commented Video Crew Chief, Ray Wszolek. “It gets some amazing shots.”

All automated camera elements are provided and operated by Railcam Robotic Systems, represented on the crew by Rick Compeau and Brian Sheid. Having worked on Beyoncé’s Formation tour and Coachella shows, they were invited back for OTR II to operate their largest system yet. “We’re taking camera tracking systems that are typically used in live TV shows and making them road ready to do a concert tour, night after night, in all weather,” explained Sheid.

Another essential element of Railcam’s role is providing the required sub stabilisation, without which the show’s powerful PA would inflict an unacceptable level of shake to the live feed. “As the tour world grows bigger and bigger, these screensare just getting better and better, so the visual quality needs to be really good,” noted Compeau. By using 5-axis stabilised heads to float the cameras on their mounts, any resonance from the sub woofers is removed.

Also on the video spec is a Grass Valley switcher and an extensive package of almost 30 monitors, both for safety checks and to provide previews to Beyoncé’s dressing room. “She’s a very hands-on type of creator, so for a while she was getting the same camera multi-views that the director gets, so she could see everything that was happening,”

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Head Rigger Bill Rengstl; Strictly FX Crew Chief, Scott ‘Bull’ Allen; Fourth Generation, headed by Tweed Hurlocker and Chief Electrician Paul Traynor; Automation Crew Chief Sam Melotte;Railcam Robotic Systems’ Rick Compeau and Brian Sheid.

said Wszolek. If the team do achieve a shot that they want to recreate in future shows, they have the benefit of a comprehensive recording package, Ingest, which ensures each night is properly archived.

The video walls themselves are constructed from PRG-supplied WinVision 9mm panels for the main left and right screens that track on and off, and ROE CB 8mm for the static upstage wall that sits behind the giant pigeonholes of the performer wall (the lower level of which has the ability to ‘garage-door’ up if required).

Automation of these walls is carried out byWIcreations, headed by Crew Chief Sam Melotte (assisted by Stephan ‘Xumi’ Schumacher, Miro Kusiuk, Robo Vrbjar and Matt Moran). The top and bottom tracks for the screen are built in advance by Stageco, with the requisite lifting truss with hoists ready to go when the team arrives. 12 truss dollies with running motors (6 per side) run over the top track beam. During installation, these move to the side of the stage so that 4 800kg hoists on each side can gradually raise each section as tiles are added below, before transferring them on to the track. During the show, spotters on each side of the stage work alongside the video crew as Melotte operates the system with WIcreations’ own MCA program. For this tour, MCA is run on a computer, with tablet control available to achieve the millimetre precision required during installation.

“The bridge was an exceptional piece that had never been done before. Not only the design and manufacture of an enormous piece of engineering proved challenging, but also the way it packaged and travelled had to be considered and respected all the way through the process.”

Ben Brooks, Brilliant Stages

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WIcreations was also responsible for the star lift that carries the artists from the top of the performer wall to the stage (and any level in between). This is mounted on an I-beam and uses 2 hoists. A spotter positioned on the wall ensures the stars are safely on or off the platform before operation.

Downstage of the video wall, the show has many more automation tricks up its sleeve, created by Brilliant Stages. As well as the main stage (with incorporated scissor lifts), BBQ deck and screamers, Brilliant created the twin runways, each featuring a travellator and, hidden within, a one-man mining cart that cantransport the performer to the end of the thrust without being seen.

At the end of each runway a pantograph staircase rises up to allow access and egress to and from perhaps the most impressive element of the show - the giant bridge that detaches from the main stage, raises into the air and tracks the 50m to the end of the thrusts. Weighing 20,000kg and measuring 20m wide x 5m deep, the bridge carries both stars along with 16 dancers and features a railing that can be raised around the perimeter as required.

Ben Brooks headed the team from Brilliant Stages. “The bridge was an exceptional piece that had never been done before,” he said. “Not only the design and manufacture of an enormous piece of engineering proved challenging, but also the way it packaged and travelled had to be

BEYONCÉ & JAY-Z

Video Crew Chief, Ray Wszolek.

considered and respected all the way through the process. It has to air freight around the world, and be in and out of venues in a matter of hours as the schedule is quite tight, so this was going to be the bit that made such a difference on the road.”

POWER With the show ram packed full of automation and moving systems, powering the whole production posed a mammoth challenge. Leabody called on Coldplay alumni Fourth Generation, headed by Tweed Hurlocker, and Chief Electrician Paul Traynor to ensure everything ran smoothly.

“With this being such a big production on the power side, Bill wanted to make sure he had the right people and the right equipment, so he brought us both in to oversee it,” said Traynor.

“3 megawatts of generators - 2 complete systems - are required, such is the size of the production,” Hurlocker confirmed.

It’s a dynamic system using several different voltages to cater for both European and American equipment. Additionally, much of the automation was converted from AC down to DC, using isolating transformers to reduce noise and potential disruption to audio and video.

MEDIA SERVERS To serve the video walls, 4 disguise machines are used: 3 GX2 units and a 4x4Pro. The disguise was operated by Joshua Koffman (working alongside Leo Flint, Sam Jeffs and Grant Draper) from within the software itself - with additional controls on a pair of MA Lighting grandMA2 Light consoles. “Our main wall has a high enough pixel count that we had to get creative to drive it without making transporting the signals really tricky,” commented Koffman. “The ultimate solution chopped the wall into 6 separate feeds coming from the servers.” Movement of the main wall is tracked in the servers via a connection to the various automation systems used on the tour. “Artistically that was a bit of a challenge as with every different configuration we have to decide how best

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to display cameras and content in a way that keeps the show interesting but doesn’t make it impossible for the camera team to shoot.”

