LITTLE MIX: LM5 THE TOUR

LITTLE MIX: LM5 THE TOUR

Boasting an Aladdin’s cave of touring technology, Little Mix embark on their most adventurous tour to date, in support of their fifth studio album, LM5. TPi’s Jacob Waite chats to the team pushing the boundaries of the group’s trademark, extravagant live shows.

The first group to win The X Factor, Little Mix were formed during the eighth series of the show in 2011. In the following years, the popular four-piece has gone on to become one of the most successful girl groups this decade. Fronted by Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson, Little Mix’s 40-date tour of Europe began on 16 September 2019 in Madrid – spanning sold-out, multiple-date arena shows in the UK and Ireland – before drawing to a close on 22 November 2019 in London.

‘WE’RE NOT REINVENTING THE WHEEL’

Ahead of Little Mix’s second date at Manchester Arena, Ant Carr of Modest! Management picked up the story. “This tour is a bit of a change for Little Mix,” he began, citing his partnership with Production Manager, Andy Colby as integral. “Andy has had some input in bringing in key touring members and deals with the day to day on the road, while I tend to deal with the long lead advancing, logistics and budgeting.” Th e impressive supplier roster combined the expertise of PRG, The LED Shed, Wigwam, ER Productions, Pyrojunkies, csuk, KB Event, Production North, Lucy’s Pantry and Over the Top Rigging. “When it comes to selecting touring companies, it’s all about longevity and longstanding relationships – it’s as simple as that,” Carr said. Working for the management company and in the production team, Carr understood exactly what his profit margin needed to be. “It works for us to have everything in-house as a production company. There’s no middleman – it’s us doing the deals and being on top of it.” During production rehearsals at LS-Live, the team removed certain aspects of the design, such as the stage tracking and waterfall gag, from mainland Europe shows, citing driving routes and time as mitigating factors. “F ollowing a tough European run, we’ve now hit a great schedule in the UK and Ireland, which is ideal given the advanced stage setup, because everything has to be on point,” commented Carr. Famed for their explosive, extravagant and technologically advanced shows, Carr and Little Mix enlisted production design team, Black Skull Creative to come up with a concept befitting the band’s global dominance. “Having a new creative team breathes fresh air into everything,” he enthused. “Black Skull Creative understand the mechanics of a live show and have grounding of knowledge on technical aspects and understanding, both in the live touring and television world.” Re flecting on the task at hand, Carr explained: “We’re not reinventing the wheel, but we’ve tried to make it different. This tour is going to be difficult to change and top for next time. We’ve definitely set the bar high!”

‘IT’S A LOT MORE IN YOUR FACE’

