TPi November 2017 - #219

TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL LIVE EVENT DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY • NOVEMBER 2017 • ISSUE 219

SIGUR RÓS

A theatrical evening with Icelandic experimentalists HOPELANDIC SENTIMENT

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS • NEIL DIAMOND • THE ROLLING STONES • LORDE • ROAD DIARIES PRODUCTION FUTURES 2017 • INTERVIEW: ROCKART DESIGN • IN PROFILE: CHRISTIE LITES • PSA

NOVEMBER 2017 #219

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EDITOR’S LETTER

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Welcome to our November issue, where we delve into the production realms of ethereal Icelandic dream pop pioneers, Sigur Rós, back track through an incredible 50 years of touring with the legendary Neil Diamond, welcome back New Zealand songstress Lorde after a 2-year break, and get weird with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds during an intensely intimate arena performance.

There’s even room for a visual investigation into The Rolling Stones’ European tour, a catch up with South Korean rapper G-Dragon’s automated stage show, and we take you behind the scenes at the second ever Production Futures and TPi Breakthrough Talent Awards! Read about how the 2017 day went, and find out the 3 winners on Pg. 12. We’re just hearing news that some of the exhibiting companies have already found their latest employees... here’s to a fruitful 2018 for the next generation of production professionals! If you, or any of your crew / staff are suitable to feature in our monthly Production Futures column, please contact Stew.

Now, quick question, when you... oh I don’t know, excitedly ask at a rare full editorial outing to a rock show: “Guys! Shall we have a team photo?” does your ‘work family’ also erupt into awkward public laughter? Well, this was the best we could do! Honestly. Speaking of work family, and newcomers for that matter, on behalf of everyone at TPi, I’d like to say a HUGE congratulations to my little brother & right hand man, Ste, who has just announced that he is expecting a small human with his lovely wife Emma. What can we say, Hannah started off the TPi baby rock star trend, and pretty soon we’ll have a young band of our own.

Kel Murray Editor

EDITOR Kel Murray Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7738 154689 e-mail: k.murray@mondiale.co.uk

CHIEF EXECUTIVE Justin Gawne Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7768 850767 e-mail: j.gawne@mondiale.co.uk

ASSISTANT EDITOR Ste Durham Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8385 Mobile: +44 (0)7891 679742 e-mail: s.durham@mondiale.co.uk

GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION Dan Seaton: d.seaton@mondiale.co.uk Zoe Willcox: z.willcox@mondiale.co.uk

STAFF WRITER Stewart Hume Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8385 Mobile: +44 (0)7702 054344 e-mail: s.hume@mondiale.co.uk ADVERTISING SALES Georgia Guthrie Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8399 Mobile: +44 (0)7501 597837 e-mail: g.guthrie@mondiale.co.uk ADVERTISING SALES Lauren Dyson Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7415 773639 e-mail: l.dyson@mondiale.co.uk GENERAL MANAGER - TPi MAGAZINE & AWARDS Hannah Eakins Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7760 485230 e-mail: h.eakins@mondiale.co.uk Issue 219 - November 2017

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COVER DESIGN Sigur Rós by Andrew Benge EDITORIAL INTERN Jacob Waite PRINTED BY Buxton Press • www.buxpress.co.uk Annual subscriptions (including P&P): £42 (UK), £60 (Europe), £78/$125 (RoW).

Subscription enquiries to: Subscriptions, Mondiale Publishing Limited, Strawberry Studios, Watson Square, Stockport, SK1 3AZ, UK. Tel: +44 (0)161 476 5580 Fax: +44 (0)161 476 0456 e-mail: subscriptions@mondiale.co.uk www.tpimagazine.com www.tpiawards.com www.tpmeamagazine.com

TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL is a controlled circulation magazine, published 12 times a year by Mondiale Publishing Limited under licence.

ISSN 1461-3786 Copyright © 2017 Mondiale Publishing 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 Publishing 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 Publishing Limited United Kingdom. The 2017 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.

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ITINERARY OBITUARY 08

Entec’s Harold Pendleton.

EVENT FOCUS

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10 Production Futures

Production Park and TPi help to open doors for the industry’s next generation.

14 The Rolling Stones

A revamped, contemporary aesthetic.

20 Singapore F1

ER Productions provides lasers for the

star-studded after-race concert.

24

G-Dragon Acass-Systems provides production support to the ‘King of K-pop’.

26 Event Safety Alliance Rigging Conference

Prolight+Sound approach the ESA & Star

Events for content support in China.

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28

Desperados’ CLUBHOUSE Sound Services and Funktion-One support the travelling house party.

30

Lana Del Rey The singer’s audio team puts faith in DiGiCo for her recent European tour.

32

Martin Audio A new demo space is unveiled.

PRODUCTION PROFILE 34

Sigur Rós TPi meets the crew behind Iceland’s hottest export as they help to push the band into new visual realms.

46 Lorde Kel witnesses the singer’s return after a 2-year break from concert touring.

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54 Neil Diamond The legendary singer sets out on an extensive 50th anniversary world tour.

64 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Ste is on-site as the electrifying band make the jump from theatres to arenas.

IN PROFILE 72

Huntly Christie talks Stew through Christie Lites’ new UK operation.

PRODUCTION FUTURES 76

54

TPi speaks to eighteentwentysix’s Andrew Abbey.

INTERVIEW 78

Nicoline Refsing discusses eSports.

ROAD DIARIES 82

Ben Hammond recounts festival horrors.

GEAR HEADS 84

Alcons Audio co-founder, Tom Back, discusses the company’s LR28 line array.

CLOCKING OFF 88

The TPi team braves the elements in aid of Manchester’s homeless crisis.

PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE 90

64

Highlights from the E3S safety summit.

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS 92

The latest movers and shakers.

BACK CHAT 98

TPi Award-winning Emma Reynolds.

OBITUARY

IN MEMORY OF HAROLD PENDLETON 17 June 1924 - 22 September 2017

It is with profound regret that Entec Sound & Light announces the death of its founder, British music industry legend Harold Pendleton, who has passed away at the grand age of 93, after a short illness.

Born in Southport, Lancashire, chartered accountant Harold moved to London at the end of the ‘40s, and it was his love of jazz that lit the fuse of one of the world’s most influential music business empires, giving birth to Soho’s iconic Marquee Club and Studios, the Reading Festival, the first major live events at Milton Keynes National Bowl and the formation of Entec Sound & Light.

Arriving in London in 1948, Harold began a lifelong friendship with renowned jazz musician Chris Barber, and was instrumental in establishing the genre as a profession. “Up until then, the jazz world was populated by enthusiastic amateurs with day jobs,” he once said.

“There wasn’t any recognisable business foundation but I could see there was a lot of potential for the better musicians to forge a genuine career out of their talent.”

Immersing himself in the growing London scene, Harold became the secretary of the National Federation of Jazz Organisations of Great Britain. Later simplified as the National Jazz Federation (NJF), it had been founded by a committee of musicians, journalists and club owners with the aim of regulating the quality of the capital’s jazz culture. Harold also took on the dual roles of drummer and manager

of Chris Barber’s traditional jazz band, bringing to the UK many American artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf to perform with the band. With banjo player Lonnie Donegan in the line-up, Barber’s band also helped to trigger the skiffle craze with their huge Transatlantic hit Rock Island Line in 1954.

By 1958, Harold was promoting around 200 concerts a year for the NJF, including legendary shows at the Royal Festival Hall and trips abroad, such as an excursion to Paris, where a party of NJF members watched Louis Armstrong perform. Lacking a regular London venue for NJF events, Harold seized the opportunity to host jazz nights in the basement of the Academy Cinema at 165 Oxford Street. Often cited as the most important European venue in the history of modern music, the Marquee Club was born here on 19 April 1958 with the first Jazz at the Marquee event.

Rivalling the nearby 100 Club and Flamingo Club, the Marquee represented the first of many steps towards changing the face of British live music and became renowned as the launching pad for countless major acts, including a young outfit who named themselves The Rolling Stones after a Muddy Waters record.

The Marquee’s status amongst rock audiences, however, owes much to its relocation in March 1964 to Wardour Street, where The Yardbirds recorded their début album on the opening night, and The Who began their Tuesday night Maximum R&B residency. Over the 08

OBITUARY

Opposite: It’s with profound regret that Entec Sound & Light announces the death of its founder, Harold Pendleton. Below; Pendleton accepting his Outstanding Contribution Awards at the 2003 TPi Awards. Pendleton at Reading Festival.

following 10 years, the club would host era-defining events including some of the earliest performances by Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience and Led Zeppelin, and TV specials by the Stones, the Faces and David Bowie. It was also here, at the rear of the club, that the business was expanded with the addition of a management company and agency, a publication (Jazz News) and Marquee Studios, a state-of-the-art recording facility responsible for several No.1 hits, from The Moody Blues’ Go Now to Dead Or Alive’s You Spin Me Round.

As well as attracting the biggest names in the world, Reading was a hub of invention. Behind the scenes, Harold and his festival team were creating new standards that the industry now takes for granted.

Among them were backstage showers, flushing portable toilets, trackway and security wristbands that were inspired by the NHS hospital patient ID system. Another innovation was the introduction in 1972 of twin stages. Built side by side, this shrewd move enabled the crew to prepare an act on one stage while the other stage was active. “As well as helping us to stay within the curfew, it also prevented the audience from getting bored between each band,” Harold once explained.

But this was not the only festival to be blessed with the Pendleton touch. When The Police headlined the NJF/Marquee organisation’s first Rock At The Bowl concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in 1980, it was the venue’s first major foray into live summer events. In 1982, when Peter Gabriel and the company behind WOMAD faced financial ruin from the high costs of its first festival that July, Harold and Barbara agreed to promote him and the remaining members of Genesis for a single show that rescued the enterprise and made it possible for further WOMAD events to take place.

In 1987, Harold sold the Marquee Club to artist manager Billy Gaff, although Entec continued to service the venue when it relocated to Charing Cross Road. Some 5 years later, control of the Reading Festival was handed over to the Mean Fiddler Group, but not before Harold’s Marquee Group made history with Nirvana’s legendary 1992 performance – the band’s last in the UK. The incredible range of Harold’s achievements was celebrated in 2003 before an audience of the industry’s finest when he was presented with TPi magazine’s prestigious Lifetime Contribution Award by Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness, former members of Manfred Mann, the band who played the Marquee Club more times than any other act.

Harold is survived by his devoted wife Barbara and son Nick, who continues his father’s legacy as Chairman of Entec Sound & Light. The Pendleton family welcomes donations to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity that was close to Harold’s heart.

TPi Photos courtesy of Entec Sound & Light www.entecLIVE.com

OPEN-AIR INNOVATION As the music scene expanded in the late ‘50s, with the huge wave of newly-formed touring bands, Harold hit upon the idea of bringing many of them together in a festival environment. He gained his first experience of outdoor events in 1960, when Lord Edward Montagu invited him to organise the UK’s first open-air jazz festival at his estate in Beaulieu, Hampshire. A year later, fired up by its success, Harold persuaded the owners of the Richmond Athletic Association to allow him to hold the UK’s first annual National Jazz Festival (NJF) on its grounds on 26-27 August, with his new wife Barbara looking after the administration.

Using the Marquee Club as a barometer for rising talent, the festival played a crucial role in the support and development of jazz, blues, R&B and rock music in the UK, as well as introducing festival culture to the masses. After 5 successful years, the festival moved to Windsor and then, in 1968, to Kempton Park Racecourse in Sunbury as psychedelia began to divide into folk, heavy blues and progressive rock.

For this edition, Pat Chapman, who had been lighting events under the name of Crab Nebula Lights, approached Harold with the suggestion of using his services to lend a new, exciting edge to the festival stage. Realising the potential for future business, Harold set Chapman up with a workshop in the Marquee Club’s basement that became the basis of a new company: Entertainment Technicians Ltd, later abbreviated as Entec.

The festival eventually settled at the classic Richfield Avenue site in Reading in 1971, when the line-up featured Arthur Brown, Lindisfarne, Wishbone Ash, Rory Gallagher and a relatively new act called Genesis. Soon, the National Jazz, Blues & Rock Festival became known as ‘Reading Rock’.

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EVENT FOCUS

PRODUCTION FUTURES 2017 TPi Magazine and Production Park once again gathered some of the biggest innovators, companies and touring professionals in the live events and technical production industry for an event where new talent meets the most experienced mentors, and the TPi Breakthrough Talent Awards can recognise the next generation.

The mission for Production Futures was always a simple one: create a space where students and young freelancers can network and share ideas with some of the industry’s biggest names. It’s a golden opportunity to make valuable connections and even help kick start their career. Now 2 years into the incentive, it seems the message is resonating, with an increase in young people coming through the doors.

This year’s event saw 600 aspiring technicians of all diciplines - LDs, tour managers and riggers to name but a few - descended en masse on 11 October to the LS-Live rehearsal studio facility in Wakefield, South Yorkshire. The day promised several panel discussions aimed to give advice and inspire those taking their first steps into live events. Production Futures 2017 also saw the welcome return of the TPi Breakthrough Talent Awards, which turned the spotlight on those already making waves within the

industry. With the support of PRG XL Video, d3 Technologies, Robe, Prolyte Group and Chauvet Professional, the event offered several demo spaces that gave a chance to get a closer look at some of the latest innovations and real hands-on experience with the cutting edge equipment used on the world’s biggest tours.

TPi Magazine’s Chief Executive Justin Gawne, who co-founded the event, enthused: “Production Futures is a unique event for the live production industry, giving a window for the next generation of talent to see the wide range of opportunities available to them. With touring becoming the main source of revenue for artists, the requirement for top-class creatives and crew has never been higher. Production Futures gives an insight into the hands-on experience needed for a future in touring expertise.”

Cato Music’s Glen Rowe provided a rousing opening speech set to 10

PRODUCTION FUTURES

Opposite & Below: This year over 600 students and freelancers desended on Production Park for the second Production Futures event.

inspire the eager minds in attendance. Speaking after the event he recalled: “Production Futures totally blew me away this year! The questions asked by young people trying to find their way into the live industry were spot on. It seems the event is one of the few doors open into our world and it needs to be nailed open. We need young blood, fresh ideas and enthusiasm to keep us ahead of the world as leaders in innovating touring and events. I felt that Production Futures was the kind of accelerator this industry needs!”

Breaking from regularly scheduled programming, several industry heavyweights journeyed to Wakefield and set up exhibition spaces designed to give attendees an idea of each individual ethos. This year saw the return of Avolites, White Light, Hawthorn, Pearce Hire, and Cato Music, as well as Beat The Street, which rolled up with a top of the line bus to give visitors a look inside the touring homes of rock ‘n’ roll’s best and brightest.

The event also brought in several new supporters including Impact Production Services, ADJ, TAIT, GLP, Robe, BPM|PRO, UK Music and NRG (Next Generation Robe). Commenting on Robe’s involvement with this year’s event was Amy Kerr, Field Sales Support. She said: “This was the first year Robe exhibited and I thought it was such a nice event and I really enjoyed my day there. The atmosphere had a great buzz. I loved that it was such a practical experience for the students and I thought the stage area looked great.”

It wasn’t just industry mainstays exhibiting at this year’s event.

Production Futures also welcomed several education faculties to teach us about the various courses they had to offer students. These included

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Backstage Academy, Rose Bruford College, University of Huddersfield, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of South Wales and The Big Music Project. “This was the first year that we have attended and it was certainly useful for us,” commented Jasper Hardcastle, Student Recruitment Marketing Administrator at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.

Away from the main arena, there were additional workshops covering every detail down to CV masterclasses - which provided some practical advice from Richard Wear’s company, Interfacio, which aimed to ensure attendees start with the best foot forward.

Providing a full turnkey solution for this year’s staging area was Ireland’s very own Just Lite. Having provided the performance area last year, the lighting and audio company really looked to push the visual aesthetic upon its return. This included a full overhead audience truss consisting of myriad Chauvet Professional fixtures.

Production Futures 2017 proved the initiative is gaining momentum; a positive reflection on the innovation that courses through our industry.

Onwards and upwards; already the organisers are putting their heads together to work towards a bigger and better Production Futures 2018. We hope to see you there!

TPi Photos: Sarah Womack www.productionfutures.co.uk

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PRODUCTION FUTURES

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Set up as a younger sibling to the annual TPi Awards, the TPi Breakthrough Talent Awards divised to recognise next generation of live events experts.

For 2 months prior to the show, nominations were open to individuals and groups from all corners of the industry to submit some of their recent work for consideration.

This year’s judges were: EnTEEtainment’s Dick Tee, Touring Production Manager Richard Young, Festival Production Manager Ryan Esson, Cato Music’s Glen Rowe and TPi Editor, Kel Murray.

Presented by Richard Young I believe that in the short time I have been a part of this industry, I have been inspired by the amazing events I have come across, which has driven me to go further and to make my own mark on the industry. This award is an indication that I am on the right track, and I am going to continue my passion for touring as a stage manager and guitar tech, working with The Specials and Ocean Colour Scene.

Presented by Ryan Esson My first year at university has been a whirlwind. I’ve been lucky enough to have worked as a project manager for my Monday-Friday job throughout summer, and spent any of my free time working on some of the UK’s biggest festivals. I’ve worked alongside renowned industry professionals who have been the best mentors for me, which I could have hoped for, and for that I’m really grateful. Winning a TPi Breakthrough Award marks what is hopefully just the beginning of the rest of my working career in this amazing and unique industry.

Matt Didon and James Walton (pictured) Presented by Dick Tee We are incredibly appreciative of this award. It was a great surprise to receive it! We’re very grateful to all of the teams who worked with us on the project. Production Futures was a highly enjoyable event and it has been great to get more industry recognition for our company ON LX. We’re collectively looking forward to the projects yet to come.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS…

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EVENT FOCUS

THE ROLLING STONES TPi’s Ste Durham spoke with the creative team behind the bold new aesthetic that has been taken out on the road by one of the world’s biggest rock bands.

Renowned Lighting Designer and Creative Director, Patrick Woodroffe, was in charge of the Stones’ striking new production, working with Ray Winkler of Stufish and Jeremy Lloyd of Wonder Works on the scenic design, with assistance from WBD’s (Woodroffe Bassett Design) Terry Cook on the lighting design. Woodroffe began: “Unlike previous tours with the band that typically ran for a year or 18 months, we had to create a show that would justify the budget with only 14 shows, limiting the amount of custom designed pieces available.