LIGHTING Even though the show’s Lighting Designer Cory FitzGerald has worked with Beyoncé since 2012, OTR II proved to be a unique experience. “The process for this tour was unlike almost anything I’ve ever done,” said FitzGerald. “We were trying to achieve looks that were very theatrical, operatic and almost anything but a rock ‘n’ roll tour. Since the beginning of the concept it’s been about trying to hide the sources of the lights, creating architecture- and smoke-based installations of light, as well as shadow and silhouettes for the band and dancers then revealing them and back and forth. Creating a truly theatrical experience in a stadium sized show.”

The show itself was programmed by FitzGerald, along with Jason Baeri and Davey Martinez (whoalso operates it on the road). “They did an amazing job, and the crew from Neg Earth is one of the best I’ve seen out there,” commented FitzGerald.

To avoid the audience’s eye being drawn away from the main screen by a line of lighting above its upper edge, a central lighting pod is cantilevered at the same height as the main PA hang. This contains part of the follow spot contingent: 11 Robe BMFL spots (with an external camera fitted to monitor the beam) controlled from a groundbased station. These are complemented by 2 BMFL Spots on each of the cantilevered trusses and 12 PRG Best Boys dotted around the stadium and up

“The process for this tour was unlike almost anything I’ve ever done. We were trying to achieve looks that were very theatrical, operatic and almost anything but a rock ‘n’ roll tour.”

Cory FitzGerald, Lighting Designer

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delay towers. The pod lights are ostensibly grouped in pairs to allow the lighting operator extra coverage should it be needed, while 3 individually controlled BMFLs are used as key lights.

150 weatherproof Elation Proteus Hybrids are used downstage of the video wall and on delay towers, while 54 GLP impression X4 Bar 20’s run down each side of both runways - protected from the elements inside bespoke louvre boxes, an aesthetic that extends all around the edge of the stage. A further 88 X4 Bar 20’s plus 38 Prolights UNICOs are used in vertical ladders by the main downstage support legs.

Distributed evenly across the vertical performer wall are 60 X4 Bar 20’s (floor mounted), 24 Robe MegaPointes (floor mounted), 40 Robe LED 150 (flown to light up each bay in the wall), and 16 Ayrton Ghiblis (2 per side on each level to provide side light). A GLP JDC1 strobe is ground mounted in each bay, with more JDC1’s used across the wings and across the back of the screen (35 units each). A further 46 MegaPointes aremounted on a 2-tiered Kinesys truss that drops in to provide backlight for the performers when required.

40 SGM G4’s attached to the underside of the bridge surprises audience members standing between the 2 runways (dubbed ‘Club Carter’) with a blaze of energy as the system passes overhead. 2 MA Lighting grandMA2 (plus a back up) provide control.

“It’s a big rig and the main challenge is that quite a lot of it’s either single handling or on the floor - there’s very little truss work,” noted Lighting Crew Chief, Jon Shelley Smith, adding that the

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team have risen to the challenge. “We’ve got a blend of old-age-andcynicism and youth-and-optimism on the crew, so it’s going quite well,” he said.

Using the fixtures available the LD was able to create the distinct looks required for the two headliners. “Jay and Beyoncé have very different ways of being lit and we need to make sure we make that work throughout the show and keep it consistent,” said FitzGerald. The show is filled with stunning looks.

In the song PSA, for example, Jay-Z is framed on the runway by strobing beams everywhere he goes and blue spot lights to help complement the Notch fire overlay applied to the IMAG, ensuring he still stands out visually. Equally, during Baby Boy, we see Beyoncé and her dancers on the performer wall in a side-to-side chase that gives an almost stop-motion effect.

Completing the visuals were Strictly FX, led by crew chief Scott ‘Bull’ Allen. 20 fog machines add ambience, with hazers placed underneath the bridge and performer wall. Haze is also evenly distributed down the length of the runways via a system of perforated piping. 10 Isopar flame heads are used - 4 on the actual stage and 6 in the truss and tower section above - as well as 250 pieces of pyrotechnics. Pyro is mostly positioned along the side of the stage, with additional pieces placed underneath the automated bridge to create a dazzling camera-friendly backdrop when the platform begins to move out into the crowd.

About half a mile of front of stage barricade was provided by EPS, along with accessible (ADA-compliant) cable ramps as well as three staff. For local productions, materials like driveable / non-driveable field cover, production plans / drawings, fencing, entry gates, signage and production vehicles (such as Gators and golf carts) were also supplied.

SMOOTH RUNNING While the creative ambition of OTR II is impressive, so too is the small army that works tirelessly to keep the whole tour running smoothly; a 240-strong crew was transported by 16 buses, alongside 8 artist buses - all provided by Coach Service - as well as the arsenal of gear transported by Stagetruck. “It is a giant production and very complicated technically,” said Leabody. “There are many, many challenges, but so far the crew have managed to rise to the challenges and we are moving like a well oiled machine. Special mention though has to go to Stageco, without them the whole project would not be able to happen.”

Having completed its European leg, the tour now continues on through North America, concluding in Seattle on 4 October. TPi Photos: Andrew White www.beyonce.com www.lifeandtimes.com www.8thdaysound.com www.negearth.com www.prg.com/uk/en http://strictlyfx.com www.fourthgenerationltd.com www.brilliantstages.com www.wicreations.com www.stageco.com www.eps.net/en-us www.coachservice.com/en/start.html www.stagetruck.com

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