With no live musicians on stage, the team went to great effort to focus on the music production. Musical Director, Rob Derbyshire worked in tandem with Donovan Hepburn on the live instrumentation, to create a new sound for the show. Carr explained: “Old songs have been revisited and a lot of attention has been given to the musicality of the show this time around.” Spanning eight years of music, with a range of producers, coming up with a level of sonic consistency was something Carr and the team “wanted to nail” this time around. “They’ve done a fantastic job, with increased attention to detail when it comes to the music.” FOH Engineer, Mark Littlewood has spent four years working with the group – a gig he picked up off the back of One Direction, who share the same management. “The band’s delivery has got an edge of raucousness to it opposed to the records – it’s a lot more in your face,” he referenced the club-like feel of the show and “pounding” bottom end. “It’s one big disco really, and that’s what they wanted.” Fo r control, Littlewood mixed on a DiGiCo SD10 with a Waves package. “I’ve used DiGiCo for a few years and I’ve never looked back since.” Throughout the tour, the band were joined by a series of guest acts. In the O2 Arena, London, Stormzy was the surprise act. “I’ve got guest mix and two spare Sennheiser mics dialled in when it comes to guest mixes,” Littlewood noted. During the show, Littlewood was primarily “riding the vocals” to match the consistency of the tracks. “Everything is snapshotted, however, there are quite a few changes in the show regarding the effects and sends.” Littlewood’s outboard gear highlights included Bricasti M7, an Eventide H8000 and Helicon, which boasted “some funky effects”, as well as an SSL Fusion and G-Master Buss compressor “over the left and right” of his mix t o make it sound more “pop-like”. The PA system main hangs comprised 36 d&b audiotechnik GSLs, 32 KSLs on the side hangs and 12 flown SL-SUBs. “It’s the first time I’ve used the GSL/KSL system, and I’ve found that it helps with gain before feedback because of the cardioid setup,” Littlewood said, having used prior d&b systems. “I’m really impressed with it. However, the only downside with the impressiveness of the rear rejection and cardioid is having the inclusion of side fills, so it’s been a bit of a trade-off. It now filters the same across everywhere rather than calm filtering from box to box.” Systems Tech and Audio Crew Chief, Jon Brooks explained the reasoning behind the SL-SUBs. “We didn’t want to have a pile of subs on the front row,” he explained. By doing this, the team has kept the sub much more even across the room – one of Littlewood’s requests. “He didn’t want it to be thumping on the floor and quiet upstairs; he wanted it to be as equal as we could across the board, with it being a seated pop show.” Eight d&b Y10P lip fills, eight V-SUBs, and four V10Ps provided extra fills, along with 54 D80 amplifiers. “The eight V-SUBs under the lip fill covers the first 15-20m on the floor nicely, giving lots of punch for the front-row audience, which is important because, if you’ve flown the subs, you’ll lose a lot of impact on the front.”

Brooks noted that because it was a d&b audiotechnik system: “If you model the room correctly, it does what it says.” Prior to the tour, Brooks received CADs for each venue of the tour to make sure where their stage was going fit along with the overlays. “Working from there, fitting it around from the lighting rig, it’s my job to make sure that it was approved by management for sightlines and Mark was happy with the box count.” Using d&b audiotechnik ArrayCalc, Brooks exported an image of the vocal region of coverage in every room, to check its suitability. “d&b’s ArrayCalc models are very accurate so it’s a case of making sure the riggers put the points in the right places.” Brooks has worked on a “specific target curve”, which he explained worked excellently. “It’s the same drop over distance every venue, so the floor is doing a little tilt of a couple of dB to allow the top boxes to die off at the same rate as the flown subs.” By modelling and measuring the first couple of shows with the Beyer wireless reference mics, utilising d&b ArrayProccessing, Brooks was able to locate the offset of each venue. “During winter, we start at 12° and finish at 24°, so there’s a massive swing in heat and humidity levels that we have to be aware of.” For the larger venues, the team utilised additional house delays to overcome “tricky acoustic” spaces. A Meyer Sound Galaxy performed system matrix and distribution. “It allows me to bring in system tuning, if anybody turns up with a support board, I can feed playback straight into it, and voice of god given an emergency announcement,” Brooks explained. “It also allows me to perform AES distro for matrixing and delays and hearing loops and house feeds.” Littlewood’s primary battle was when the band performed in front of the PA. “It’s physics and you can’t really beat it,” he said. “Nowadays, most acts perform in front of the PA at one stage of the show, so we have to bear with it. Luckily, there’s only a small section of this show when it happens. There’s no magic button – you’ve just got to turn it down or EQ it out.”