“The only piece of scenery that was made for this show was a very elegant and contemporary roof structure that played in front of 4 monolithic video screens. These were portrait format and had the added feature of a 1.5m return of video panels on each side, giving a vivid sense of large blocks of animated images. We also committed to having nothing at the top of the screens, so all the rigging was hidden behind an additional

fascia of video panels.”

Woodroffe continued: “The number of fixtures was not particularly small for stadium shows but the placement of the lights was critical. We used a typical mix of large format spots and washes with some smaller fixtures tucked in the roof structure where they wouldn’t be seen or noticed. Most of the fixtures were rigged inside and underneath the roof structure but we also fitted 9 powerful spots into slots built into the video panels. So the venues were indoors but these were in large, covered stadia so the indoor and outdoor systems were much the same.”

The lighting rig, provided by long-time supplier Neg Earth Lights in Europe, included of 12 Vari-Lite VL3500 Washes, 172 Martin by Harman MAC Viper Air FXs, 14 MAC Aura XBs, 24 Claypaky Mythos, and 60 Robe BMFL Wash Beams.

“Every Stones’ show design over the years has been different,” said 14

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THE ROLLING STONES

Woodroffe. “But the common feature has always been to integrate the lighting, video and scenic elements in a seamless form. This is something that Mark Fisher and I had focussed on ever since 1989 and the latest tour, No Filter, was no different. Our long-time Lighting Director and a key member of the team, Ethan Weber, worked closely with Roland and Nick to make a completely immersive experience that is much more than the sum of its individual parts.”

The LD also specified a total of 168 molefays, 75 Philips Color Kinetics iW Blasts, 4 ColorBlast TRXs, and 180m of LED X-Flex. Atmospherics were taken care of by 6 Hazebase Base Hazers and 12 Reel EFX DF-50 Diffusion Hazers, while 8 Robert Juliat Lancelots served as followspots. Show control for both lighting and video came from, 2 MA Lighting grandMA2 Full Size consoles and an MA Lighting grandMA2 Light.

He added: “Ironically, considering the length of the band’s career and the stage that they find themselves at now, this is probably the most contemporary design that they have performed with. It very much placed The Rolling Stones as a band of its time, still looking forward both musically and in terms of production, and it is gratifying to see them selling out stadia with a spectacular production after nearly 60 years together.”

The lighting crew was completed by Lighting Director Ethan Weber, Crew Chief Andy ‘Fraggle’ Porter, Head of System Luke YC Radin, and Lighting Techs Erik Blomdahl, Barry Branford, Damon Coad, Keith Johnson, Tim Phillips, Gus Wimmer, Daniel Wiseman.

As Woodroffe had earlier intimated, the contemporary aesthetic of the design was bolstered by the gargantuan video presence that loomed behind the band. WBD’s Screens Director and d3 Programmer, Roland Greil, explained: “To get this modern look, the 4 monolithic towers were created, the front parts of which were fully covered with 12mm LED panels.

Additionally, the returns of the towers were covered with LED to create an architectural look, add some depth and to avoid letting the towers just look like 4 LED screens.”

Solotech supplied Saco SLine S12 LED panels (12mm), along with the corresponding Nano Processors, and a Ross Carbonite Switcher with Ross Open Source Gear. The crew also specified 6 Grass Valley LDX 86 Cameras (3 Handheld, 1 Jib, and 2 long lens) and Panasonic Robo PTZs. For playback, there were 2 d3 Technologies 4x4 Pro media servers and a d3 2x4 Pro. Greil gave his appraisal of the setup he had on the tour: “The Saco LED wall elements, as well as the Ross kit, are Solotech stock products but have proven to be a great choice. All the provided equipment is reliable, even under rainy outdoor conditions, and is easy to handle during load-in and -out.

“When we knew we were looking for something to control the whole system, play back content and create effects on the fly, we ended up choosing d3 pretty quickly. The d3 rig does exactly what we want it to in a very efficient way and has been 100% reliable so far.”

He added: “Reliability is a key factor for a show of this calibre. We wanted to use some custom-made Notch effects, especially for IMAG, so the integration of Notch in the servers was another plus. Last but not least the d3 support was second to none, which is key on a project of this scale.”

The show consisted of 3 main visual elements on the video side of things; untreated IMAG in various formats, some bespoke video content and treated IMAG, all of which could be combined in multiple ways.

VIDEO The video content was produced by Treatment Visual Productions’ Sam Pattinson and Lizzi Pocock. Their in-house team created most of the striking and dynamic content and background material with additional individual pieces commissioned from outside video artists.

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THE ROLLING STONES

Above: Roland Greil, Screens Director and d3 Programmer; Ethan Weber, Lighting Director and Programmer; Nick Keiser, Video and Camera Director.

Said Greil: “The key with shows like this one is to keep the balance Colleen Wittenberg, and Austin Colby, with Rick Trimmer, Scott Lutton, Dave between the different elements. Furthermore, you always try to avoid Klann, Chris Hoare, Simon DiFazio, and Joe Victoria operating the various overrunning whatever happens on stage, especially with a band like this cameras. one that has a great stage presence.

Greil summed up by saying: “I think we ended When it came to the direction of the show, up with a very balanced show, which created a Greil took a collaborative approach. He said: good-looking picture frame for what is arguably “It’s true teamwork between myself and Camera one of the biggest rock bands of all time. It was Director Nick Keiser. He directs 9 cameras and an enjoyable and entirely painless experience mixes them into as many as 4 different feeds, thanks to a great team effort with all of the which are then fed into the d3 system. Those people and crew involved. It’s a lot of fun, not to feeds are formatted in the servers, treated and mention a very rewarding experience, to operate combined with content. The d3 servers, much such a show for this legendary band every night.” like the rest of the show, are controlled 100% Creative Director Woodroffe added: “We had manually by me using an MA Lighting grandMA2 very little lead time once the tour had been Full Size console.” confirmed but we worked with a great team from “Ironically, considering the This manual approach is crucial for the Neg Earth on lighting and Solotech on video. length of the band’s career Stones’ show, as the band also preforms without Stufish and Jeremy Lloyd put together the scenic the aid of timecode or even a click track. design and concentrated very much on the detail and the stage that they find Greil continued: “Even with multiple very of rigging and mounting all these elements to themselves at now, this is high-resolution video layers playing back produce a composition that was both stylish and simultaneously, showing various IMAG feeds and probably the most contemporary practical.” treating them in real time at the same time, we TPi design that they have performed Photo credit: Manfred H Vogel http://mhvogel.de/ had no performance problems with the d3 and there was very little latency.” www.rollingstones.com with.”

The video crew consisted of Engineer http://patrickwoodroffe.com/ Patrick Woodroffe, Lighting Designer Sebastien Lamoureux, d3 Tech John McCleish, www.negearth.com and Creative Director Crew Chief Ben Rader, and LED Techs Abe Main, https://solotech.com/ 18

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EVENT FOCUS

SINGAPORE F1 ER Productions brings an arsenal of production laser equipment to the 2017’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The off-track entertainment at this year’s Singapore Grand Prix was and acid pink for Grande’s performance. Additional atmospheric effects supported by laser specialist, ER Productions, which assisted with were provided in the form of 2 Unique Hazers and 6 Viper deLuxe smoke the production of each headline act: Ariana Grande, Calvin Harris and machines.

OneRepublic.

Having worked closely with Calvin Harris and his production team ER Productions has exclusively provided lasers to the Singapore Grand during prior festival slots and performances, ER Productions opted for Prix for consecutive years, however, its latest contribution marks the a minimal 2 technicians to install and manage the rig, which included 6 company’s first time supporting each of the headline acts.

Excellent 25 laser systems and 8 Beambursts, using the same combination Marc Webber, Partner and Director at ER of Unique and Viper deLuxe for the atmospheric Productions, commented: “Creatively speaking, effects as Ariana Grande. each show was based on an existing tour package Andrew Turner, along with a team of senior so we didn’t need to create additional designs. In project managers, designers and programmers, a festival scenario, when we are providing lasers headed a team focussed on OneRepublic’s for more than one headline act, we can leave production, specifying a rig based on the infrastructure in place, but because each team band’s large touring setup. Earlier in the year, “Although we did have to was traveling on tour with their own gear this was ER Productions hit the road with OneRepublic contend with 40ºC heat and not possible.” during their North American Honda Civic Tour, For Ariana Grande, ER Productions provided a which witnessed the company team up with Show 80% humidity, which tested laser rig based on her touring show, the brainchild Designer, Raj Kapoor, and Lighting Designer, Mark our new Kinekts, but in no way of Lighting Designer, Sean Burke, featuring Butts, again.

Grande’s input. The company specified 6 The Grammy Award-winning band’s 42defeated them.” [exclusive to ER Productions] DMX controlled BB3 date tour rig included confetti and Sparkular Marc Webber, Partner and Director lasers, and 4 Tripan scanning systems, to create a machines. However, for the F1 show, ER striking geometric backdrop in hues of white, blue Productions technicians installed 14 of its new at ER Productions 20

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Kinekt lasers and 7 Tripans for OneRepublic’s performance. The SFX and atmospheric package included 4 Stadium Shots, 4 Viper deLuxe smoke machines and 2 Unique hazers.

Webber concluded: “Other than having to load separate packages with 3 separate crews, it was business as usual. Although we did have to contend with 40ºC heat and 80% humidity, which tested our new Kinekts, but in no

way defeated them. As always it was a fantastic event and one that we are proud to have been part of.”

TPi Photos courtesy of ER Productions www.singaporegp.sg www.er-productions.com

I N N O V AT I V E C R E AT I V E S Y S T E M S S TA G I N G

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EVENT FOCUS

ACASS-SYSTEMS BRINGS G-DRAGON’S WORLD TOUR TO LIFE Acass-Systems provided extensive production support for G-Dragon’s Act: III M.O.T.T.E. World Tour, the largest ever tour by a solo Korean artist. The opportunity was a game changer for Aaron Cass and his team at Acass-Systems.

While many of our readers might know Aaron Cass for his experience touring with The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Britney Spears, they may not be aware that he left the road and started his own venture known as Acass-Systems: “Over the course of my years on the road, I was finding ways to create better, more effective touring solutions. I started my own company because I knew that we could make better products than what was being offered,” the CEO said.

Cass continued: “My ultimate mission is to serve the artists and designers by providing them creative flexibility. A designer should never have to compromise their vision and, when it’s realised, the crew should also trust that it will be user-friendly, road-worthy and thoughtfully

designed.”

G-Dragon’s World Tour utilised Acass-Systems’ Veta automation architecture to choreograph the motion of its complex video-lighting structure.

“As a company that is just 6 years old, it was the opportunity and trust of the teams at Fireplay, YG, and Live Nation that helped to make it possible,” stated Cass. Prior to this opportunity, Acass-Systems had been successfully designing and supporting some of the largest companies in the industry.

In fact, most of the largest tours had a custom element created by Acass without anyone noticing. The G-Dragon project allowed Cass and his team to step into the spotlight.

24

G DRAGON

Opposite and below: Acass-Systems teamed up with South Korean star, G-Dragon, for the artist’s Act: III M.O.T.T.E. World Tour.

“The entire team from Acass was ready to handle anything the production required. We had a significant list of needs and they delivered it all, along with a fresh perspective and true sense of collaboration.”

Acass’ services on G-Dragon’s tour included stage automation, tracking and rotating LED cubes, and a complete ModLock stage. The cornerstone of the production was the tracking and rotating 20ft tall LED structures, which seamlessly transformed the stage from an intimate setting to an expansive landscape.

There were 22 axis of automation for creative elements alone.

“The precision and attention to detail from the Acass designers and manufacturing shop is unprecedented for touring gear. It was exciting to turn around a complex show so quickly, with equipment that can be trusted,” said Cass.

Acass built an automation system that is both simple and operatorfriendly, so as to remove the fear and complexity that can be associated with automation. “It streamlines the setup and programming process, freeing the automation team to quickly respond to the creative team’s vision and operate the show safely,” explained Ryan Mast, Director of Special Projects and Automation at Acass.

The patented Acass-Systems ModLock deck is a modular system for both LED and staging. It is a multi-function, cross-platform system that allows the video system to integrate it into the staging needs very quickly. On the staging side, it supports the video needs with a systematic approach.

The team of designers and engineers had a quick turnaround on the entire design and build phase, but they took it all in stride. “We thrive on deadlines. We do whatever we can in order to serve the production’s needs.

We can take an elaborate idea and have it in front of an audience in less than a month- and do so safely, ” stated Kevin O’Grady, Vice President at Acass.

Deploying this full service package to the G-Dragon team, including the Veta automation controlling software provided significant visibility for Cass’ innovative creative systems. “We’re applying modern drive systems and

software techniques from high-end robotics to the live event industry. Our team partners with the most innovative companies in manufacturing to bring the best new equipment, safety protocols, and user interfaces to live entertainment,” said Mast.

“Each and every collaborator receives a custom and user-friendly solution that ultimately transforms their creative vision into reality. We have partnered with most of the top tours. Our next goal is to connect with more designers so that they know we are an advocate for their vision in the production, engineering and manufacturing phase.”

TPi Photos: Nate Thompson & Alejandro Zapata www.acass-systems.com

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EVENT FOCUS

EVENT SAFETY ALLIANCE RIGGING CONFERENCE COMES TO CHINA Star Events’ Special Projects Director Roger Barrett tackled the issues of risk management on behalf of the Event Safety Alliance for Messe Frankfurt Group at Prolight+Sound in Shanghai.

Messe Frankfurt Group approached the ESA (Event Safety Alliance) for content support in China. ESA, via Randell Greenlee at VPLT, the German version of the PSA, called in event safety expert Jimmy Chan from Hong Kong and Barrett, who was working from Star’s Shanghai depot at the time.

In 2011, a high-profile stage failure at the Indiana State Fair in the USA, killed 7 people and severely injured many more. The harrowing event was a catalyst for the Event Safety Alliance, which is chaired by touring Production Manager Jim Digby.

At Prolight+Sound, Chan and Barrett, a 47-year veteran of the live events industry and a regular contributor to ESA events, ran a three-hour, hands-on seminar to introduce the concept of risk management. “How it is actually quite simple to make sure ground support structures don’t fall

down,” Barrett said.

The session featured a demonstration of how to use PPE properly and how paying attention to basic rigging technology avoids lots of problems, focusing on Star Events’ experience putting up hundreds of temporary structures around the world every year. To that end, Star employs a simple safety assessment system based on traffic light colour coding.

To be rated as Green, which the Star code rates as ‘extremely unlikely to fail’, a structure has to meet 4 core safety requirements. It must: 1) Be properly designed 2) Feature built in redundancy 3) Be erected correctly 4) Be used within its designed capacity 26

EVENT SAFETY ALLIANCE

Below: Star Events’ Special Projects Director, Roger Barrett, is a member of the ESA.

For each of these requirements that is missed, the structure has an increased likelihood of failure, placing it in the Amber category.

Structures that fail are ranked as Red. “Far too many structures we see, particularly when working overseas but often in the UK as well, rate Amber,” Barrett says. “So ESA has a real role to play in spreading the word, and the method, about getting structures built to the Green standard. And we all have a massive responsibility to prevent anybody getting hurt, or killed, by structures getting into the Red category.

“There is an engineering team in-house at Star, so our focus is on putting engineering at the heart of entertainment, delivering quality products and solutions safely and efficiently.”

In 1990, Star Events pioneered the use of ground support for outdoor stages, including all steel construction, high levels of redundancy, and roof and floor built as one unified structure. The company’s first VerTech ground support system has now been deployed in China, supporting Riot Games’ League of Legends tournament in Wuhan and Shanghai.

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EVENT FOCUS

PARADISE INDUSTRIES AND DESPERADOS PUT THE HOUSE BACK INTO HOUSE PARTY This summer Desperados and Paradise Industries teamed up to create Desperados CLUBHOUSE - a house party-styled stage tasked with bringing back iconic club nights from the past, touring the UK’s festival circuit with sensational sonic support from Sound Services and Funktion-One.

Attendees at Parklife, Boomtown and Bestival this year were given the chance to revisit the glory days of UK clubland, thanks to an innovative collaboration between drinks brand Desperados, Paradise Industries and digital media pioneers Vice Media. Masquerading as a terrace house - somehow magically relocated to the middle of a festival field - the Desperados CLUBHOUSE provided the stage for a series of ‘house party’ sets from former resident DJs. With UK clubs closing in record numbers, from 3,144 in 2005 down to just 1,733 at the time of writing, Desperados CLUBHOUSE was conceived to provide a new, albeit temporary, home for just some of the iconic nights that were once held in legendary venues across the UK. Each retro club night was carefully selected to suit the style and location of the host festival. Manchester-based Parklife saw a rerun of Haçienda’s Hot night (featuring residents like Graeme Park and Jon DaSilva) alongside clubbing institution Bugged Out, who lost their home (Sankeys MCR) to re-development in 2016. To reflect Boomtown’s love of more

esoteric music scenes, Vauxhall’s UKG institution Club Liberty and London’s Disco revivalists Disco ‘08 took charge. To complete the CLUBHOUSE festival run, Bestival was treated to an eclectic selection, mixing flashbacks to acid house mecca Shoom, electro-clash purveyors Adventures In The Beetroot Field and Rob Da Bank’s own Sunday Best.

The structure of the Desperados CLUBHOUSE itself was developed in collaboration with creative production company NPB 88. A total of 4 shipping containers provided the basis for a modular design that could be easily transported to the 3 festival sites, while meeting the different demands of each location. Dressed inside and out to create the intimate, domestic feel of a wild house party, the Desperados CLUBHOUSE was primed with entertainment tech like strobes and confetti canons that fired in response to emoji-linked voting via a dedicated hotline. Most importantly, however, were the all-essential legendary beats, which came courtesy of a Funktion-One sound system supplied by Sound Services.

The Funktion-One system provided coverage for 3 zones: the 2 floors of 28

DESPERADOS CLUBHOUSE

Opposite and below: Sound Services and Funktion-One provided audio support for the Desperados CLUBHOUSE, which was seen at this year’s Parklife, Boomtown and Bestival.

the house, plus an outdoor garden area and ‘garage’ bar. To maintain the at all of our festivals.” impression of a solid-structure venue, speakers were bracket-mounted in DJ Dan Beaumont agreed. Drafted in to revive London’s Disco ’08 the style of a permanent install. The groundfloor featured a 4-point F1201 night for the Boomtown crowd, he emphasised the importance that a top system with 4 BR118’s on the dance floor and 2 F101’s for delay at the back quality sound system has always had in creating the perfect night. “As a of the room. Another 4-point F1201 system, this time with 2 BR118’s and 2 DJ, it allows you the freedom to take more risks,” he said. “Sound is such a F101’s, was used on the first floor. vital part of the festival experience.” Thankfully, The DJ booths on both floors each comprised Desperados CLUBHOUSE more than met the 3 Pioneer CDJ-2000NX2’s and a DM-900NX2 mixer challenge: “The sound quality was exceptional,” with 2 F101s and a BR115 used for DJ monitors.

Beaumont commented, before heaping praise on Outside, 2 Res 2’s served the garden area and 2 the tech crew for making it so. “Sound Services F55’s were installed at the bar. are the best. I’ve had the pleasure of working with As Paradise Industries Account Director them for over 10 years – as a DJ, promoter and Mirrelle Rank explained, the perfect PA was an venue owner. Aside from having an advanced essential part of the CLUBHOUSE mix. “The spirit understanding of Funktion-One kit, and sound “With Sound Services of the campaign was to recreate a house party, in general, they are absolute perfectionists and but take it to the max, so making sure we had this have a deep affinity for dance culture.” specialising in Funktion-One essential cornerstone down was key,” Rank said.

Over 35,000 visitors took up the open invitation kit outs, we knew we’d be in “With Sound Services specialising in Funktionthroughout the course of the 3 festivals - an One kit outs, we knew we’d be in reliable hands impressive feat given the venue’s 210-person reliable hands when it came to when it came to making the CLUBHOUSE a go-to capacity - and talks are underway for potential making the CLUBHOUSE a godestination for dance music, and boy was our future outings of the Desperados CLUBHOUSE faith well-placed. Between the talent on offer experience. to destination.” and the full Funktion-One rigs for both floors of TPi Mirrelle Rank, Paradise Industries the house, we achieved a justified reputation for www.sound-services.co.uk having one of the best audio experiences on offer www.funktion-one.com Account Director 29

EVENT FOCUS

LANA DEL REY GETS THE ROYAL TREATMENT A DiGiCo SD10, in the expert hands of FOH Engineer Kevin Madigan, provides the mix on Lana Del Rey’s latest tour. TPi met the man behind the desk in Glasgow...

wrong, we can just jump over to the other engine’.” Over the years, however, the consistent reliability of the SD line has assuaged all doubts, and nowadays Madigan has no qualms about using a single engine DiGiCo SD10.

“The SD10’s been fairly rock solid for us for a long time now; it’s a proven,” he said.

Indeed for the Lana Del Rey tour, it’s the SD10 that has been put into service both at FOH and for monitor duties, though for Madigan the choice of SD console depends on the task in hand. “It’s been an SD10 on this one all the way through,” he said of the Del Rey tour. “But I’ve used them all depending on the show. If we’re doing a Graham Nash solo show, it’d be an SD11. Then if it’s a slightly bigger band, we’ll grab an SD9. It gets bigger as the production gets bigger.”

Consistency across all the SD consoles makes switching between desks a relatively painless task. “Apart from the channel capability, nothing much changes,” noted Madigan. “It seems they’ve maintained the sound throughout the range, so jumping from one to the other, the surface may be a bit different in layout and size, but that’s it really.”

For Madigan, this consistency extends beyond the products themselves. Over the years, DiGiCo has continued to deliver not just on quality but with direct support whenever required. He explained: “If you ever have an issue or a question or something, it’s great to be able to actually call somebody in the company and get a straight answer very quickly. And that’s important; we’re at the sharp end of things and we need quick answers or solutions sometimes!”

For the Lana Del Rey tour, the focus has been on communicating a striking vocal-led performance with a solid band sound behind it. “That’s what people come for: for her, so that’s the most important thing,” said Madigan.

To achieve this, an SD10 is used with a SD-Rack and a SD-MINI Rack, providing 60 channels in conjunction with a Waves server running a handful of plugins. Madigan commented: “Specialised problem-solvers, or emulators of nice old compression or EQ gear that you just can’t bring on the road any more, do the majority of the work. There’s a nice Avalon VT737 for a vocal compressor for her, and a Bricasti M7 for some vocal reverbs, but a lot of stuff’s done on board in the console.”

SD10 functions, such as group processing and the on-board compression, are 2 key tools. Additionally, the dynamic EQ on the console can be very useful for solving little problems day-to-day on the vocal channels, Madigan noted. “It’s a powerful thing to have on board on a console,” he said, adding that the multiband compression can also prove useful. “You don’t need a whole lot of it, but when you do have to reach for it, its handy to have it right on board.”

The second SD10, operated by Monitor Engineer Mike Thorpe, sits on a separate optical loop with an active splitter between FOH and monitors to allow completely independent operation, with separate racks. “Some people choose to use gain sharing and mic preamp sharing, but we’re not on this,” said Madigan. “Either way works fine for me. It’s just the way this is set up - and it works great.”

With the help of great technology and a great team, the tour has been a huge success. Madigan enthused: “Our people and the gear from Adlib Audio have been fantastic. There have been some great performances and the audience reactions have been nothing short of phenomenal at times.”

With the SD10’s at hand, Thorpe and Madigan have been able to deliver the ideal mix to artist and audience alike. “The SD10 has performed spectacularly, just as I always expect,” concluded Madigan. “Mike loves them, and of course I love them too - they make the job as easy and great sounding as can be, and that’s all you can ask.”

TPi http://lanadelrey.com www.digico.biz www.adlib.co.uk

Kevin Madigan is no stranger to working with rock royalty. For over a decade, he has helped deliver the live sound for legends like Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young), as well as a raft of top acts like Smashing Pumpkins, Ray LaMontagne, Eels, Lucinda Williams, among others.

Madigan recently added a modern queen of pop to this roster of stars when he joined Lana Del Rey on her 2017 European tour. As ever, alongside him at Front of House was a DiGiCo desk.

“I’ve been using DiGiCo for over 10 years now,” said Madigan. “I started off with the D5 when things were changing over from analogue to digital.

I had a knowledge of other digital consoles, but DiGiCo was the one that made most sense to me in terms of sound, the ergonomics of it, the signal flow, and their understanding of how sound engineers work. For me it was definitely the best sounding digital console out there.”

In addition to the sound quality, the built-in redundancy of the SD7 DiGiCo console added an extra level of reassurance. “It was a big deal for us on Crosby, Stills & Nash when I went digital,” recalled Madigan. “So, when it became available all in one package it was important that we had the redundancy there, just for the comfort factor of ‘if something should go 30

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EVENT FOCUS

MARTIN AUDIO OPEN DAY Martin Audio hosted an open day with the aim of demonstrating its extensive product range, including products from its latest launch: Wavefront Precision, XE Series Monitors, LE Series Monitors and iKON Amplifiers.

Visitor slots were split into morning and afternoon sessions, meaning that attendees from rental companies, system integrators, FOH and press had the opportunity to speak to the Martin Audio staff, while networking with fellow industry peers.

James King, Director of Marketing, commented: “We wanted to trial the concept of hosting full-scale demos at our HQ as we have a number of new ranges this year from line arrays to amplifiers to monitors.”

Martin Audio wanted to curate an open day that allowed visitors to take their time as opposed to a more hectic trade show environment.

“The challenge when going to a trade show or hiring a venue is either you are jostling for attention with other brands and the expense of production and hiring of space. Doing it in-house has dramatically reduced the cost of the event but equally improved the experience for everyone as it is in a relaxed environment where people can take their time and enjoy tours of the factory and refreshments,” he continued.

The first demonstration, introduced by Product Support Engineer, Robin Dibble, was Martin Audio’s first LE monitor, which paved the way to become the industry standard in the early 1970s, continuing to make their presence felt in the decades since. The latest LE Series now brings engineering innovation to everyday stage monitoring. Delivering exceptional performance and controlled coverage at a price point not previously possible for a truly professional monitor.

The LE100 followed - a compact, 2-way passive monitor that features an

exit HF Coaxial Differential Dispersion driver to distribute sound evenly over the listening plane. The Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology employed in the LE100 boasts a horizontal coverage pattern allows for the sound to be controlled. For example, a performance on stage can choose to hear themselves and filter out the crowd in front of them.

Attendees also got to witness different size CDDs at their finest, and by no means did the size affect its ability to dominate the room. CDD combines the point source benefits of coaxial designs with the consistent coverage of Differential Dispersion technology.

Martin Audio introduced CDD-LIVE at the event, which was initially going to be a more portable solution. CDD-LIVE comprises of 3 full-range models complemented by 2 high-performance subwoofers, and enables everything from a main PA in small-to-medium size rooms to infill loudspeaker solutions in large-scale systems and is also suitable for permanent installation applications.

“We’ve been really pleased with both the level of attendance and the quality through the door, the sales that have already been generated as a result of the demos, and the overall reaction of attendees to the event.

We will certainly be doing more of this type of activity in the future,” King concluded.

TPi Photo courtesy of Martin Audio www.martin-audio.com 32

34

PRODUCTION PROFILE

SIGUR RÓS Constantly evolving in scale and style, this latest 136-date tour from Iceland’s most iconic band blends soaring musical drama with incredible visuals to create a night at the theatre like no other. This is an evening with Sigur Rós....

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SIGUR RÓS

To anyone familiar with their work, it should come as no surprise that the Sigur Rós approach to touring is a little different to most. While many acts simply serve up the same pre-packaged song selection each night, this is a band that revels in the opportunity to explore the possibilities created by 18 months on the road.

In many ways their latest tour, which began back in May 2016, is a collaborative superstructure, within which the band, design team and crew are free to discover new sounds, push the performance experience and even engage in spin-off projects. Take Guitar Tech Dan Johnson, for example. Over the last year, he has spent his spare moments building a new guitar for frontman Jonsi Birgissonm - a backup for the tour-battered, bow-scratched original he created for the singer during the 2005 Takk tour. Through the casual interactions of daily tour life, the pair decided to incorporate the band’s name - translated into Icelandic runes - into the new fingerboard. And those same runes, transposed into a single symbol, have since been adopted into the fabric of the tour, adorning signs and passes and maybe finding a future use beyond life backstage. It’s exactly the kind of evolution of an idea - often deeply rooted in Icelandic heritage - that typifies the band’s creative approach.

and visually more restrained act 1, allowing space for the audience to experience newer songs, followed by a more full-on, effect-filled second half.

Having successfully collaborated on the band’s 2012/13 tour, Hopper once again brought in Lighting Designer Bruno Poet and Visual Content Creator Damian Hale. Together with Stage Designer Chiara Stephenson they devised a show that would surprise the audience in the way it evolved throughout the evening, as well as being able to adapt to the range of festival stages and theatre venues visited on the 18-month tour.

In contrast to the previous Sigur Rós tour, where the band was joined on stage by a host of additional musicians on strings, brass and percussion, this latest show features just the 3 core members. In an echo of the last tour’s brilliantly cluttered aesthetic, this time the band is ensconced within the lighting rig, allowing it to frame and surround them in a way that makes a virtue of the strong structural forms of the fixtures themselves.

Martin by Harman Sceptron LED sticks, for example, are used to create a broken grid, angled together into a false perspective ‘vanishing point’ upstage. The complete structure isn’t immediately obvious, as early lighting scenes only reveal sections of the framework at a time, either through the journey of slow electrical pulses or as vertical planes of light that frame each musician individually. As the show progresses, however, the audience is treated to the full flexible power of the piece, through a mix of pixelmapped video and individual lighting effects.

The Sceptron also provides the support for custom-cut sections of gauze, which are stretched between selected squares of the distorted grid.

These are used as translucent surfaces that capture content projected by

CREATIVE EXPLORATION Evolution, specifically the creation of a show that would evolve texturally over the course of the evening, formed a central part of the design brief put to the band’s Creative Director Sarah Hopper during the conception of the tour. This, coupled with the decision to deliver a theatre-style 2-part show, neatly framed the parameters for what would come to pass: a sonically 36

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SIGUR RÓS

the Barco HDX-W20’s placed on either side of the stage. The dance of the created a variety of 2D and 3D content that dance between the 2 screens. projector beams in mid air adds an extra layer of depth to the stage lighting, At one point, for example, clouds flow towards the audience as the screens which was created alongside programmer and Co-Lighting Designer Matt display parallel slices of the same 3D model.

Daw. Another key element in the video design toolkit was suggested by A ROE Vanish 25 wall, sitting directly behind a textured gauze curtain, Third Company Technical Director Dave Shepherd during rehearsals: hangs from a midstage truss, remaining in place for the entire first act lighting 3D content with a live feed from a judiciously place camera pointed of the show. As well as deliberately restricting at the stage. Using the Notch plugin on a d3 the band to the front of the stage, it allows a Technologies server, the feed is spliced into pixelmesmerising series of effects to be produced. thin strips and applied in real time to solid linear Content on the semi-transparent 12 x 3.6 Vanish elements within the virtual content. As the stage is at times used to complement visuals on the lighting changes, the virtual content follows – 12 x 6 video wall at the back of the stage. At seamlessly tying together the 2 elements as one.

“It’s a truly live show every others it mimics the Sceptron grid to create a “I don’t think anyone in the audience would really confounding interplay between the virtual and twig, but you can definitely feel the connection night. If you had it time coded real. The gauze curtain gives the Vanish content between what you see on screen and what’s you wouldn’t necessarily have a diffused look and at certain points becomes a happening on stage,” commented Hale. “It’s a solid wall of colour when illuminated by the GLP really elegant solution - and it was especially nice the right thing being fired at inpressions X4 Bars 20’s above. For Poet, these because we knew it was something that hadn’t the right time. As much as are a particular favourite. “I love those GLP bars, been done before.” they’re so architectural in the look that they give

The creation of the 3D models there’s a full structure to what and the solid wedge of light they produce, which themselves also had an imperceptibly organic they’re playing, it needs that is particularly useful,” he commented. genesis. Photogrammetry expert Alex Eckford Content for both the Vanish and back video (who along with Animator Susana Yamamoto and human interaction to ride the screen forms a crucial element of the show’s Producer Sam Pattinson completed the Third tracks and the levels as they go aesthetic, particularly in the second half of Company team) took hundreds of photos of the the night, when the gauze curtain drops, the band members’ heads and used them to create through it.” midstage Vanish becomes kinetic and the energy virtual models that could then be fragmented Alan Fotheringhame, on stage ramps up a level. Following discussions into abstract forms that briefly resolve and break with Hopper, Hale and his team at Third Company apart again on the big screen. A similar process Lighting Operator 38

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Above: Tour Assistant Alice Martin sets up the band’s backstage bar; Sigur Rós performed 3 nights with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA.

was used to subtly incorporate Icelandic landscapes into the piece.

According to Poet, the willingness of the band to invest time and money in workshopping the various visuals - a week at Fly By Nite’s studios before the festival run and another in Canada before the headline tour - enabled the team to create something truly unique. “Having the creative team in the room and having it all set up there to work on gave us the opportunity to try everything out and it meant we could program lights and video in sync, discuss it as a group together and really hone everything,” he said. “That production rehearsal time was really invaluable for making a show that’s as delicate as this one.”

“It’s a truly live show every night,” he explained. “If you had it time coded you wouldn’t necessarily have the right thing being fired at the right time. As much as there’s a full structure to what they’re playing, it needs that human interaction to ride the tracks and the levels as they go through it.”

A lot of the key light on the band is done manually instead of being built into the cue stacks. “They can sometimes move around a bit, so you’ve got to be very aware of what’s happening on stage, as well as looking at everything else to make sure it’s doing what it should do night after night,” said Fotheringhame.

Each band member is lit from the floor by 1 or 2 fresnel key footlights, 2 backlights mounted on the Sceptron frames and a 4 lamp bar positioned behind them. Among all this are 5 Martin by Harman MAC Aura XBs and 3 Atomic 3000 Strobes per person.

A floor truss upstage comprises more Aura XBs, 4 lamp bars and Atomics, plus 8 Claypaky Mythos. There are 2 trusses overhead, both on Kinesys. As well as carrying the ROE Vanish 25 and textured gauze screen, the midstage truss includes Auras, Atomics and a line of GLP impression X4

PACKED WITH LIGHT Due to the organic nature of the show - in particular the joy the band take in playing with the wax and wane of various songs - time coding the lighting cues wasn’t an option. Instead, Lighting Operator Alan Fotheringhame (who took over the reins from Matt Daw earlier in the year) controls most of the show manually from an MA Lighting grandMA2 Lite.

40

ICELANDIC WAVES

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SIGUR RÓS

Above: Playback / MIDI Tech Paul Beckett; FOH Engineer Ingvar Jónsson; Drum Tech Valgeir Skorri Vernharðsson; Guitar Tech Dan Johnson.

Bar 20’s, while the back truss carries additional Mythos. “They’re all really good units, especially in the applications we use them; there are a lot more low intensities, so its a touch more delicate compared to other concerts,” noted Fotheringhame. “The low end of the Aura’s dimming curve is very good and each unit is exactly the same as the next, which is key when there are that many all being used in quite a specific way.”

The lighting rig has remained largely consistent throughout the tour, with a slight tweak made to the strobes being the exception. “We originally had all LED strobes, but went back to the more old fashioned Xenon 3K look on the floor, because on those lower levels you can see the filament on the strobe a little more, which gives a little more dynamic between overheads and your floor lights.”

In larger venues, IMAG either side of the stage is used to expand out the visual aesthetic of the show. Rather than a traditional big-screen blowup, the feed is run through a Notch plugin on the d3 Technologies server, applying rich, song-specific effects in real time so that it matches the lighting design on stage. Thus, instead of the usual clean visuals, the feed becomes an extension of the main show. d3 Operator Gareth Manicom and Video Director Ant Barrett originally joined the team as camera operators, brought on by the tour’s then media server Programmer and Video Director, Ray Gwilliams. Gwilliams was instrumental in spec’ing a live content kit that comprises a highly

customised, remotely controlled camera system.