‘ONE BIG, HAPPY FAMILY’

“The biggest evolution has been the way we do playback – because we’re on DiGiCo consoles, playback lives on an Optocore loop,” Monitor Engineer, Craig Pryde reminisced. “The playback shows up as a device, so we share head amps for the mics and any analogue stuff, but we now put that in a playback loop and split it across 56 channels of MADI, so it’s a full split.” The stage management cues and counts were all run from playback as well as timecode to “rule out any confusion”. Pryde revealed that the one thing that stayed the same each night was the version three “playback machine”, which was made up of some non-disclosable components. Pryde’s console of choice was a DiGiCo SD10, which allowed Pryde the ability to take snapshots over MIDI, Pryde gestured to the “lovely” desk. “It’s got more ins and outs than any other mixing console. I love the macros. We’re using brand-new blue cards on the input and output, so it’s reduced latency and an incredibly reliable board, which I know from back to front.” In-ear monitors came in the shape of Sennheiser 2000 with Jerry Harvey Audio JH16v2 moulds. “The entire show is on in-ears,” Pryde stated. Mon itor world boasted four L-Acoustics Arcs and two KS28s as side fills. A pair of LA12X amplifiers joined eight d&b E6s, which were used as understage foldback/cues. “The reason we have backup side fills is because the rear rejection off the d&b GSL/KSL is phenomenal,” Pryde commented. “The stage is super silent, so we have to create a bit of atmosphere for the onstage dancers, who thrive off the energy of the stage.” Meanwhile, the entire crew had mixes for packs. “This helps with cueing and running the show,” Pryde said. “Having tailored mixes for each department, cues and counts make sure that things fire when they need to because it’s not a sterile show by any stretch of the imagination.” For mics, the band rocked “custom-blinged” Sennheiser 5200s with 5235 capsules and 3272 receivers which, given the nature of the Swarovski crystals, were surprisingly “light” to touch, Pryde emphasised: “The band like them and they sound really good.” Using so many packs – and batteries – the team made the switch to completely rechargeable batteries. “We’ve not had any failures, and it’s saved a lot of money,” Pryde touched a flight case as a sign of luck. “Typically, we would have used over 80 batteries per show.” Sennheiser shotgun ambient mics and a pair of omnis at FOH pointed back at monitor world. “There’s not a lot of call for ambient mics because the crowd get so loud it would be overwhelming for the band,” noted Pryde. “We only really use them when the band interact with the crowd.” For RF coordination, Pryde utilised a hybrid of scanners, which he inputted into software management systems. “The RF needs to be managed properly because they’re all over the building, including quick changes on this show. Instead of licensing channels, we buy 30 channels,” he explained. “The UK and Ireland are good compared to other regions.” Having spent a lot of time in rehearsals relevelling and rebalancing tracks, Pryde worked closely with the tour’s Musical Director. “Rob Derbyshire is an absolute maestro at taking what would be a stereo track session and transforming it into the live sound.” PA Te chnicians, Dominic ‘Super Roadie’ Thorne and Bill Laing made up the audio crew. “Wigwam are lovely people and now that they’re part of the bigger picture with Solotech, it means you can get anything in any region,” he concluded. “The band are fantastic – not many acts embark on a threemonth arena tour every 18 months. Overall, it’s one big, happy family and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

‘THE PERFORMANCE WILL LIVE ON’

Black Skull Creative, made up of creative direction trio, Dan Shipton, Jay Revell and Ross Nicholson, met Little Mix at the start of this year following the release of the girl groups hotly anticipated fifth studio album, LM5. “The band were looking for a fresh performance identity to coincide with the release of their new record, so we were brought on board to pitch an original idea for their upcoming appearance at the BRIT Awards.” Off the back of the BRIT Awards performance, the creative trio commenced work on developing a cohesive, multi-faceted, aesthetic to “bring to life” a series of promo performances across a variety of TV shows and the summer festival circuit developing all creative elements including direction, set design and choreography. All of which lay the foundations of this landmark tour. “It was important to relay the overarching message of womanhood from the album and extrapolate this in a way that could be translated in a cutting-edge tour environment,” the designers told TPi. With a design based around the iconography of a triangle and its connection with femininity, the trio created a design and visual narrative to explore different manifestations of womanhood. From there, Black Skull Creative defined five sections that encompassed a broad understanding of what it means to be a woman, which took visual inspiration from the likes of David LaChappelle, Zaha Hadid and Alexander McQueen. “Every detail of the show – whether it’s the visual narrative, styling or automation – is a genuine collaboration between us and the band. Naturally, with over eight years of experience, the band come into the process with a wealth of ideas and interesting reference points and so there is never a dull moment when developing the look for any show, be it tour or promo,” the trio explained. With the way the contemporary world engages with content, the design collective considered how the tour will be received beyond a purely live experience. “Ultimately, the performance will live on via the fans’ social media, so we have to make sure the show is developed to have production values that look great, whether it’s being captured via one of our IMAG cameras or someone’s mobile phone.” Referring to video as a “focal point of contemporary culture” at large, it would be remiss for the designers to not consider this modern form of popular communication. “The stories you can tell and worlds you can create through video are seemingly limitless and we wanted to explore this through our show.” No rthHouse Creative was brought into the project by Black Skull Creative to devise the video content for the tour following their collaboration on Little Mix’s first two tours. NorthHouse Visuals Director, Tom Bairstow, joined the conversation: “It’s great to work with the rest of the team again.” Black Skull Creative explained the importance of video content: “It was the best way for us to set up our five sections, which we were then able to expand upon through other creative elements. We would never want to rely solely on video and so it’s important for us to still maintain elements of the physical world through props and set pieces in order to add another dimension to our stage setting.” Working closely with Black Skull Creative, Bairstow and Creative Producer, Harrison Smith developed designs for the video content centred around the concept of female empowerment. NorthHouse wanted to create a filmic look throughout the whole show, combining pre-filmed footage with rendered visuals and a few live camera effects within disguise using texture layers and frames. “As with any show, we love involving filmed content and this creative gave us many opportunities to bring this into our workflow, from a two-day studio shoot with the band, to a location shoot with actors, a green screen shoot with Dan Walker,” Bairstow told TPi that the BBC News Presenter kindly jumped in to be play a key role for the intro and stock shoot.

‘TESTING THE BOUNDARIES OF PRODUCTION’ Ever since Little Mix were catapulted into stage stardom, Modest! Management has relied on Production North to devise the band’s ambitious set design. Production North Project Manager, Ben Levitt praised the tour’s creative contingent: “Black Skull Creative really tests the boundaries of live touring production, which I admire.” A tour which pushed technical, logistical and leadership boundaries, Levitt beamed: “It was huge team effort from all of the crew on the ground, it’s one of the best productions I have ever been able to work on.” Overjoyed to be involved with the production, Levitt summed up: “We have enjoyed witnessing Little Mix’s awesome career growth. Equally, our relationship with Modest! Management has grown beyond belief and we have loved every minute of working on this project.”

‘FROM THEATRE-SIZED PRODUCTIONS TO SOLD-OUT ARENAS’