Eight cameras are used: 4 fixed and 4 robotic pan-tilt-zoom Camera Corp Q-Balls, 2 of which are mounted on custom-built sliders. Two people (Manicom and Spectron tech Jake Black) operate the cameras from a backstage desk that has been adapted with M-Audio keyboard pedals to control the right-to-left sliders, leaving hands free for pan-tilt-zooming.

“I think the Camera Corps Q-Balls that we’re using, combined with the custom sliders, look as good as a manned track and dolly,” said Barrett.

“You wouldn’t know that it wasn’t a traditional manned broadcast camera they look that good.”

First used during the tour’s initial run of festivals as a stylish way of taking over the stage side screens, the IMAG has been used less during the European leg of more confined theatre shows, but will form a major element of the South American tour. Nonetheless live recordings made in these smaller venues have proved very useful to the design team as they gauge ways in which footage might be incorporated into a potential full record of the show towards the end of the run.

SONIC FLEXIBILITY An ability to faithfully convey the band’s dynamic sound, coupled with superior flexibility led to the adoption of a Meyer Sound PA for the entire tour. Supplied on the European leg by Capital Sound (and by VER in North 42

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Above: Production Manager Thomas Stone; Tour Manager Alan Sullivan; Stage Manager James Gould; Creative Director Sarah Hopper; Lighting Operator Alan Fotheringhame; Monitor Engineer Garðar Eiðsson; d3 Operator Gareth Manicom and Video Director Ant Barrett.

America), a mix of Lyon and Leopard cabinets are flown in 1 of 6 different configuration, chosen to best suit each venue by maximising use of the available load points.

Each motor has a 1 tonne load limit, within which the team flies a system that can provide the optimum coverage for both the balcony and downstairs audiences. “The Lyon has really good sub reference so we don’t need to put subs in the air,” explained Production Manager Thomas Stone.

“We want sub up in the balcony, but we also want power and we’ve got to maximise what we can do with a 1 tonne point. We run the Lyon at full range to utilise the speaker cabinets’ sub capability and then work out what’s the longest array we can get within the point loading. It’s really flexible, because we can chop and change and if we’ve got more than a tonne we can add more Lyon and take Leopard out.”

FOH Engineer Ingvar Jónsson agrees: “We can build almost whatever we need for any situation, without needing a truck full of equipment,” he said, adding that the sonic quality of the Meyer system has also proved a perfect match for the band. “With this new line, I think Meyer have achieved something that nobody else is doing at the moment, it’s a completely new level of box,” he said. “The clarity in the mids and mid-high ranges makes it easy to get clean, full-power vocals and guitars, which is ideally suited to the sounds of Sigur Rós.”

In addition to the 2 flown arrays, the theatre PA includes a stack of 3 Meyer 1100-LFC subs per side, with further Leopard cabinets providing fill along the front.

A Midas DL431 - a 24 input box with 2 preamps behind each - acts as a splitter, providing input for both FOH and monitors. There’s no gain sharing, rather a Midas PRO2 console in both positions controls a preamp each. “I really like the sound of Midas,” noted Jónsson of the PRO2. “It sounds more like an analogue console than any other digital console on the market. It’s similar to the old Heritage in that you can really crank up the preamp with out getting an ugly distortion or the feeling of hitting a brick wall limiter. The sound range is really dynamic from the preamps, which for this band works

really well. You can go really soft and delicate and then just hit it all up to get something really powerful.”

A Bricasti M7 and 2 TC Electronics M3000’s complete the output, with Galileo Galaxy processors on stage providing system drive and alignment.

For Monitor Engineer Garðar Eiðsson the D431 offers other benefits, such as easy access to isolated recording outs, while the PRO2 console wins out by being phase coherent - it’s fixed internal delay meaning that, no matter how hard he pushes it, the outputs all come out of the console at the same time.

“For me that’s important for in-ears and also because I have a rack of analogue inserts here: the UREI Teletronix LA2A for Jonsi’s vocals, the Summit TLA 100-A for bass and a Summit DCL-200 as an insert on Jonsi’s monitor mix, just to juice it up a bit,” said Eiðsson. Typical of the band’s spirit of experimentation, Eiðsson also uses a Distressor on drummer Orri Páll Dýrason’s hi-hat – which is set up using 2 16-inch crash cymbals. “He’s a pretty interesting drummer; he uses a lot of foot pedal on the hi-hat. I’m not pushing it that hard, just enough to spike it up a little bit. It’s something we´re trying out at the moment.”

Further experimentation has led to a switch from Shure Beta 87A vocal mic to the new Shure KSM8 (“We’re loving that at the moment,” said Eiðsson) and playing around with the in-ears sound to ensure the band is kept engaged during each performance.

The performers like to use their Ultimate Ears in-ears with the ambience holes open so as not to lose the visceral feel of performing together as a band. This provides an additional challenge for Eiðsson: “We get pretty affected by venue changes, so the hard part with my job is trying to figure out how to adjust what they’re hearing onstage compared to the in-ear sound.”

To counter this, 2 AKG 414 ambience mics are mounted among the onstage Sceptron frames to pick up the band internally, with 2 shotgun mics on the side to feed in crowd reactions. Three d&b audiotechnik M2 wedges and a d&b V-SUBs on stage are used to add bass and drum fills.

With 2 LED screens and a forest of Sceptron frames surrounding the 44

SIGUR RÓS

Opposite: Igor the squirrel, at home in the touring bar, flies the flag for Iceland.

performers, the stage is a difficult RF environment to wrangle. By sweeping the stage with a handheld scanner during set-up, and working with the Shure Wireless Workbench programme (mainly on the American leg, where the 600 range is being taken over by the TV networks), Eiðsson is able to maintain steady contact with the Sennheiser SR 2050 IEM used.

Rack-mounted and ready to go after just 90 minutes charge time, 50 Fischer Amp rechargeable batteries are carried to power the in ears for the entire tour, dramatically reducing waste over the course of a year.

“I really love it,” commented Eiðsson. “I hate throwing out half-used batteries all the time - it’s not good. In this industry we should all be using rechargables.”

THE LONG ROAD HOME While support from all the vendors - Neg Earth for automation and lighting, Capital Sound for audio, PRG XL Video for video and All Access Staging & Productions for its staging skills - has been an essential part of the tour’s success, it’s the dedication and enthusiasm of the crew themselves that deserves the greatest credit.

Fly By Nite, Beat the Street and Popcorn Catering - providers of wheels and meals, respectively - all come in for high praise, and as Stage Manager James Gould notes, the team’s ability to hit 40-minute festival changeovers and master 90-minute load outs has been particularly impressive given the complexity of the show. “The guys are very tight, a very close knit group of people - as you would be when you spend that amount of time with other people - but it’s their ability to welcome new crew in and continue to do the same thing every day, and have it go so smoothly, that’s particularly great,” he said.

For Stone, the crew’s dedication to delivering the best possible show every single night has been second to none. “They’ve been really outstanding,” he said. “We’re not just a put-in to an arena, sometimes it can be quite tricky and we’ll have to make adjustments, but every one of the team is really passionate about what we’re trying to achieve and will always push to get the best out of every show. We pride ourselves that, wherever we go, we always try and deliver 100% - and I think that’s been rewarded by the amazing audience response.”

After so many months on the road, the tour is set to end with one final act of collaboration: a homecoming take-over of the Harpa theatre complex in Reykjavik. Alongside their last 4 shows, visitors will be able to explore the band’s creative work as well as enjoy one-off gigs by their favourite performers. Held between Christmas and New Year, it is a festive jewel to crown off a momentous run, both reprise and coda to the tour that precedes it, one last invitation into the creative world of Sigur Rós.

TPi

Photos: Andrew Benge and Nick Woodward Shaw www.sigur-ros.co.uk www.negearth.com www.capital-sound.co.uk www.prg.com/uk/en www.allaccessinc.com www.popcorncatering.com www.flybynite.co.uk www.beatthestreet.net

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LORDE’S MELODRAMA 20-year-old Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, or Lorde as she’s known to fans across the world, is currently touring her first headline production after a 2-year break. After making appearances across the world’s festival stages with a ‘statement’ design this summer, Lorde - Ella to her crew is back with a fresh look and an A-list team behind her. Kel Murray attended the first night of the Melodrama world tour in Manchester…

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PRODUCTION PROFILE

Fresh from working with Adele and P!nk, Production Manager Richard Young - who is the Tour Director in this case - is currently overseeing the creative aspects of the Melodrama world tour, often from a distance, as he explained: “I was lucky enough to work with Ella in 2014 as her Production Manager, but wasn’t able to do this entire run due to my touring commitments with Adele. However, I’ve been very involved in the creative process, and I was present for the full production rehearsals at ShowBiz Studios in LA, where we really finalised the show.” Young was also on site for the first 3 UK shows in Manchester, London and Brighton. “Ella and I work very well together, and when she was putting her touring team back together, she wanted me to still somehow be involved.”

He added: “Ella is great to work with; she has very interesting ideas and she’s unusual in that she thinks in colours and very specific shapes.

I help to turn her ideas into a reality as far as budget and logistics go. The show’s foundations were produced by Show Designer Rob Sinclair back in April, and our Lighting Designer Megan Dougherty then collaborated creatively with Ella.”

A big visual aspect of the Melodrama tour is the neon style set pieces, which came from an initial sketch by Lorde herself. These were eventually made into set pieces by ShowFX, a company Young suggested having worked with them many times before. He continued: “Ella needed a hybrid of an experienced Production Manager and an able Show Designer, so going off Rob’s initial idea, I began to look after the overall aesthetics of the show. Our touring Production Manager, Robin Scott, does the daily load-ins and -outs, and I work very closely with him. I actually met Robin on my very first day as a PM in 2002! It was very important to get a person in for this job with a similar attitude to me; you can’t work with Ella and not have excellent attention to detail. Being her PM also means you have to be able to adapt to other roles, as you end up in creative conversations that, traditionally, might not be within your remit. This production is very much a team effort where we all get stuck in.”

The first show the team did was in April as part of Coachella.

“She was playing a Sunday slot, which is exactly what you’d want at that festival, so we knew we wanted to make a big statement for our show. We had a huge, Es Devlin-inspired set piece, which was a big glass tank and it worked really well. We only had 6 weeks in total to get it all together, so this tour only reaffirmed mine and Ella’s working 47

LORDE

relationship: I know the right questions to ask in order for us to realise her vision.

“The traditional suppliers were chosen by Robin, as it was important that he wanted to work with them on a day-to-day basis, but the set piece vendor, ShowFX, were chosen by myself. They have a great reputation for building artist-driven pieces, and I’ve worked with them many times before.”

The tour’s other suppliers were Adlib Audio, McGuinness Trucking, Beat The Street for band and crew busses, Popcorn Catering, Neg Earth Lights and Quantum Special Effects for a confetti blast during the Melodrama finale.

SHOW LIGHTING Lighting Designer Megan Dougherty picked up the story: “Our week of rehearsals prior to Coachella is where the initial version of the lighting design and showfile were put together. This was a nice luxury; to have that for reference as we were going from huge festival stages into some delicate theatres where I wanted to stay true to the original design whilst still being practical and, most of all, not overwhelming, was important,” she explained.

For the rig, Neg Earth supplied Martin by Harman MAC Viper Performance for side lighting, MAC Viper Washes DX for front washing & band key lighting, TMB Solaris Flares for the floor package and flown on trusses, Claypaky Scenius Unico Spots, GLP impression X4 Bar 20’s, an MA Lighting grandMA2 full size for control an High End Systems FQ-100 Fog Generators.

“I wanted to keep the ‘surrounding Lorde with Flares’ look that was at festivals earlier this year, but scaled it down a little to accommodate wheeling the neon signs on and off stage. Twelve Flares go in front of the band’s risers (4 Flares per riser) used for back light on Lorde. Three Flares each for DSL and DSR are used for side lighting from the downstage edge

to midstage, which covers Lorde and the 2 dancers we tour with. The flares are what predominately light the dancers which provides a good amount of light for them without making them the star of the show.

“For additional side lighting there are 3 Viper Performances each for DSL and DSR as well. This is used for key light on Lorde for most of the set. The Performances are great because they produce very nice colours, and they have blades which definitely comes in handy. I chose the Viper Wash DX for the DS wash for the same reason as the performances. Although the DX has a barn door system instead of blades, which I was a little weary of at first, but I actually ended up using it and liking it. There are also 4 Viper Wash DX on the MS truss for band key light.”

Dougherty continued: “I always choose oil-based hazers as they look so much better than any water-based system I’ve ever seen. They provide a nice even spread without the visual distraction of haze clouds milling about the stage. I use them for 1 song, which is the ‘darkest’ sounding song in the set, in my opinion. The smoke provides a bit of mystery and with the stage fans blowing, it creates a lot of movement.”

The MA Lighting grandMA2 is Dougherty’s desk of choice for touring, as she explained: “It’s used almost everywhere in the world, almost every festival uses one now, I understand enough of it to accomplish exactly what I want to do with it, so what more do I need?”

The entire show is fully cued and timecoded with the exception of the encore song. “That’s improvisational in the beginning, so couldn’t be put to code. I’m happy about that though, as I sometimes love punting and hitting the flash keys the old-fashioned way. However, I completely see the value and stand by time coding everything else. I think it allows the show to be so detailed, timed perfectly every time, and still doesn’t look like it’s being run by a machine, even though, it actually it is!”

The flow the in the show is certainly encapsulating; from start to finish, the atmosphere and ambience of the always cleverly chosen colour palette and effects mean that the audience is consistently drawn into the world 48

LORDE

of Melodrama while ironically being uplifted. Dougherty also took the time to praise (TPi Award-winning) Rob Sinclar: “I’m eternally grateful to Rob Sinclair for bringing me on for this project. The show wouldn’t be what it is now without him.”

When I finally begin to use the entire lighting rig, with audience lights, the fixtures are used at higher intensities overall.”

ShowFX created the bespoke faux neon signs using an RGB DMX controllable LED product to replicate the look of actual neon. Mike Merle, Vice President, Concert Touring & Live Events at ShowFX told TPi: “The THE SCENIC ELEMENTS show opens up with a flash of a large neon sign spelling out the word Dougherty elaborated on the show’s overall look: “Ella wrote the show ‘Melodrama’, and as the show progresses, gradually the audience is script for the tour, and hand drew the images that were made into the introduced to the other 3 signs. In order to allow for the most creative ‘neon’ pieces of set. I recall Ella saying the neon signs are meant to be read control and flexibility during programming, the LED neon had to be as something hand written, like a journal entry. Teen angst and growing up carefully wired and spliced into the pieces. For example, each circular with overwhelming emotions and enduring berry on the floral arch had to be individually life’s ‘melodrama’ are all themes within the spliced in line to allow colour control as well show and her music, so you can see why as closed circles. presenting the signs in this manner fits the

“From initial conversations to the overall theme. The television piece on stage finishing line, our pre-production was was also her idea, I think partially to take roughly 4 weeks. For our internal design, our advantage of the intimacy the theatre venues team took Ella’s sketches and drew our own provide… almost like being in a front room. interpretations of them into CAD machine, Plus, it’s just a weird and unexpected!” filling in the technical gaps by designing the The show is separated into 3 main backing structure, and making necessary parts, with each section being beautifully adjustments to handle the constraints transitioned into the next by 2 dancers, of the LED product. Even with the design choreographed by Andrew Wingheart. adjustments, our electronics team and scenic Dougherty continued: “In Part I of the artists had to get creative and bend the rules show, where we use the ‘Astronaut’ sign, the a bit on how the actual LED product was to be lights are moody with a romantic looking used. Specifically, on the berries of the Flower edge. In Part II, the ‘Flower Arch’ comes on Arch and the shoe laces on the Astronaut stage, and this is Ella’s first outfit change. because we had to experiment in how the “I recall Ella saying the neon signs There are lots of pinks here, with delicate and LED neon was cut, edged, spliced, and wired intimate colour palettes. Part III is when the in order to produce a clean, highly detailed are meant to be read as something ‘Shooting Star’ set piece arrives on stage, and piece with individually controlled segments. hand written, like a journal entry...”

Ella does another outfit change. This is the

“As Ella wanted to keep a certain portion party section of the show; it’s full of energy! of the elements looking as they were hand Megan Dougherty, Lighting Designer

ShowFX - Entertainment Design & Fabrication Staging, Sets/Scenery, Automation Elements, Show Action Props for Concert Tours

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49

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Lighting Designer, Megan Dougherty; Monitor Engineer, Marcel Cacdac; FOH Mxier, Philip J Harvey; Tour Director, Richard Young.

drawn and somewhat imperfect, it helped us keep a more flexible design It was a privilege to be able to work on this project and help turn Ella’s approach. Our CEO, David Mendoza, and our design team have a great eye dreams into reality. for design aesthetics and what works well

Merle concluded: “ShowFX has had a for our clients in concert touring as well as great relationship with Richard Young for television, amusement park, and corporate many years. We worked together on P!nk’s realms,” he noted.

Truth About Love Tour in 2013, as well as her “For this tour, the Astronaut piece is one of 2017 tour, providing various scenic elements my favourites; the angle that he/she is floating and props to the stage. I’ve also worked with in space gives that dramatic flair, especially Robin Scott on several Swedish House Mafia in the more low-light portions of the show. and Avicii shows during my touring days as The level of detail we were able to incorporate well. It’s always a pleasure to work with them helped to bring this one piece to life, from the both in any capacity, they’re a top-notch helmet right down to the astronaut’s shoe team!” laces. With today’s technology and platforms “The opening of this tour in like YouTube and Instagram, our industry is FOH AUDIO Manchester was one of the best starting to see more fans and artists critiquing Liverpool-based Adlib supplied an L-Acoustics the overall production design - especially K2 system for the European run. Chosen for its first nights I’ve ever been a part of. within elements of lighting, video, and scenery acoustic qualities to K1, whilst being The entire flow of it, and the visuals similar during a show. As a scenic vendor, this gives us light enough to fly in the smaller, weighta great way to be able to see how the overall restricted venues, it was an obvious choice. were a testament to the hard work look and details of our work are portrayed to The largest setup consisted of 14 K2’s per side, the band, Ella and the crew really audience members, all whom are looking at with 6 K2’s for delays - per side - at London’s the same piece at different angles. We strive to Alexandra Palace. This was supplemented put in during those rehearsals in deliver custom and rental elements that help with 20 KS28’s spaced across the front, all LA...” compliment the story our clients and artists powered by L-Acoustics LA12X amplifiers.