In video world, TPi was greeted by The LED Shed Owner / Directors, Luke and Tom Levitt. “We were involved in Little Mix’s first theatre tour, thanks to our strong relationship with Modest! Management,” Luke reminisced. “Our collaboration is symbiotic in the sense that we’ve both evolved together, from theatre-sized touring productions to sold-out arenas across the world.” Luke also recounted the “excellent level of trust” between management and creative. “They share their ideas and we’ll break our backs trying to achieve it for them.” Working closely with the other departments because, both creatively and physically on this tour, so many different elements interacted with each other. Luke stated: “The audio playback links up to our three disguise gx 2 media servers – a master, slave and understudy – which accept timecode and trigger at the correct time with Tom Levitt, having programmed that in rehearsals under guidance from Black Skull Creative, makes sure everything fits, runs and times perfectly.” Tom explained the reason for a trio of media servers: “There are just under 50 million pixels, so we need a lot of outputs. The reality is, if the servers fail, because the video element of this tour is so huge, it’s a really big issue. There are multiple single points of failure you can’t afford to exercise, and the media servers are definitely one of them.” The LED Shed deployed a Desay X5 5.2mm pixel pitch modular LED system for the main wall/shards, along with Desay X2 2.6mm LED screens for IMAGs. The chevron roof comprised ROE Visual CB5. Six Novastar MCTRL 4K screen processors were the backbone. “The ROE Visual CB5 screen was subbed in from PRG,” Luke noted. Meanwhile, the Desay products were largely responsible for the sheer number of pixels the video team run. “They allow us to present a greaterthan-HD experience for the audience on IMAG,” Tom added. “Typically, to perform HD, you would have projection based IMAG, but that wouldn’t be in keeping with the large amount of LED on stage.” To this end, the brothers specified LED with a really high pixel pitch to present footage in full HD or better. “The cameras are capturing the content in full HD, however, because of their sheer size, we’re running above full HD, so we’ve scaled the image up slightly to fill the LED.” The cameras and lenses package comprised five Blackmagic Design URSA mini pro cameras, two Fujinon 17x HD lenses, two Fujinon DigiPower 77 HD lenses and a Canon UJ90 DigiPower 4K lens. The obscure shapes on stage, which were referred to as shards at jaunting angles, were a result of collaboration between Over the Top Rigging, The LED Shed, Production North, ER Productions and PRG. “We deploy standard truss along with bespoke hinge pieces to give shape to various visual fixtures. Every department has had to work together on the physical and logistical elements of this undertaking. Timing has been integral in that regard,” Luke noted. “It’s tricky trying to fit square LED panels into triangle shapes, short of seeking triangle LED manufacturers, we’ve managed to overcome it.” Si nce touring with One Direction in 2014 with 3.9mm LED panels, Tom suggested that the company was one of the very few suppliers in the world that supplying touring LED IMAG in full HD or better. “Sure, LED IMAGs have been done in full HD on one-off events, although I know it’s very uncommon to tour.” It doesn’t come without its expense, as Luke delineated: “It requires more infrastructure to cater for the extensive number of pixels on display. A 2.6mm pixel product that is touring and built up and down each day is prone to wear and tear, but it’s definitely worth it in the sense that you definitely see the benefit as a fan coming to see the show.” Luke claimed that one of his biggest bugbears with camera relay or IMAGs was when a supplier, band or artist “doesn’t care so much”, he scorned. “You still see standard-definition projection or low-resolution pixel pitch LED IMAG, which degrades the show. Our ethos is to do our utmost to stay ahead of the curve, and it’s our job to make the band look as good as possible on stage.” With the majority of Little Mix’s fan base spending a large amount of time looking at the retina displays of their smartphones or tablets, presenting the group with a low-resolution image, according to Luke, was simply not an option. “I have children, and if I show them a piece of SD content, they’ll complain because they’ve experienced the luxury of technical advancements.” The LED Shed’s PPU comprised Blackmagic Design Atem Production Studio 4K and a Blackmagic Design Atem 2 M/E broadcast panel. To m pointed out: “We use a Blackmagic Design Smart Video Hub router for SDI, with 40 inputs and outputs, distro signals from rack to switcher, Blackmagic 8m broadcast switcher, used in conjunction with 2MA broadcast panel to control the switcher, which controls the mixing and cutting of feeds.” Co ntent was then stored and played back from disguise servers – one source live camera imagery from switcher, the other from video files composited creative and output accordingly. Luke also acted as Video Director on the road. His charge was to tell Black Skull Creative and Little Mix’s narrative to the entire arena each night. “I like to flick between very clean IMAG cut hitting 15,000 people at the back of the arena, but I also try and make it look nice and flow – somewhere between an IMAG shoot and music video telling the Little Mix story.” Hitting all the imperative lyrics in an artistic way, using movement from various cameras, was key to creating a “nicely flowing visual experience”. “I try to portray as many nuances coming from the stage onto the screens as I can, so that it feels more intimate,” Luke commented. “One thing I try to do ahead of every show is make a million notes to locate what works best and share that information between the team to enhance the experience for the crowd.” Ca mera Operators and LED Technicians, Jamie Riddoch, Rob Benson, Devin Turner, James Miles and Billy Robinson; Video and LED Technicians, Connor Dexter and Chris Everett joined the brothers in video world. Luke praised his troupe: “As owners and directors, we couldn’t do it without the rest of the crew,” he commented. “They work their backsides off and there is an awful lot of work that goes into this show from a video point of view. There are more than 1,100 panels of LED; working with management and creative, we can make sure nothing is left to chance.”

‘WITHOUT TIMECODE YOU WOULDN’T STAND A CHANCE’

Over in FOH, Lighting Operator, Dominic Crookes started touring with Little Mix in the group’s early days. In that time, he said, their live offering has got “bigger and bigger”, growing from “three straight trusses” of lighting to a Eurovision-style stage setup. Working closely with Lighting Designer, Peter Barnes and Black Skull Creative, Crookes controlled the extensive lighting rig with a High End Systems Hog 4 console. “I made the leap to the Hog 4 for this run, which has been solid and reliable,” he stated. “The nature of the show is really cue heavy and without timecode you wouldn’t stand a chance.” Robe Spikies featured in the centre of the lighting rig, with PRG Icon Beams around the edge alongside GLP JDC1s and GLP impression X4 Bars surrounding the edge of the screen. The ground floor of the steps housed TMB Solaris Flares, which Crookes claimed were “fantastic”. The downstage edge presented Robert Juliat Dalis footlights to uplight the band, which were also used on the prior tour as they’re “great at filling in any gaps”. Additional Vari-Lite VL3500s washed the stage and nine dancers – a “solid fixture”, according to the LD. Crookes was pleased to link up with lighting provider, PRG. “The PRG GroundControl follow spot system is fantastic,” he commented. “We used it on the last tour to beef up the rig. On this run, we mainly use it as backlight when the band come down an automated lift.” It was here, Crookes said, it became apparent how good they are. “It’s probably the best system out there for automated follow spots.” Reflecting on the visually impactful show, Crookes commented: “Black Skull Creative has put together a beautiful show, but most importantly, they are open to ideas,” he continued. “There are different themes throughout the show, which create a crescendo and carry through the setlist. Following a big opening, there’s a slower section in the middle, before the show builds to an impactful end.” Lighting Crew Chief, Adam Morris; Lighting Technicians, Tom Bennett,

‘OUR AIM IS TO CREATE A SPECTACLE’