Richard Young, Tour Director are trying to portray in their productions.

Adlib System Tech, Sam Proctor, said: 50

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LORDE

Production Manager, Robin Scott.

“We supplied an Avid Profile console for FOH and monitor consoles, chosen for their availability worldwide. We also provided a full Adlib line system on stage, along with L-Acoustics ARCs II sidefills, and an SB15p for drum sub.”

For Adlib, Proctor looked after FOH, and Adlib’s James Coghlan looked after the stage. “It was a pleasure to be part of such a tight production, with Lorde delivering a consistently high level of performance for every show we did,” added Proctor.

Philip J Harvey, Lorde’s FOH Engineer started with the singer of her first headline tour in 2014. He joined the conversation: “Ella had great success during the 10-month campaign we did in support of her debut album, Pure Heroine. After a long break from the stage, during which she spent time in the studio, she resurfaced with her second album, Melodrama, and brought me back out as her FOH mixer. It was a tight, high quality team on the 2014 tour and almost everyone came back again this year.”

Harvey said of the L-Acoustics system: “The system was configured with 3 stereo sends from my mixing console: main L&R, subs L&R and front fills L&R via Lake LM26’s and LM44’s. Any subsets of fills, side hangs, etc. were distributed by the Lake and Network Manger.”

As for his desk, he said: “The Profile has been a trustworthy desk for many years, as well as having the ability to run Waves plug-ins natively, which is advantageous.” Lorde’s vocal microphone is a DPA d:facto FA4018LV. “The 4018’s excellent rejection helped immensely in large cavernous sounding venues as well as it’s natural sound,” he added. The drum microphones are a mixture of Shure & Sennheiser: Shure B52’s on kick

drums, SM57’s on snare (top & bottom), SM81 for hi-hat, and Sennheiser e604’s on floor toms and C414’s on the overheads. We also use a Shure KSM313 and a DPA d:screet 4061 on a UR1 wireless transmitter for a Glockenspiel mic.

“I try to create a fully immersive mix, in style and SPL. One that’s loud, solid, but ethereal enough to consume the listener. One of the first questions I asked Ella was what kind of style she wanted for her mix since the Pure Heroine - her first album - production was quite polished, so she wanted to crank it up for her live shows so her audience would really feel it. Ella’s vision for the show is in three separate movements that tie it all together. So, a ‘journey’ is what she wants the fans to experience. The Melodrama album is a very different beast from Pure Heroine, so some of the approaches to my mix were quite different. I do think Ella’s overall vision for the stage really comes to life and offers the audience a unique experience.”

MONITOR WORLD In the monitor position, engineer Marcel Cacdac, who was also on the 2014 tour, said of his relationship with Lorde: “We have a good rapport, and an open channel of communication is there for us to discuss all things audio.

While her soundcheck demeanour is professional, she always brings a sense of humour to the stage as well.

“I must be completely objective when it comes to the mix. She has so much emotion in her music and has spent years crafting these songs, so to properly convey these musical ideas back to her live performance not 52

LORDE

only takes an objective focus, but a willingness to get technically creative.

She cares deeply about the overall performance and that is something the audio team does not take lightly. We are with her every step of the way, ensuring that we exceed all expectations when it comes to audio production.”

Cacdac mixed the previous tour on an Avid Profile, which he explained was a very conscious decision: “Our hectic on the fly dates required me to specify a console that could be locally sourced no matter where we were playing, so it was an obvious choice of desk. However, it must be clocked externally. I specify an Apogee Big Ben for this. I will continue to use Avid, but I will be transitioning to the new Avid S6L for our 2018 tour.”

Cacdac is dealing with various in-ears for the stage mixes. The tour’s Musical Director, Ray Suen, and keyboard player/programmer, Jimmy MacDonald, both use Jerry Harvey JH Audio 16’s. Drummer, Ben Barter, prefers to use Shure SE835’s and Lorde herself uses Sensaphonics, her preferred choice since 2014, and one that Cacdac shares. He added: “She and I both use the 2-MAX model, which sound fantastic when paired with the Shure PSM1000 in-ear transmitter and receiver. I also employ an L-Acoustics SB15p for a drum fill and 2 ARC II’s for side fills for our dancers.”

Cacdac is generating stereo mixes for the 3 musicians in the band, Lorde, and the crew. “We have 7 talkback microphones that I mix as well. I also have mixes for background vocalists, strings and brass sections. Ella’s mix is a full complement of all sources plus a pitch click and guide notes for certain songs. I strive to maintain a pleasant listening environment that focuses on all instrumentation related to pitch; without proper pitch, we don’t have a show. In order to provide space for her vocal, I find that a sidechained Waves C6 over the backing tracks and stereo instrumentation, using her vocal as the key input, helps this tremendously. When paired with an H-EQ in mid-side mode, this plug-in chain is very powerful and flexible, with the ability to tailor sounds that are perceived alongside or on top or bottom of her vocal without interfering,” he added.

The show is very dynamic by all accounts, and audio is no exception during the 3 segmented parts. “Depending on the acoustics of the venue, it can be very challenging to maintain a consistent mix. In the smaller, intimate venues when we are closer to the PA hangs, I work closely with Philip and our FOH Tech from Adlib to minimise any unwanted sub-bass onstage through timing and subwoofer configuration. We’ve found that the cardioid subs work well in these situations,” he concluded.

TRANSPORT To keep the show moving, McGuiness provided the tour’s trucking, while Beat The Street supplied an artist bus, a bandbus and 2 crewbuses to Lorde’s tour. Beat The Street Founder, Joerg Philipp, stated: “This is a really lovely tour to be involved with, and it has an abundance of lovely people working on it.”

Philip already has existing relationships with many of Lorde’s crew, whom he complimented: “Lorde’s Tour Manager, Richard Coble, worked with us during Madonna’s last tour, and Lorde’s first class production team: Robin Scott, Tracy Metz (Tour Assistant) & Richard Young have also been our colleagues for a long time. We’ve supplied many tours for them. With an expert team like that, what could possibly go wrong?” he smiled.

As it turns out, not a lot, according to Tour Director Richard Young who gave his final thought: “The opening of this tour in Manchester was one of the best first nights I’ve ever been a part of. The entire flow of it, and the visuals were a testament to the hard work the band, Ella and the crew really put in during those rehearsals in LA; we went from our first run through to a full-scale show in a matter of days, and I’m very pleased with how it went.

And, the crowd loved it!”

As the multi-cultural, dynamically-aged, and wonderfully expressive audience at Lorde’s comeback show danced and sang in unison, it’s clear this is an artist who is more than capable of reaching the masses. And with a production team like this behind her, the best is surely yet to come…

TPi

Photos: Andrew Benge & Jake Chamseddine www.lorde.co.nz www.gribiche.org www.beyondilluminations.com www.showfx.net www.adlib.co.uk www.negearth.com www.mcguinness.eu www.beatthestreet.net www.q-sfx.com www.popcorncatering.com 53

PRODUCTION PROFILE

NEIL DIAMOND To celebrate his 50th year as a touring musician, Neil Diamond set out on a landmark live tour that promised fans an exploration of the singer’s back catalogue. Joining the tour at Leeds’ First Direct Arena, TPi’s Stew Hume meets the loyal crew who have become an integral part of Diamond’s glittering career…

NEIL DIAMOND

A career spanning 50 years in any field is outstanding, but to remain a household name in the world of live music for that long is nothing short of miraculous. Ever the showman, there was only one way Neil Diamond could usher in this notable milestone - a world tour. After a successful American and European leg, the singer and crew arrived on our shores to take the loyal British and Irish fans on a trip down memory lane.

Prior to doors, while TPi was meeting the various departments, one thing quickly became apparent; the seasoned singer’s loyalty to his touring family. Production Manager, JJ Erlichman, elaborated: “Unlike many of the crew, this is my first tour with Neil Diamond. We have people here who have been with Neil for several decades. The tour is very much a family. There’s a lot of history here.” Erlichman was brought into this project by long term Production Manager Michael Weiss, who - like many of the crew - also works for American songstress Barbra Streisand. “I said yes to the job because I knew it would be a good fit; I know Michael’s style of working and I also already knew many of the guys for various Streisand tours so I knew it would work,” added Erlichman.

Alongside the vanguard of crew, the Diamond production also drafted in several suppliers who have existing working relationships with the singer.

“Virtually all the suppliers we have out here have a long history with Neil,” stated Erlichman. “Michael has been at the helm for so long, he’s built very good working relationships, which I have honoured here.” For the UK tour the suppliers included Sound Image (working along UAC partners SSE Audio in European), Upstaging, TAIT, Stage Rigging, Screenworks, Rock-It Cargo, Edwin Shirley Trucking (EST) and Eat Your Hearts Out. “For me it’s not really as much about who the vendors are, but rather the crew they provide,” explained Erlichman, who complimented the “fantastic” men and women on this tour.

Miller mused, continuing: “Years ago I lent JBL a hand in developing their Concert Touring System which we toured with Neil in 1985.” To this day Miller still opts to stick with Harman’s JBL Professional system. For the current world tour, the main hang consists of 32 JBL VTX V25-II, 16 per side, 8 JBL VerTec VT4886 for stage fills, 64 JBL VTX V20 for out/side fills an 12 JBL VerTec VT4886 for behind stage coverage. For subs, 24 JBL VTX-S28 were used. Driving the system were 96 Crown Audio I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers.

“This it the third generation of the VTX system,” enthused Miller. “We were one of the first to use it back on the last tour in 2015 and it’s made all the difference. The smoothness and the high-end are tremendous and give us more with far less input.”

While praising the gear, Miller was quick to state that running Diamond’s audio is very much a team effort. “Helping me out at FOH is John Drane and Matt Grabe who tune the system; John has been with Diamond for 30 years but this is Matt’s first outing with Neil. Together they’re such a great team.

Out front I also have Jonathan Melton who has been invaluable over the years.”

Moving the conversation over to control, Miller discussed his current set up which comprises a Yamaha CL5. “This is our second run with the CL5 and I have to say, it’s a nifty little console! I don’t use any outboard gear or plug-ins and rely solely on the desk.” Miller reminisced about his journey into the realms of digital consoles: “Back when I first started experimenting with digital consoles people would often say ‘You’re nuts!’” laughed Miller.

The FOH long-term collaboration with Yamaha led to the development of models such as the PM1D. “What really excited me was the recall ability of the consoles offered. Obviously back then there were a few issues on the sound quality but you look at concerts now and everyone is using them,” he said with a sage smile. As the years roll by, Miller is still using all the tricks the Yamaha consoles have at their disposal, surrounded by several iPads and monitor screens to keep an eye on the mix.

Here, in the mix, Miller’s soul focus is Diamond’s voice. Miller told TPi he finds it ‘disturbing’ when ‘the artist’s voice is lost and the overall mix is too loud in some modern concerts’, adding: “For this show, people come to see Neil and I want to make sure the whole audience hears every single word. I make the bands mix big and full but they are the support. Neil is the star.”

Sound Image once again took up the mantle as audio vendor. For the European leg it enlisted the UAC venture with SSE Audio, which provided the tour with racks and stacks, explained Miller. “We had 2 of our guys from Sound Image come over to the UK before the tour to prep everything at SSE’s warehouse.” President and CEO of Sound Image, Dave Shadoan discussed the company’s relationship with the tour: “I’ve been friends with Stan Miller for more than 25 years. We had always talked about working together and the timing finally felt right, so we decided to make it happen on the previous tour in 2015. Stan and I are both big fans of the JBL product range, so it was a very natural fit. When we created UAC with our partners over at SSE, it made for a seamless system to support Neil Diamond’s needs, in both Europe and America. We absolutely love working with the Neil Diamond team as well as the SSE team. Not only are they great people but they are all very professional and they do great work.” John Penn from

AUDIO Despite fierce competition from much of the Diamond crew, the prize for longest time served is awarded to FOH Engineer, Stanley Miller, who has worked 49 of the 50 years Diamond has toured. A veritable legend within pro audio, (he’s worked with Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd), Miller was also one of the first notable FOH engineers to fully embrace the concept of digital consoles. The 77-year-old innovator recalled his long history with Diamond and how, after all this time, he is still keen to push boundaries.

“I first came across Neil in 1967 during a show in Des Moines, Iowa,” began Miller. Although the pair didn’t officially meet until a year later when they crossed paths during Miller’s stint for the band Peaches & Herb. He continued: “His Tour Manager came up to me after the show and asked if I would mind covering a show for him the next week. All this time and I’m still behind the desk! I’ve had a lot of other clients over the years but I always stay with Neil - I’ve never missed a tour.”

As Diamond’s career grew in the spotlight, behind the scenes Miller was also leaving his mark on the live events industry, which is evident in his long-standing relationship with JBL. “Back in the day you had to throw yourself into the manufacturing process if you wanted the best results,” 56

The Follow-Me team would like to thank all designers - technicians production managers and lighting suppliers for entrusting Follow-Me on your productions during our first year.

Follow-Me is an independent cost-effective network based software package that allows the user to utilise standard moving lights as follow-spots.

Where traditional methods of using FOH or truss mounted follow spots impose cost and rigging implications, Follow-Me offers a cost saving, quick to implement alternative.

Follow-Me: • supports unlimited moving lights • supports fixtures from any manufacturer • supports multiple targets • requires no proprietary hardware • requires no sensors or belt packs

Follow-Me is full of functionality to keep your follow spot control flexible Intensity from desk - Sets master intensity from the console Pre-set positioning - Re-Call preprogrammed pick up positions Actions - Assign any fixture to any target Continuous beam size - Keeps your beam size constant irrespective of target position Fixture release - Per fixture cross fading between Follow-Me control to full console control

Partnership in the USA The Team at Follow-Me is proud to announce our partnership with AC Lighting Inc. who will be responsible for the distribution and support of Follow-Me in the USA, Canada & Mexico. AC Lighting Inc. is a renowned distributor of worldclass lighting, rigging and video technologies.

WWW.FOLLOW-ME.NU INFO@FOLLOW-ME.NU

The Follow-Me product line benefits lighting designers, technical producers and event planners: ‘Marilyn and I loved the Follow-Me system. The system is rock solid, and being able to choose our own fixture (Robe BMFL) was great. The setup and training from Follow-Me was excellent..!’

Seth Rapaport (Neil Diamond) ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed using the Follow-Me system on The XX “I see you tour”. It’s given me the opportunity to have follow spots rigged in positions I would normally not be able to put a conventional follow spot. ...For production having 6 lights linked to 3 targets means we only require 3 operators.‘ Michael Straun (The XX) ‘....Follow-Me spot system is a versatile and easy to use product for touring bands and theatre. I’m planning for future use of this great product as we hit the road again in 2018.‘ Niller Bjerregaard Set / Light Designer (Volbeat & King Diamond) ‘I came across Follow-Me and liked what I saw. I then got Upstaging (Def Leppard Lighting supplier) to follow up for me and we decided to try it out. ...We took a system on tour and used it as FOH spots and had our Truck Drivers operate. It has been a massive success... ...Def Leppard now are 100% committed to Follow-Me.‘ Phay Mac Mahon (Production Manager Def Leppard)

NEIL DIAMOND

FOH Engineer Stanley Miller; Monitor Engineer Bernie Becker; Lighting Crew Chief Kevin Royan using the Follow-Me system; Neil Diamond making used of AKG’s DHT 700 series.

SSE added: “It’s fair to say that the 2015 Diamond tour was the catalyst that kick-started the formation of UAC and our investment in the JBL VTX. It continues to be a very successful relationship that’s mutually rewarding and enables both companies to better serve our clients on either side of the ‘pond’. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Stan and the team again.”

and another 8 from another.” As well as giving that all-important flexibility, Becker was keen to state how the console’s performance was “fantastic”.

LIGHTING Leading the aesthetic look of the show was Lighting Designer, Marilyn Lowey. Working with Neil is so super special because he has written all his music,” commented Lowey. “His body of work is a self-portrait of his life and so the set list is arranged by Neil with a lot of thought. Although the instrumentation might have grown throughout the years, many of the songs were stripped back for this tour to reflect their original recording. I have been lighting for Neil since I worked on the concert sequences for The Jazz Singer film in 1979, and we have come a long way from PARcans and RDS effects projectors. Neil’s music is a dream to light just as he is a joy to work with.”

Starting in January of this year, she once again recruited the aid of Seth Rapaport, Associated Lighting Designer and touring LD. TPi caught up with Rapaport as he finished focusing the final fixtures on his iPhone, to talk about the 50th anniversary rig.

“I have been working with Marilyn since 1993 when she brought me on as an intern after graduating college,” began Rapaport. “Our relationship grew from there as I became more integrated with Neil’s production for the last 5 tours.” The LD went onto explain his role within the creative process: “Marilyn decides the shape of the system and from there I begin the CAD drawing of the show. She has a fantastic relationship with Neil and knows how to create something that he will like. My role is to take the sketches and ideas and put them into Vectorworks so we have something to send to the shop. Marilyn is so open to new ideas. We have been working together for such a long time and we know how each other works. When it came time to design this show, we listened to the music with fresh ears; just as Neil was doing for his 50th anniversary tour.”

The aesthetic featured the signature upstage diamond-shaped video wall, as well as a lighting design that Rapaport dubbed, “classic and elegant”. The lighting rig, supplied by Upstaging, consisted of 37 Robe Robin BMFLs, 32 Robe Squares, 34 Claypaky Mythos 2, 34 A.Leda B-EYE K20’s, 9 SGM Q-7 strobes and 6 Aryton MagicBlade-Rs. The rig also contained several Martin by Harman fixtures including, 37 MAC Viper Profiles, 8 MAC Viper AirFXs and 4 MAC Viper Performances. Upstaging also provided custom-made Saber LED Strips that lined the risers.

“We have several new fixtures out with us,” explained Rapaport. “Most notably, the Robe Squares. We knew the look we wanted and had used

MONITORS Bernie Becker handled monitor duties for the tour. Starting out as Diamond’s Studio Engineer back in 1989, Becker soon made the jump to take his place as a mainstay of the road crew. “I was brought on the road originally when we used to have a separate recording of the show which we did from trucks we parked out back which soon morphed to directly looking after the stage mix,” said Becker. “Neil always says he likes the stage to be like his living room: comfortable and familiar. It’s therefore my job to keep everything constant so he can perform to the best of his ability.”