Bringing the fire and ferocity was Pyrojunkies, deploying a range of flame bursts and the infrastructure for the rainfall section during the encore. In particular six Magic FX Stadium Shot mk2s with rainbow configuration paper confetti, four CO 2 low smoke machines, six Magic FX Sparxtars and eight Galaxis G Flames, controlled by a Galaxis firing system. “This provides ultimate safety with a Deadman’s switch,” SFX Supervisor, David Taylor explained. “I fire the show with clear line of sight of all performers with two spotters in the pit.” The outstanding pyrotechnic waterfall was made up of 40 7mX15s Wells Waterfalls, housed on two 4m-wide custom-built HD water drop screens with custom built catchment decks and tanks. Wells XL Sparkle Flashes, Gerbs and Medium Sparkle Flashes performed a series of high profile looks. “T he rain curtain is controlled by a bespoke control system which converts images into rain,” Taylor said the rest of the effects were controlled by a MA Lighting dot2. Technicians Taylor Egan and Liam Luckhurst joined Taylor in the pyro team. “This is a visually stunning show that has sold-out multiple nights at multiple venues,” Taylor beamed with pride. “It’s a pleasure to work with the band, I can’t wait to do it again next summer.” Du ring the show, ER Productions lasers brought the “wow-factor” in a remix of the powerful pop hits Only You into Black Magic, as well as the show’s closing track, Touch. Laser Programmer, Andrew Turner shared details of the collaborative process of integrating the lasers with the rest of the show: “It was a great experience working with the such a high-profile act as Little Mix. In a couple of numbers we had a very clear brief from the guys at Black Skull Creative (Only You/Black Magic, Secret Love Song) but, as always with these things, moments in the show that naturally lend themselves to lasers revealed themselves – we’re always on the lookout for those in the rehearsal period. In this case, Touch and the Dance Interlude were great moments for these.” Th e dance interlude consisted of a stunning laser show, choreographed to the track Forget You Not. ER lasers also provided a striking rainbow backdrop during the band’s more intimate rendition of Secret Love Song. Turner is a self-proclaimed massive fan of colour in lasers, and singles out this number as being his personal favourite. “I created about 50 in total, tweaking hues and gradients, with different oscillating looks throughout the rehearsal period, all the way up till the final rehearsal, to get the ultimate ethereal look that Jay from Black Skull Creative was after.” Du ring the final EDM part of Black Magic, Turner expanded on Black Skull Creative’s brief to deliver a slow build, ending in a “big ravey crescendo”, with fast sweeping beams adding more energy to the band’s energetic performance. “We kept the colour palette simple, mainly whites and cyans, which we know will usually give us the brightest looks,” explained Turner. “It’s a very fun number to programme.” Th e rig comprised a range of ER Productions fixtures, including 10 Kinekts on the shards and side lasers, eight BB3s on the column lifts and four EX15s for scanning. A further 10 ER Beams pointed downstage for static looks, all controlled via Beyond Ultimate NPC and High End Systems Hog 4 for the DMX fixtures. ER P roductions Laser Technician and Operator, Jimmy Boucher commented: “We supplied a range of lasers, from 3W up to 15W, some including the latest products by ER Productions like the Beam-ERs, which aren’t scanning but giving us thick beam looks and really cool shapes on the downstage edge.” Fo r Turner, this was the first time using the Beam-ERs, which he hailed as “a great experience” – using ER’s proprietary DMX software meant the units had an increased field of movement. “They are perfect at creating multiple beam focuses across the stage and choreographed to terminate onto stage areas away from the performers.” Th e biggest challenge with lasers was safety and, as always, plotting laser positions was Turner’s first step. “We want to compliment the staging design, use as much space as we can, but ensure the lasers pose no risk to performers,” he explained. A total of 10 DMX Lifting Columns were spread across the entire width of the stage and screwed into the deck to ensure stability. Using these meant they keep the BB3 lasers at a very low position for the entire show, before being lifted to height a few seconds before the laser number. “Not only did this ensure the lasers were above head height of any performers on stage, but also created interesting shapes, experimenting with different heights,” Turner added. Th e range of ER Productions effects were considered, to create a perfectly balanced usage of each effect, without overwhelming the audience. Boucher recalled: “Our aim is to create a spectacle. For a lot of concert-goers, both parents and children, this will be their first show – we give them something they can take away with them.”

‘ YOU’VE ALWAYS GOT TO BE AWARE WHEN YOU’RE FLYING PEOPLE’