For the last few years, the production has opted to move away from a stage monitor setup and utilise and IEM system. This created an interesting dilemma for Becker. “Neil really likes to interact with the audience so the last thing he wants is to not be able to hear them,” stated Becker, who initiated a clever solution by dotting several audience microphones around the arena to give Neil, “the best possible coverage to experience the whole audience”. For IEM Becker opted for AKG SPR4500’s with Sensaphonics moulds.

For microphones, the Monitor Engineer stuck with his choice of AKG, using a variety of models across the stage including D12VT, D40, D5, C414 and C430. Finally, for Diamond’s vocals, a wireless AKG DHT 700 series was deployed. “Most people when they use this model opt to use a C5 condenser-version,” said Becker. “However for Neil we have used a D5, which is a super-cardioid dynamic microphone. I have tried several other options but this seems to be the best option for Neil. I have found that the super-cardioid has prevented the microphone picking up any unwanted sound. The wireless system is also really strong.”

Just like Miller, Becker opted for a Yamaha control system consisting of 2 CL1’s linked together. “It’s a peculiar setup,” admitted Becker, “But it’s really been working for us. The issue was that we need a specific amount of inputs and outputs and chaining the 2 consoles was the only way we could configure it. Each musician on stage has an Aviom A320’s personal mixer for their in-ear mix. This means going into each personal mix there are 16 channels being fed into the A320’s, with 8 coming from 1 console, 58

NEIL DIAMOND

was in control the system for the tour. “In the early stages of this tour the Follow-Me team came out to showcase the product,” began Royan.

“Years ago, we had experimented with similar remote control followspot systems so we were familiar with the concept. But the Follow-Me system really caught our attention. After one day in rehearsals all our lighting team were able to get the system up and running from scratch. Since we’ve been touring it we have not had a single problem!” The Follow-Me system controlled a selection of Robe BMFLs with 5 focusing on Diamond and another for specials when 1 of the musicians might need an extra bit of a boost. “There are so many options these days for follow spots. Personally Follow-Me is the way to go due to its simplicity. You set up your table, plug in the ArtNet cable and you’re away. Even when you change venue and the configuration changes, it’s fairly intuitive to set up.”

“We’re so impressed in how Upstaging take Follow-Me and present it to their clients,” commented Gary Yates of Follow-Me. “The Neil Diamond tour being a great example of this with Follow-Me situated in a compact touring rack comprising of all the necessary redundancy required.”

Adding to this thought was Upstaging’s John Weston: “The relationship between Upstaging and Follow-Me provides a great product for the end user, with the ability to go directly to the company and make adjustments in the software speaks bounds and allows us to use Follow-Me with ever changing clients and shows. Our clients and shows are always looking to push the envelope, and our partnership has allowed the software to grow, and for our clients to begin to rely on this product for good looking and quality shows.”

Rapaport put his faith in an MA Lighting grandMA2 desk for control and used a Barco Catalyst media server for content. Unsurprisingly, for the 50th anniversary, content played a huge role with clips from the star’s past to tell the story from his illustrious career emblazoning the arena. Still keeping it in the family, Diamond’s son, Micah Diamond, who looks after his father’s archive, and Content Creator Tim Durant, of Durant Designs, produced several clips that played throughout the evening. Content was launched by Rapaport at FOH save a few more time-sensitive clips, which were launched by the video team backstage.

Jeff Claire, was the tour’s Video Director. With a career that has seen him

similar fixtures on the previous run, but we switched to the Squares and and they’ve been fantastic. The lights in the rig today are the same ones we first used in March and we’ve not needed to switch any of them out. From a mechanical standpoint, they are super fast and very hardy. Marilyn and I have really enjoyed having a whole matrix of pixels to use, which gives us a great deal of design options. The way I see it, although we have 32 fixtures flying over head, with all the individual pixels, it’s more like 800.”

The inclusion of the Robe Squares marked a notable investment from Upstaging. Rapaport stated: “The team are fantastic and always give us a multitude of options to work with. We have been with them for the last 3 tours and it’s worked out really well. When we expressed an interest in using the Squares they made the sizable investment in them.”

Ensuring the star remained in the spotlight throughout the show was Follow-Me’s propriety followspot system. Lighting Crew Chief Kevin Royan

59

NEIL DIAMOND

Associated Lighting Designer Seth Rapaport, Lighting Technician Neil Smith, Audio Technician Kenny Teaster, Lighting Technicians Willie Coster and Kenny Rutkowski, Lighting Crew Chief Kevin Royan, Lighting Technician Matt Tucker, Power Logistics’ Pete Wills.

go from “heavy metal to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Claire has become a long-term member of both the Neil Diamond and the Barbra Streisand touring families. For this run video supplier Screenworks provided Claire and his 4-strong-crew with a custom 12mm ROE LED upstage screen along with 4 Barco HDX projectors for the IMAG screens. Grass Valley cameras were used for the show with 2 operated, 3 robotic and 2 POVs set out for the stage. “Neil is a such a master at what he does, our main job is to simply capture the magic,” explained Claire. “We just try and get the feel between him and the audience. Although, the main focus through the night is on Neil we do also intercut shots from the crowd. It’s amazing to see the diversity of his fanbase, and night after night, we see several younger people singing along to the classics.”

Rapaport interjected by explaining how the IMAG treatment effected his operating day to day. “I find with this show I’m often balancing my time between being and LD for the live show and being the LD for the television shoot. I have to make sure Neil is looking his best both on the IMAG as well as in the flesh. But the challenge keeps the job fresh and interesting and means it’s different every single day.” Continuing this thought, Rapaport explained how there was a degree of “latitude” in his creativity for the show: “Every night I call the follow spots or bumps in a slightly different way. It was something that Marilyn taught me many years ago - if you just watch Neil he will tell you everything you need to know as an LD and how he is going to act and how he wants the lights to looks. He is a master of building an audience and I get to build with him by pushing the audience lights a little more. I want to improve each show.” Striving for excellence is something that Rapaport takes very seriously. He laughed as he recollected a conversation with PM Erlichman: “He came up the other day after I’d been focusing the lights for a while, and seemed surprised I wasn’t done. To which I replied, ‘I’m never done - there is just a time I need to be finished.’”

only things that don’t get converted are the hangs which have come from SSE - and the washing machines if you want to get technical,” he joked.

“The power requirements are much smaller than they used to be back in the day, only requiring 600Amp per side. So we have quite an economical setup!”

LOGISTICS / CATERING With a whole rig (minus the PA) being shipped across the globe, Erlichman’s reliance on a solid logistics team was undeniable. “Sorting all our freighting was Rock-it Cargo,” stated the PM. “They have done a fantastic job especially with the sale of what we are bringing across.”

EST handled all the trucking for the UK and European shows. Continuing its relationship with Diamond, which began back in 1977. EST provided the production with 13 trucks for the tour. “It has been a pleasure to work with Neil and the crew for such a long time,” enthused EST Director, Ollie Kite. “As well as the trucks we also provided 13 drivers, many of whom are regulars on this tour. We have many fond memories of the band, crew and production staff who we have worked with over the years. Being involved on this 50th anniversary tour is a privilege.”

Finally ensuring neither the crew or band went hungry was Eat Your Hearts Out catering. Headed up by Sean Leitch the company fed an army of 100 crew and band members every night throughout the European and UK legs. “Neil Diamond is an old recurring contract for us, and we’ve handled his UK and European shows for many years,” stated Leitch. “With a mixture of British and American crew we provide a solid mixture of cuisine as well as all the special requirements when they occur. This is my first time heading this show up but it’s been fantastic. This is always a busy time for us and this year is no exception. After this we are heading straight out onto the Metallica tour.” Eat Your Hearts Out took care of the crew’s culinary requirements, but they also ensured the band were comfortable throughout, by providing ambiance for the dressing rooms.

STAGING POWER TAIT once again partnered with Diamond’s crew to provide the staging for the tour. “The company has provided us with a complete rolling stage, which means we are not having to rely on anything from the venues. It’s a load off our minds,” explained Erlichman. The stage was made up of an existing set from the previous 2015 tour with an additional 2 lifts and a TAIT rolling stage. The staging specialist also provided a custom diamond shape apron. There were also 4 bespoke mobilators with a custom ramp that was revealed at the start of the show as the stage split apart to reveal the singer.

Up in the air, Stage Rigging handled all rigging.

With a large amount of American products on the show, it was a necessity to have an on-tour electrician. Enter Pete Wills of Power Logistics.

As Touring Electrician, Wills’ main role was to deal with the transformers for stage power as well as those in the dressing rooms. “I have been with the tour for a very long time,” smiled Wills. “It’s such a great group of people to work with and it’s the one tour that will always get me to come out of retirement.” In total Power Logistics provided 5 150K transformers. “The

JEWEL IN THE CROWN It’s an incomparable privilege to witness such a long-standing touring family - veterans of the live touring industry - bring their experience and finesse to centre stage. Even though he may be the famed Solitary Man, it’s clear that the Diamond production is very much a combined effort from an incredibly loyal touring family.

TPi Photos: Andreas Terlaak and TPi www.neildiamond.com www.sound-image.com www.upstaging.com www.taittowers.com www.stage-rigging.net www.nepinc.com/welcome/screenworks www.rockitcargo.com www.yourock-weroll.com 60

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64

PRODUCTION PROFILE

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS As the enigmatic musician and his band swaggered into some of Europe’s largest indoor venues with reliably characteristic verve, TPi’s Ste Durham finds out how Cave’s seasoned crew upped their game for such a hotly anticipated tour.

Bridging the gap from theatres to arenas is never something that is taken lightly when it comes to devising a touring production; even more so when the artist in question has a decades-deep well of touring experience to draw from. Some acts scale up their productions, some add specials effects and elaborate sets, some might even refine their previous theatrics in order to focus on the fundamentals of classic show design. In the case of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, the strategy has been simply to do what they do best and let the songs do the talking.

The result, seen by TPi first hand at Manchester Arena, was nothing short of breathtaking. Through sheer talent and showmanship, Cave and his posse of musical outlaws managed to transform the cavernous expanse before them into the sweaty, smoky back room of a New York club. The frontman spent the majority of the gig at the barriers, scarcely breaking physical contact with at least one member of the audience throughout the set (with the exception of the encore that saw scores of bouncing fans join Cave on stage).

Compromises were few and far between from both the band and their crew, the latter of which was helmed by Production Manager, Bart Caels. He began: “There’s been a lot of preparation for us, both during the previous runs in the US, Australia and New Zealand, and in rehearsals here in the UK. It’s a big set and we have to be able to adapt it to each venue. Thankfully, we had the time to do a test build in Genk and intensive rehearsals in Bournemouth.

“Although it’s in bigger venues, Nick still wants to make it feel like an intimate theatre show. He always wants to be as close as possible to the crowd.”

To help achieve this effect, the crew began toying with the idea of introducing custom barriers for the tour. Caels commented: “We prepared some blocks topped with wooden plates for him to stand on 65

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

Above: FOH Engineer Matt Crosbie; System Technician Simon Farrell; Show Designer Damien Oxley; Monitor Engineer Simon ‘Davros’ Blanch.

right at the barrier. Nick saw that and asked if we could create something so he had a catwalk across the whole thing. Mojo Barriers accommodated this idea and we are so happy with it. We soon realised it would be a struggle to build something onto in-house barriers every day so we decided to tour our own.”

Although the custom Mojo barriers could create a seamless 20m catwalk across the front on the crowd when fully assembled, H&S regulations in Manchester dictated that the product was only deployed in 3 spots.

With this new aspect taken care of, Caels and the crew were able to concentrate on choosing a trusted collection of technical suppliers. PRG Netherlands provided lighting, rigging and video, while Flyaway took care of the camera package, and Eighth Day Sound supplied audio. Personnel and equipment transportation came from Coach Service and Stardes, respectively, while Popcorn Catering ensured the band and crew were sufficiently fed and watered.

“We know each other so well by now that we don’t need to say much to get things done,” said Caels. “Every department knows their job and, although the group now is bigger because we’re playing arenas, the atmosphere on tour is as good as it has always been.”

to it. Tonally, it’s consistent across the dynamic range - you can push the system harder and the tone doesn’t really change. Nick plays a couple of soft, piano songs and, even though we aren’t running it very hard at that point, it’s still very present across the venue.”

The main hangs at Manchester Arena were made up of 15 boxes of Adamson E15 and 3 E12’s per side, while the side hangs consisted of 12 E15’s and 3 E12’s. Farrell deployed 8 Adamson S10’s across the front for frontfill, as well as 12 stacks of 2 Adamson E119 subwoofers in a front / back cardioid configuration.

“I stick to a pretty standard layout,” said Farrell. “The main thing is that there are no flown subs on this tour. I felt like I may have needed them when I was doing the original design but there are enough E15’s up there to accommodate the lower frequencies. In all honesty, 24 subs on the floor in cardioid mode are more than enough for these size arenas.”

The System Tech made use of Adamson’s Blueprint AV software, as he explained: “It’s up there with the most intuitive and efficient room drawing software I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. I’m still a bit slow doing 3D areas but I can go from having absolutely nothing to a fully drawn large arena with a prediction in a very short period of time.

“Practically, the actual rigging of the PA is super fast and easy; if I really have to I can fly a full hang without any help. Adamson did a great job designing every aspect of it - the only problem we have is building the cable bridge and running the speaker cables over the back of the screens.”

FOH Engineer Matt Crosbie agreed with Farrell’s appraisal of the system: “Both the E15’s and S10’s are sounding beautiful. Even from when we first tried them in Australia it was clear we had the right system and with the new V4 preset, the mids and highs are pretty close to perfect.”

Having never crossed over into the world of digital desks, Crosbie chose a Midas H3000 as his FOH console. He explained: “With this band it’s difficult to keep up with pages and screens so I just have everything in front of me and it doesn’t move. This way I can keep my eyes on the band and my hands know where they’re going on their own. The same goes for any panning or effects - it all feels very natural. They’re a very dynamic band but I’ve been with them for almost 30 years now and none of the gear has really changed.”

Even so, Crosbie still has a wide variety of potentially temperamental vintage gear to deal with. The band’s touring line-up, which is completed by

HIGGS BOSON BLUES In order to accommodate the searing highs and delicate lows of Cave’s dynamic set list, the crew opted for a newly improved version of the E-Series line array system from Adamson.

Simon Farrell, System Tech, explained: “We’re running the system using 30 Lab.gruppen PLM 20K44 amplifiers and it’s sounding great. Taking into account user feedback, Adamson have put a lot of work into the new V4 amplifier presets. We received our E Series system at Eighth Day in Australia in January where I started to do some work with it but I really got to sink my teeth into it on the US run. It’s a different sounding box now compared to what originally came out.”

Farrell continued: “It’s sounding great in these bigger rooms, thanks to the smooth bottom end, and the high mids are just unbelievable. This PA seems to have a very vocal sound that can cut through a lot of the low mid nonsense that you have trouble fighting with other systems.

“You don’t have to run it particularly loud and it has a really full sound 66

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, Thomas Wydler, Jim Sclavunos, Conway Savage, George Vjestica and Larry Mullins, had everything on stage from the more traditional guitar, bass, and percussion, to vibraphones, tubular bells and a grand piano for the man himself.

“I mic Nick’s grand piano with some Helpinstill and Schertler pickups and a Shure SM57 down middle hole, mainly for monitoring and some bottom end. Nick has a corded SM58 at the piano for his vocal and there are another 4 of those on stage for backing vocals, all of which go through dbx 160A compressors,” he said.

“Warren is very complicated but also quite simple,” Crosbie laughed.

“His little Mandocaster, tenor guitar and violin all go though a Mesa Boogie amplifier, and he has a stereo loop station with some incidental noises and soundscapes lifted from the record that comes to FOH via DI.” The engineer has his own digital delay pedal at FOH to use as he sees fit throughout the set, as well as an array of outboard gear including Lexicon PCM60’s and PCM70’s, an Eventide H3000, a Yamaha REV7, and a Smart Research C2 compressor.

He continued: “I also have some old Avalons for the bass mic and Drawmer gates as a safety net for difficult halls. We’ve modified the desk by putting in 6 stereo channels, just to make up the inputs. With effects returns

we are up to 56 channels, but there are a lot microphones. Basically there’s a lot of live stuff to wrangle, it’s like having a mini orchestra!”

One exception to the vintage gear rule was the addition of a wireless Shure microphone for Cave’s lead vocal, which was brought in to accommodate the frontman’s ambulatory hankerings. Crosbie said: “Nick likes to get out and walk around on the front lip, quite often just getting into the crowd, so we just thought it would be safer and easier with a wireless mic.”

RED RIGHT HAND While Cave was open to embracing wireless technology to assist him during his various adventures into the crowd, it was strictly wedges when it came to on-stage monitoring. Simon ‘Davros’ Blanch, Monitor Engineer, explained: “I’ve been with Nick since 2005 and it’s always been wedges.

Tommy [Wydler, drummer] used to be on IEM as he was controlling the mix himself but that’s all changed. Essentially they’re an old school rock band so IEM is a totally foreign environment, I’ve never even pursued it.”

Cave’s monitoring came from 4 Nexo PS15’s that faced the front whether the singer was on stage or not. Davros also deployed 3 L-Acoustics ARCS per side on the floor as side fills to further cover the barrier area, while

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NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

Above: Production Manager Bart Caels; The crew from Popcorn Catering; Violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis.

the rest of the band were on d&b audiotechnik M4’s.

“Due to his performance style I want Nick on active 15’s and horns that aren’t concentrically loaded,” Davros said. “My take on it is that if you punch a hole in a 15 you lose all that roundness in the bottom end. I know Nexo and I know what Nick needs in his vocal - a nice, smooth tone with a lot of depth and volume - and that’s what they deliver. Others can be loud but I need loud and smooth as well.”

He continued: “The Nexo wedges pointing forward frees up a very neat front of stage where he can run around in a nice acoustic environment. Him going into the crowd is no problem either, as the PA just becomes a giant frontfill for him!

“The concept behind the side fills is that they are very directional. He can walk straight over and it remains consistent because he’s not walking straight into a horn - the sound is coming from below him. Also when on the barrier, they cover such a wide sweep that they can cover him with a pretty full mix going through them.

“On top of that he needs to hear a strong vocal with lots of reverb and some of the pretty bits of the song that come in and out. I’m switching up and down a lot.”

Davros opted to use an old Yamaha PM5D, citing his familiarity with the console as a major reason for its inclusion. “Since we had to switch to digital decided I needed a bulletproof desk that was available anywhere in the world. All the songs are on presets using recall parameters but there are a lot and they happen quite quickly. The 2 percussionists and Nick in particular have a lot of changes.

“Nick knows what he wants but can’t always describe it. There’s definitely an element of trust and we always make sure everything is nailed in rehearsals. With the old songs I keep extensive notes because it’s usually a bit of a mixed bag. They’ve got their own specific subtleties that need to be heard but it’s all worked out.”

The Monitor Engineer concluded with a smile: “The best way to describe working with Nick is “organised chaos”. If you watch his documentaries or

interviews you might get an idea, but when we’re out on tour it is something else entirely. If you ask him a question, he will quite often answer it and somehow leave you with another question! It’s definitely a unique set up but if you can get your head around, it’s great!”

ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL When it came to the show’s visuals, a similar, less-is-more approach was taken, again to great effect. The band was enclosed on 3 sides by a yawning front projection screen that sporadically housed dark, grainy video content.

The fleeting nature of these images only added to their impact when they were introduced. The undulating rumble of live standard, Tupelo, being emphasised by harrowing, monochrome visions of hurricane-ravaged palms was a particularly striking example.

Show Designer, Damien Oxley, began: “Going into arenas, we were fully aware that we needed to do something different to what we were comfortable with. Aesthetically, everything flowed from Nick’s recent movie, which meant exclusively black and white content. He would write me a paragraph on what each song meant to him and I would do my best to interpret that.”

Oxley then detailed the process: “For Jesus Alone, he described the song as an unearthly group of notes that struck fear into you, but you still wanted to embrace them. To capture this mood, I used intermittent strobes, heavy blue on stage, and a lot of shadow on the side curtains. His face pops up on the screens during the chorus and that’s the only content there ended up being for that song.

“As the set list builds its just a case of slowly adding stuff. I think if we use less content it has a bigger impact when it appears. For a song like From Her To Eternity, we don’t use it at all. That song is supposed to be an old school, Reservoir Dogs-esque, flat, punchy, beautiful look at the stage.”

He continued: “We needed this tour, particularly at dates like the O2, to look big and impactful. We added the large screen that hangs above FOH to give a great view even at the back of the bowl.

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NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

Above: Cave had custom barriers, provided by Mojo, that allowed him to get up close and personal with his adoring fans.

“Everyone can see the black and white IMAG from any position and all of the camera shots are very specific. It also had to be projection, as seeing Nick with a load of bright pixels behind him just doesn’t scan. The 30k Barco projectors have been doing a great job and, as it’s our first tour with video, the support from the suppliers has been invaluable.”

The set was 41m wide in total, based around a flat back wall and 2 45° wings, all of which were white cyclorama with black scrim in front. The additional IMAG screens had to be rigged in the grandstand due to the width of the stage, though the set could be adapted for particularly tight arenas.

Oxley said: “I’ve also got 3 robocams on stage, 1 manned in the pit stage right and another at FOH. I explained to the 2 operators that the shots should be still and smooth, rather than attempting to chase Nick around the stage. If he wanders out of the shot and then back in, it’s no problem I’d prefer it actually. Basically we want to have a big panoramic look and still give the fans sat at the back a good view.”

He continued: “I used a similar staging configuration on the Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! Tour. I’ve always liked it as it gives all the viewers on the side something nice to look at behind each member. I designed the staging like a tiered wedding cake, which looks really stylish from up in the higher seats.

The band had no real format when I first started out almost 20 years ago, so it’s been something of a constant quest to get symmetry on stage.”

When it came to lighting this stark and theatrical set design, Oxley’s intentions were similarly understated.

He explained: “It’s taken a long time but I’m really happy with how the stage looks from everywhere in the room. I’m not exploiting a particular product, as I don’t think the perfect fixture exists. The Vari-Lite has the best optics to project with, as you can fade in from a low parameter, but I prefer the colours on the Martin fixtures. The way I see it, I don’t go to the same supermarket for everything, I get different things from different stores. It’s the same thing when you’re building a lighting rig.”

Oxley had 4 audience trusses, pre-rigged at PRG Netherlands, that lit the crowd from the back of the room to the stage, allowing Cave to re-connect with them throughout the show. The front truss was lined with Martin by Harman MAC Viper Performances, half of these served as band profiles and the other half acted as shutters and gobo treatment for back screen. The back truss was again uniform all the way across, but this time with Martin by Harman MAC Viper AirFXs.

“There’s also a splattering of Atomic 3000 Strobes and a stack of Vipers upstage on the floor doing the full perimeter. We also have Aura XBs in front of each band member for shadows and my ever-present 4 Vari-Lite VL3500 Washes to light Nick. They’ve got a nice, big, fat lens, a lovely fade and a really nice colour temperature. The Catalyst media server is programmed by my assistant, Doug Hale, from Upstaging in the US. He’s able to get me what I need and I operate everything for the stage from an MA Lighting grandMA2.

“I had a grandMA1 previously and have only changed on this tour because of the various video and playback requirements. We still have nothing to timecode and the only thing that dictates the band’s timing is a movie we play along to during 1 art of the show.

“I like to treat every gig as its own performance with its own intensity. I vary it night-after-night depending on the vibe I get from the stage. I like to change up accents occasionally to keep everyone on their toes and make sure it feels different up there.”

Oxley concluded: “I think of it as quite a simple show that follows the music and gives the band a comfortable atmosphere. It enhances what they’re doing, rather than trying to go against them. We are delving into the unknown with some things like the video and wireless mic but it remains, at its core, a straightforward rock show.”

The final word went to FOH Engineer Crosbie: “Moving into these big rooms presents new challenges, as do the new songs, so it’s all an ongoing work-in-progress, in a way.

“For last 20 years we’ve been doing 5-10,000 capacity venues so, in that sense, it’s a big step up - on this tour we’ve even sold out the O2 Arena somehow! That said, this is still an old analogue rock ‘n’ roll show. There’s not much trickery so we have nowhere to hide, but we’ve done every kind of venue by now - nothing fazes us.”

TPi Photos: Nikolitsa Boutieros, Steve Parke & TPi www.nickcave.com www.prg.com/nl/en www.8thdaysound.com www.coachservice.com www.stardes.uk www.popcorncatering.com www.flyawaytv.be 70

IN PROFILE

CHRISTIE LITES

Opposite: Six months in and Christie Lites’ UK base is very much open for business. L-R: Andy Mitchinson, Mat Ilott, Andy Strachan, Huntly Christie, Mark Wolverton, Roy Hunt, Chris Sephton, Leon Hadley, Ian Phillips and Danny Herman.

IN PROFILE: CHRISTIE LITES With an impressive 13 locations across North America, Christie Lites has recently established a UK base in Coventry. Sticking to the same mantra that CEO Huntly Christie laid out in the 1980s, the new British HQ offers existing clients a more international service. TPi’s Stew Hume paid the team a visit to talk about the importance of specialisation and staying true to what you know.

There is always the underlying fear when it comes to company expansion - how do you ensure that the enterprise retains its integrity and seamless service? Huntly Christie, CEO of Christie Lites believes he has the answer: “Make sure you know who you are!” he beamed, sitting in a meeting room at the company’s latest premises.

The history of Christie Lites, if you’re unaware, is a grassroots success story. Huntly became familiar with the live events industry in the early ‘80s as an aspiring drummer in Toronto, Canada. However, he soon turned his attention to the stage lighting and began learning the craft from his father’s garage. Several decades later and the company now holds the title of being the ‘largest lighting-only company in North America’. Despite the growth, it’s clear Huntly is still in touch with his roots, as a Christie Lites-branded bass drum sits proudly in the UK reception.

“For me, Britain has always been the Holy Grail of the music industry,” he began. “Growing up in Canada, we often took our cultural cues from the UK. The first bands I got into were from here and the initial pieces of lighting equipment I bought were actually made in Britain. So, it’s a real thrill to have a British base,” he smiled.

Despite this, Huntly explained why a UK office was only just launching: “Up until this point, I didn’t think we would be able to create enough synergy between a UK base and our other shops in the US. Plus, the imperial measurement system is used for our stock, but in hindsight, the measurement system was not as much of an issue and we had grown to a size were a UK base was possible. But for me, the turning point came after a conversation with TAIT’s Michael ‘Mickey’ Curbishley. He told me, ‘If you’re really going to make it in this business, you need shops on both sides of the pond’.”

With this being the 14th addition to the transatlantic empire, the company has certainly developed a ‘Christie Lites style’ of warehouse.

From Orlando to Chicago, each shop has the signature turquoise shelving and machinery custom-made to help the everyday function of the warehouse - and the UK base is no different. “For me it’s the small things that are important,” expressed Huntly. “One of our first clients to visit from the US was KISS’ production team. As soon as they turned on their laptops they were delighted to see that they were already signed onto the Wi-Fi, as the login is just the same as the States. It all adds to the creation of the ‘seamless experience’. When you walk around this site you could be in in any of our shops across the Atlantic - the only difference is the accents!” The stock the company has specialised in is also similar to the US inventory, with a large array of Martin by Harman, GLP and ETC products.

“We have specialised in Martin products for nearly 2 decades now whereas GLP is a newer relationship that began just a year ago,” commented Huntly.

“For the UK office we are carrying over 2,000 moving lights but we have stuck with the brands that people know us for. Already we have had some fairly big jobs be sent out of the UK with up to 300 main fixtures.”

Throughout TPi’s tour, something that became clear was Huntly’s drive for efficiency, along with a wish to ensure clients had the best experience possible. According to the CEO, this all comes down to a simple case of understanding your clients. “From the very beginning of my career I have always worked in lighting - anytime I strayed from that field it has been a failure. So, the very fabric of what we do at Christie Lites, is lighting. We know that our customers are lighting designers; we don’t do any in-house design, and we don’t stock any video or audio products.”

Huntly went onto to explain that this pure focus means the company can concentrate on improving its client experience. “Christie Lites’ innovation lies in our operations,” he stated, proudly. “Over the years we have developed several patented pieces of warehouse equipment that improve the efficiency for our in-house team and crew coming to prep shows.” Just one of these machines is the Christie Lites’ looming machine.

Placed in the centre of the UK warehouse, this device offers a novel way of packaging and unpacking cables. Whereas, in the past, technicians would bend down to tape several cables together, the loom allows 1 tech to simply stand in place as the cable are secured for ease and longevity.

Huntly’s right-hand man in the UK is Mark Wolverton, Operations Consultant, who helped enable a smooth set up. Having previously been based in the New York branch, Wolverton was deployed to the UK to ensure the successful move into the UK marketplace. “My goal was to replicate the shops we have in the US and Canada,” said Wolverton. “But, I’ve got to admit, I’m surprised we got the shop up and running so fast! When I first walked into this building it was empty, but it’s come together very quickly.

Much of that comes down to our 14 excellent staff members.”

TPi spoke to Wolverton during his last week in the UK, shortly before he moved back to New York. Taking the reins thereafter is Operations Manager, Andy Mitchinson. A touring veteran, Mitchinson started work for Christie Lites the day after finishing up his role as a Lighting Crew Chief for Drake’s Boy Meets World tour. “Although I had never worked with Christie Lites, I knew they had a great reputation,” began Mitchinson when discussing how he became part of the UK venture. “I was ready to leave the road and the timing could not have been better. Admittedly, I was slightly worried about the transition from life on tour, to what would effectively be a desk job, but it has been great, and a lot of that is down to the infrastructure they’ve put in place.”

According to Mitchinson, the response to the UK market has been fantastic. “The reaction of the first few people we brought in was very much a slack jaw,” he laughed. “I think people thought this would have been a small operation with Christie Lites just dipping their toe into the market. But what we have here is a sizable real estate. Even though it’s only 6 months into operation, the shop is buzzing and we’ve already had a lot of touring productions come through the door including KISS, Jamiroquai, Queens Of The Stone Age and George Ezra.”

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Christie Lites’ patented looming machine; Just some of the company’s stock ready to roll-out the door.

On the shop floor, Christie Lites has assembled a dedicated warehouse team, many of which have been newly indoctrinated into the industry.

“When we started out, I brought in 3 guys whom I knew had some experience in the industry,” began Mitchinson. “The remaining few are all completely new to this line of work. This has been a model the company has used for years - bringing in new staff who are ‘blank slates’ and can be trained in the company’s established ethos. I would be lying if I didn’t say I had my reservations about bringing in people with no experience, but I have been proved wrong; most of the people on the floor came from recruitment agencies, and over a period of a few months we were able to keep on those that showed real potential. Many of them came in with such enthusiasm when faced with the opportunity to learn a new trade and establish new careers in great industry.”

Mitchinson has dealt with his fair share of suppliers and believes the events industry could learn a few things from the Christie Lites handbook.

“The amount of emphasis Christie Lites put into labour-saving devices really makes a difference. For most companies, if there is not an immediate financial return, they‘re often not interested. But Huntly is all about the end product rather than the bottom line. He’s also open to feedback from his staff; if there is something that you think will improve your working environment and aid the product going out the door, he’s all ears.”

Content with his team, Mitchinson stated how the next couple of weeks would be the busiest the warehouse will have seen to date, but that the team are, “more than ready for the challenge!”

Away from the warehouse floor, TPi met the office team, led by Account Managers Roy Hunt, Andy Strachan and Mat Ilott. Hunt spoke of the feeling within the new branch: “When we first moved in, the whole office had a very ‘start-up’ mentality where all hands were on deck. Before any of the shelving or the majority of the stock was in, we were working from our laptops, tethering on our phone data. Anytime a truck would come in both Andy and I would jump up and help to unload it. I think Mark was a bit taken aback that his sales team were up for getting their hands dirty, but our mentality is that we are all in it together. I think it also helps for overall

morale in the workplace!”

Having firmly established itself as a functioning unit of the Christie Lites family, the UK base is now being used to test new warehouse procedures.

“For the last few weeks we have been trialling the latest Tag Pro system,” stated Huntly, clearly excited about this latest innovation. “In a nutshell, this new system will do away with the need of RFID tags on all of our equipment and replace it with a technology that will be able to live track any piece of equipment as it comes back through the door - even if it’s in a flight case - and give us an accurate location of its place in the warehouse.”

This next level of electronic tagging is certainly another way Christie Lites is pushing the boundaries of warehouse efficiency. Testing is still ongoing but the plan is to have all Christie Lites shops adopt this technology. “It’s an advantage of our new UK base that we can trial such a system,” stated Huntly. “The logistics of doing this in North America were unthinkable as stock is shifted from location to location constantly. The UK has its own little ecosystem and stock, allowing for a perfect testing ground.”

Upon leaving, our conversation turned towards the future. In one of the offices, a map of the world with several flags dotted around North America shows the lighting titan’s current locations, with a proud marker now placed upon the British Isles. “Our goal right now is to get this base up to a reasonable level before we open elsewhere, however, what this project has proved is that we have created a very scalable model for global expansion. When we look at how quickly this shop has got up and running, it’s a testament to our known formula. What you do always have to keep in mind is that this business is all based on relationships, and that is how we’ll continue to build our reputation.”

With a packed schedule of tours and events still to come, there’s no doubt TPi will be bumping into a selection of Christie Lites flight cases at backstage areas all over the country. Welcome to the UK, folks!

TPi Photo: TPi www.christielites.com

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One of eighteentwentysix’s newest recruits takes five from his first tour - none other than Harry Styles - to regale TPi with stories about his inaugural adventure on the road...

How did you first get involved with eighteentwentysix?

I saw an ad posted online for a receptionist role and I was eager to get into the business any way I could - so I applied immediately. I interviewed for the position, but when I came back for a second interview, they had a receptionist ready to greet me at the door. Seeing as this was the position I was supposed to be interviewing for, I was very confused.

I shortly discovered, after speaking with our CEO Joe Sanchez, that they were interested in bringing me on as an assistant to our Head Agent where I could also moonlight as a Production Assistant for local events. A few months later, I switched full time to a production role and I’ve been with them ever since.

You’re in the midst of your very first tour with Harry Styles. What are your day-today duties within his production?

This tour has been unique for me, as I have been able to help out in multiple departments. While I have mostly been helping our Stage Manager, I’ve also been able to continue learning from our amazing production team. Normally, the average day consists of a typical load-in and setting up the stage, where I’ve been in charge of all of our soft goods and stage risers. Once these things are taken care of, I try to help out wherever I can to learn as much as possible, seeing first hand how all of the pieces fit together. From there, I’ll usually stop by our production office to see if there’s anything I can help out with. By show time, I’m side stage and waiting for my cues to help ensure we have a very successful show.

What have been some of the biggest challenges?

It’s definitely an adjustment period as I get into the flow of things. That being said, I love the crew out here. I have been with them since the spring and we’re like one big family at this point. Being able to tour with an act like Harry when the fans are as intense as they are is certainly an experience. It’s great to bring them a good show, and the atmosphere they create certainly makes it fun; I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard anything louder than their screams!

What are the main skills you’ve learnt already from this tour?

This tour has been an immense learning experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel with a crew who are always willing to answer my questions and help me out where they can.

They’ve shown me how to think outside the box and find creative solutions to problems that would otherwise be massive obstacles. The skills that I’ve acquired are absolutely stagebased. I’ve admittedly never spent much time on stage, so my learning curve during this tour has been exponential. I hope to eventually grow into the role of a Production or Tour Manager, so my time on and around the stage has become invaluable in building my knowledge base to eventually reach that goal.

What advice would you give to others hoping to get into the live events industry?

The main thing I would say is that you need to approach every job you can. There should be nothing too small to take on, and you can find the silver lining on anything. No matter the project, there is always something new to learn...

TPi http://eighteentwentysix.com http://hstyles.co.uk www.productionfutures.co.uk

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INTERVIEW

NICOLINE REFSING

ROCKART DESIGN Production Designer, Creative Director and Show Director, Nicoline Refsing, discusses her involvement with the burgeoning world of eSports. Professional video gaming has become a worldwide phenomenon in recent years and the associated tournaments have followed suit in their increasing scale, global reach and technical production values.

extending the storytelling of the brand into an immersive live experience for the fans.