From the outset, it was Black Skull Creative’s goal to ensure that the symbol of the triangle was embedded in the design and the tour would feature dynamic automation to integrate this symbolism. For example, the opening of the show featured a huge underlit triangle that the band lowered down to the stage on. At the helm of the Movecat automation system was Pete Macdonald. “I oversee the stage flown automation, which includes moving the lighting t r usses and flying the band in at the start of the set,” he opened. Running the Movecat iMotion Expert III console through timecode at the start of the show, Macdonald controlled 0.5 tonne Liftket motors, which run 20m per minute on the back platform. On the lighting trusses, Macdonald oversaw 1.45 tonne Liftket motors at 10m per minute. “You’ve got to be aware when you’re flying people at any level,” he said. “Luckily, this is an extremely safe system. Using 3D graphics to calculate and monitor the weights of the relevant motors – if the contents goes over or under weight, it stops.” The Movecat drives were situated on the floor, so if anything went wrong, Macdonald had the ability to quickly swap and carry on, without stopping the show. “Rather than being dead in the water, this setup allows us to fix things from the floor upwards.” During the Sisterhood section of the show, the group flew out over the audience on a glowing neon triangle. Overseeing the bespoke tracking system was Over the Top Rigging’s Mark Wade. Involved in prior Little Mix tours, Wade returned to ensure the safety of the tracking gag. “We build the set above and make sure it’s all safe for the show. It’s quite a simple system.” Though simple to Wade, its bespoke nature required his expertise. “It’s designed as a crane, purposed for moving cars around in factories. However, I’ve repurposed the control side to make it more suitable and reliable for touring. Suspended from the roof is a little box of truss, which tracks with three double-break motors to lift the platform that the band are on.” The track was made by a Swiss company, GIS. Triggered midway through the set, the band give a speech towards the end. In Manchester Arena, this marked the perfect time for one Little Mix fan to propose to another.

‘WELL-OILED MACHINE’

Stage management was split between Torin Arnold, who handled the physical running of the show, and Toby Plant, who dealt with the load-ins and outs. On his second tour with Little Mix – having previously worked with the group two years ago as a set carp – Arnold shared the benefits of having prior experience of the band – in understanding their workflow and “how they like things”, presenting him with a “great head start”. Each role has its perks, he believed. “As a stage manager, the days are longer, and I have to be switched on. I’m also a lot busier during the day than I was as a set carp once the set was built.” Given the complexity of the stage, it was a race for Arnold to get everything done before doors. “The team has really stepped up to achieve this feat. Europe was particularly difficult. However, in the UK and Ireland, with a few dates in each venue, we’re not only a well-oiled machine, we also have a larger window to setup.” Arnold’s biggest challenge was ensuring each day was the same. “The band like routine, which I can completely understand – they want to deliver an excellent show every night,” he acknowledged: “It’s as much of a dance for them off stage, as on stage – given the sheer amount of quick changes required during the set.”

Moving on to the UK and Ireland, production was increased from 13 to 14 Megacube artics. KB Event’s Lead Driver, Steve Crawley, managed the KB team on the road with pre-production and overall management undertaken by KB’s Senior Operations Manager, Howard Dearsley and Laura Meredith. KB Event’s Managing Director, Stuart McPherson stated: “With a wealth of industry experience, Steve has my absolute trust on the road. We have a great relationship with Ant Carr, which has developed over the past few years.” As LM5 marked the first time KB Event worked with Production Manager, Andy Colby, it was “imperative” that McPherson selected a strong team. “Although several of the European runs were challenging, LM5 has been an absolute delight to work on, and this is down in no small part to Modest! Management’s team, both on and off the road.”

‘A POP MASTERCLASS’

Live, LM5 contained all the hallmarks of a pop masterclass, packing a feminist punch. Rounded off by a core crew of creatives and innovative technology. Working with Little Mix on what was their biggest tour to date was all but a dream for Black Skull Creative. The design collective concluded: “It is such a privilege to be involved in a show that is all about elevating women and celebrating the broad spectrum of what it means to be a woman. We’re excited to continue our creative partnership with the band and cannot wait to share what is in store for 2020…”

TPi

Photos: Callum Mills (www.callummills.co.uk), Georgie Gibbon & TPi

www.little-mix.com

www.modestmanagement.com

www.blackskullcreative.com

www.northhousecreative.com

www.prg.com

www.ledshed.co.uk

www.sseaudio.com/wigwam

www.er-productions.com

www.pyrojunkies.com

www.csuk.coach

www.kbevent.com

www.prodnorth.com