Do you work with similar teams of crew, collaborators, or suppliers as you do with other projects, or is it all show-specific?

Although most of the crew come from working on TV and live events, we do have some that specialise in delivering high-end eSports events.

On the executive producer side, I have a very close and terrific relationship. Their background was primarily sport-based, where they had a fantastic way of telling stories around the players, which gave the event depth and emotional connection. I spent many hours in the truck working on camera angles and deciding how to create and capture the spectacle of the live event to the broadcasting audience. Merging our different backgrounds sparked a very exciting partnership.

The Director Jonathan X is another eSports specialist. He’s hugely talented and a director who really knows his craft. He has the ability to listen to input from all of the stakeholders and execute a beautifully balanced show, which is essential for it to be successful.

What are some of the most important aspects of an eSports event in terms of the show design?

Because the gaming content is so artistically strong, I think the screen content should match that same quality wherever possible. That requires very artistically skilled CGI, enormous rendering power and high spec screens.

For the League of Legends final at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, I designed a set with a black glass top LED floor, which allowed us to use content both on the vertical screens and on the horizontal floor surface.

Sound is also very important to engage the audience in the action of the game, so a good sound design is essential as well.

In the future I think it could be very interesting to work with amplifying some of the actual moments of the game action as immersive experiences to include the audience even more.

How did you initially become involved in the production design of eSports events? How aware were you of the global scale of the phenomenon beforehand?

I got involved with eSports back in 2015 when I designed 4 arena shows for Riot Games, the League of Legends World Championships. I had heard of eSports prior to the engagement but knew little about the format or any actual requirements from a design perspective.

I remember I was initially sceptical of why they were calling me, as I had no experience of eSports, but they were confident I was the one to help them to create a great spectacle.

Personally I think they called me on the basis of my work for Eurovision, particularly in 2014, where I was Creative Director and Content producer for the 37 performances of the show. I love that show because I think we really succeeded in creating individual stories and a unique look for each and every country on the show, which lifted it to new heights. It reached nearly 200 million viewers that year.

What are your priorities and goals when working with brands like this?

I enjoy working with different brands to create a relevant and authentic experience that connects with their audience in an honest way. It is exciting to get the opportunity to work with so many different clients with different requirements.

Over the past year I have worked on several events and product launches that have brought the rock ‘n’ roll experience into other events.

There seems to be a growing desire for brands to create unique experiences and for events to really stand out from the crowd, which I think is exciting and has opened a whole new world for me. I love working with brands, understanding what their core values are and how to connect with their audience on an emotional level. Then I can create a design the experience, making sure their storytelling is told immersively, far from the logo branding. It is basically the same way I work with artists and large scale TVshows, just a different set up.

On the back of my work on creative projects, I have also started doing ‘creative master classes’, which is fascinating for me. It can vary from a couple of days creative support to a full package of development following the project from start to delivery. I like coming into agencies and working their creative teams - there is a lot of great talent out there.

Authenticity is so important at the moment. When we are real, honest and vulnerable, people connect and engage. I think, with everything going on in this world right now, we are really longing to be included in something real and authentic.

TPi Photos: Riot Games and Rockart Design www.rockartdesign.com

What are the key differences, from both a design and practical production standpoint, between eSports events and rock ‘n’ roll or TV shows? Is the rhythm very different given the nature of the gaming itself?

Streaming rather than broadcasting makes a big difference to the format, as the brand has full control of the experience. It isn’t organised around a specific timeline and commercial breaks, and you don’t know how long each game is going to take, so you have to be prepared for everything. The whole thing is much more interactive than a TV show or a rock concert where most details are rehearsed and planned in advance.

From a design perspective it’s all about the screens - the audience has to have a good view to make the live experience work. I think on one arena show we were down to only 6 seats where the view wasn’t optimal. It takes a lot of planning and pre-production testing to achieve that balance between set and seating layout.

Similarly to rock and TV, eSports is about creating that unique, spectacular experience. It’s about making the set design stand out and 79

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ROAD DIARIES

BEN HAMMOND FOH Engineer

a little more on the matter, plugged my USB key in, and loaded my file with no issues. After configuring my outputs, and the patch, I left FOH and headed for catering.

Hours later, I returned to FOH. Contrary to what I was told, the bands before us were using the PM5 and not the SD10, so I used this to my advantage and did a little last-minute work on my file.

The last notes of the band before us faded away, and in came house music - changeover. I was asked to send some noise to the PA to check the outputs. As I hit un-mute to send everyone’s favourite Pink Noise into the world, I and the much-prepped SD10 were treated to multiple pints of various local beers that one of the lighting staff above me had kicked over. The desk, to its credit, seemed absolutely fine, but our favourite FOH Tech pushed me away and told me that it was simply impossible to mix the show on this console, and that I must now mix my show on the PM5.

At this point, I had forgotten the meaning of the word polite, and in no uncertain terms, reminded him once again, that had he done his job in the first place, this would not have been an issue. The aforementioned PCMCIA card entered the PM5, I recalled my show and began the laborious task of re-patching. After 10 minutes of what felt like the most intense game of Mega Drive International Track & Field to a soundtrack of Frustrated Stage Crew Waiting For A Line Check, I delivered the glorious news that I was ready to go. Last thing to do, hit save. I don’t seem to remember my finger being that far away from the store button, but in the time it took to get there, a couple of well-dressed women carrying wine glasses had descended the stairs from the unfamiliar lighting world above me (possibly the perpetrators of the SD10 beer monsoon, we’ll never know). Upon exiting FOH, the second of the well-dressed women took it upon herself to trip and use the obvious dangling power cable, loosely connected to the PM5, as a makeshift bannister. The screen went black microseconds before my finger hit store, accompanied by an almighty bang through the PA. Now 20 minutes into a 30-minute changeover, I waited for the PM5 to restart, wondering what I’d be greeted with upon startup. It was at this time that, because there had been a complete loss of SR power, someone up there decided it would be the perfect moment to conduct a totally unannounced pyrotechnics check onstage, which resulted in the complete removal our SR guitar technician’s eyebrows and facial hair while he placed a downstage pedal board. Suddenly, my problems seemed somewhat insignificant, as I was overtaken with an undeniable feeling that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t our day...

Ben Hammond

Istanbul, Turkey. Another day, another festival…

At this particular festival, we were main support and had a nice, early load-in. As the headliners set up their touring FOH, I tracked down the local FOH Tech to check he had received my showfile, and had loaded it onto the Yamaha PM5 console as promised. He politely told me that he had indeed received my file, but “couldn’t be bothered” to load it up, and had forgotten his PCMCIA card - so couldn’t help me.

I slightly less politely informed the house guy that I would go and get my card from the dressing room and load the file myself. He told me that was fine as the first few bands of the day were on the DiGiCo SD10 that sat behind the PM5 in the FOH tower. On returning to FOH, card in hand, I was overjoyed to find the FOH guy for the opening band building his show on the PM5, a mere 3 hours before their scheduled load-in. I again, politely, relayed to the house guy that this would not have been a problem had he been bothered to do his job, but as there was also an SD10, I would load my file from a previous show mixed on an SD8. This was met with laughter by our trusted babysitter, who insisted you simply cannot “just use the same show file”. I informed him that he should probably educate himself

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GEAR HEADS

ALCONS AUDIO LR28

After a hugely successful summer entertaining outdoor music fans, Alcons Audio Co-founder Tom Back discusses the company’s LR28 larger-format line array, designed for the touring and festival markets.

What is LR28 and why was it developed?

The Alcons Audio LR28 larger-format line array module is a 3-way, verticallyarrayed system for medium to large live / touring applications. Combining the highest possible sound quality, SPL capabilities and throw, it offers a fully predictable linear response with perfect intelligibility and identical tonal balance at any level.

Available in 2 versions - respectively with 80º and 110º horizontal dispersion pattern - the LR28 features Alcons’ multiple-patented, purposedesigned RBN1402rsr pro-ribbon transducer for mid and high frequencies, a mid section of 4 high-efficiency 6.5-inch midrange transducers and a low frequency section of 2 reflex-loaded, custom 14-inch woofers.

Alcons systems have been used very successfully in high profile live productions, for example the multi-award winning musical Hamilton on Broadway (opening imminently in London’s West End) and the unique Soldaat van Oranje. The company developed the LR28 in order to move into the touring and festival markets. This was for 3 main reasons.

Firstly, the potential of a new market segment located close to where Alcons is operating.

Secondly, proof of concept. If our pro-ribbon technology is capable of proving itself in the most-demanding situations, it’s the best proof that the systems can be used in literally any size of application. It demonstrates that exactly the same technology delivers exceptional sound in any situation, from a 4-seat home cinema to a 40,000-strong audience at a stadium concert.

Thirdly, with Alcons technology already being very active in applications such as theatre, cinema installations and home theatre, the visibility of the brand in high profile applications like touring provides excellent marketing opportunities.

Can you explain more about the pro-ribbon technology, how does it makes a difference to the sound of live events?

Ribbon tweeters have traditionally been perceived as fragile, with low power handling, low efficiency and low impedance. However, Alcons patented RBN series pro-ribbon drivers are very different. Developed

by Philip de Haan, they are roadworthy and the only ribbon transducers that deliver real 90° horizontal coverage. This, combined with the natural 84

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ALCONS AUDIO LR28

Opposite and above: Alcons Audio announces the release of the LR28 larger-format line array.

cylindrical wave pattern, makes them ideal for line array applications.

Our pro-ribbon technology has a number of advantages over dome or compression drivers. Because of the direct drive, lightweight moving mass and there being no compression threshold, it delivers up to 90% less distortion, even at maximum SPL output. This principle also provides a linear response with the same tonal balance at any SPL. With a natural, truly-cylindrical wavefront, the projection accuracy is extremely high (with no side-lobes) up to the highest frequencies. This provides perfect coupling between array modules (the lack of destructive interference meaning higher output and better phase response), which also caters for the enormous throw of these systems.

Thanks to a flat frequency response and fast transient response, gain before feedback is 3 to 6dB higher than ‘traditional’ systems, even when performing right in front of the system.

Critically for outdoor operations, the combination of very high transient response and wavefront coherence also makes Alcons pro-ribbon systems much less susceptible to the effects of wind.

Another critical advantage for live sound applications is that the 1:15 RMS-to-peak power handling delivers exceptional dynamics, meaning the system is not limiting at mid and high frequencies, even when running at maximum capacity. The enormous headroom (3000W peak power handling for 200 milliseconds - 10 times the industry standard) enables corrections to high frequencies (for example to compensate for the effects of temperature and humidity) without any audible stress or the engineer needing to hit a system limiter. With HF always being the limiting factor in ‘traditional’ line array systems, this makes a huge difference to the audio quality.

Alcons RBN pro-ribbon drivers mean the engineer is not fighting the system, but has ample headroom and intuitive ‘feel’ to create their own

sound under any conditions, whether indoors or outdoors. They are a genuine leap forward in high SPL sound reproduction.

How has the LR28 been received by the industry?

Two major European production companies - Jurlights in the Netherlands and Norway’s Trondheim Lyd - have already invested in significant LR28 systems and we have strong interest from other countries in Europe, Asia and the US. People naturally want to see proof that it works in real-life conditions, which is why we and Jurlights invited a number of customers and engineers to soundchecks for the Dance Valley (aka ‘the Woodstock of Dance’), Dutch Valley and Latin Village festivals, all held on the same site at Spaarnwoude in the Netherlands. They all featured 48 LR28 for the main and delay systems and we were able to show how the same system was a great solution for 3 completely different, large scale events. All the comments we received were exceptionally positive; the promoters of Dance Valley were so impressed that they immediately booked the same system for 2018.

With the launch of the LR28, there are now Alcons systems available for all sizes of live event, for cinemas and home theatre. Where next for Alcons pro-ribbon technology?

We do not consider entry to the touring market to be a success just by launching one product. We aim to fully develop a tailor-made ‘toolbox’, with add-on products for all aspects of large scale live productions. Think about floor monitors, side-fills and other products. Even more powerful options than LR28 could also see the light of day…

TPi Photos courtesy of I AM Photograhpy and Alcons Audio www.alconsaudio.com 86

Live event video Touring video services Content production Projection mapping Complete video services for the entertainment industry www.joltvideo.com www.facebook.com/joltmediavideo/ Tel: 01736 751424

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CLOCKING OFF

TPi BRAVES THE WEATHER FOR THE CEO SLEEPOUT TPi Magazine slept outside in late October - just as Storm Ophelia hit the UK - as part of the annual CEO Sleepout event in Manchester. These fundraisers, which take place nationwide, aim to raise both awareness and vital funds for those affected by homelessness.

It’s probably fair to say that, no matter how bad your day gets, if you’re ultimate goal is to help make Manchester a fairer and even better place in reading this article, you’re more than likely going home to a bed, in a which to live, work and do business.” safe place, in the warmth. What luxury. It’s such a little thing, but it’s Needless to say, TPi got involved. We are lucky enough to travel the something we take for granted daily. world with our jobs, and know that homelessness and poverty is a global Being without a permanent home can cause huge distress on the body problem. The local charity associated with the CEO Sleepout in our and the mind for a variety of reasons, from loneliness to ill health and hometown of Manchester is called the Mustard Tree. Since 1994, Mustard mental anguish, simply safeguarding oneself can seem nigh on impossible Tree has transformed the lives of people in Greater Manchester who are for those living on the streets. Yet, there are some trapped in poverty or homelessness, by enabling incredible charities out there that are dedicated to them to gain the skills and self-confidence they need helping the cause. The CEO Sleepout website states: to reach their full potential.

“On Monday 16 October 2017, we invited senior level Along with 60 other people from the Greater employees from any industry to give up their bed for one Manchester area, we were part of a successful 2017 night and help those who don’t have one. Participants campaign. At the time of going to print we had raised will be asked to lead by example by braving the cold over £1,600 as a team, which contributed to the and sleeping outdoors side-by-side with their peers fantastic overall funds of £63,000. Thank you so much www.justgiving.com/ to raise awareness and funds for homeless people in for your support! fundraising/ Manchester.

TPi tpimagazine “The CEO Sleepout will support the priceless work of www.ceosleepoutuk.com these charities and other local charitable projects. Our www.mustardtree.org.uk

DONATE HERE 88

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PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

EVENT SAFETY AND SECURITY SUMMIT In light of the recent atrocities, including the Manchester Arena attack on 22 May, the Event Safety and Security Summit (E3S) set out to discuss some of the biggest risks facing the live events industry.

Organised by ILMC, in conjunction with the European Arenas Association and the UK’s National Arenas Association, E3S (Event Safety and Security Summit) accelerated during the aftermath of the terror attack at the UK’s Manchester Arena.

The inaugural event, held at InterContinental London - The O2, attracted 250 delegates from 23 countries, visited by the UK Minister of State for Security at the Home Office, Ben Wallace, as well as the world’s leading security experts, about evolving operational tactics and the technological tools to improve event safety.

with front-line staff trained to a high-standard, and confident of their role in the event of an attack, either through regular live testing or, as Latham suggested, table top exercises.

Dr Kate Bunyan called on venues to question current medical provisions and ensure their providers are equipped to manage responses to identified threats, ensuring they can integrate with the wider emergency services’ response.

Rings of Steel: Securing Your Event This session broached a topic that became a theme throughout the IFF - the danger of neglecting general event safety amid an industry-wide focus on heightened security. “I’m worried the safety aspect - crowd management, stopping drugs being brought on-site, and even weather planning - is going to fall away,” admitted Gentian Events’ Eric Stuart.

Wembley Stadium’s Liam Boylan said that customers now expect rigorous security on the door, to the extent that they complain if they feel inadequately searched. Pascal Viot of Paléo Festival Nyon agreed, but warned the need for extra security measures should be proportionate and focusing too much on the “ring of steel” perimeter, could be at the expense of staff training.

Production Solution’s Keith Wood addressed staff screening as a

The 3 Ps: Preparation, Planning & Prevention The opening session discussed the importance of pre-event planning, following what Richard Latham, The O2’s Head of Security, called a “step change” in the terrorist threat. The panel examined how the threat has transformed, and varied in attack methodologies, with terrorist goals being high profile targets such as concerts, iconic landmarks and venues.

Delegates agreed that improvements must be made when it comes to intelligence-sharing between event organisers, the police, and the multiagency partners involved in public safety.

On the private security front, TSG’s Duncan Cullen emphasised the need to ensure consistent messaging across a venue’s entire security staff, 90

PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

concern. He commented: “If I’m hiring 300 stagehands, I don’t know who they are. The security company might tell me they know them all but in a busy summer people are subcontracted from all over the place, a good proportion will turn up with no ID. It’s a difficult situation.”

airport’s person assessment screening system (PASS) and how it can be applied to live events. PASS, he explained, is basically “people watching”, and involves his team of civilian behaviour detection officers (BDOs) looking for any deviation from normal or “baseline” behaviour.

Some deviation from the baseline is normal, he said - but if someone demonstrates “frequent, excessive” abnormal behaviour, his BDOs will engage the person with a “resolution conversation” aimed at ascertaining the reason why they are behaving oddly.

Palmer stated that hundreds of people had been arrested as a result of behavioural detection at Gatwick. He said: “Have we stopped something going bang at the airport? We don’t know. Have we stopped hostile reconnaissance? Yes, we have. We never find out if our BDOs have stopped an attack, and that’s fine - but to have that security culture, that’s enough.”

The 3 Rs: Reaction, Response & Recovery Coralie Berael, Manager of Brussels’ 8,000-cap Forest National arena, revealed details of a Rudimental show in the immediate aftermath of the Bataclan atrocity, when police believed terrorists may target the venue.

“We were told by the Chief of Police: ‘Get yourselves ready because there could be an attack somewhere in Brussels tonight and we think it could be meant for your venue, so we might have to evacuate.’”

Access roads were blocked by police and army vehicles, and despite a call for emergency evacuation during the show, Forest National chose to wait to avoid panic. “We discussed it with police and our head of security.

We all agreed to share the responsibility and made sure people left as quickly as possible afterwards,” Berael said.

Talk then turned to the topic of a lack of qualified security staff in the UK, with Rock am Ring’s Martin Reitmaier and Berael revealing that similar issues exist in both Germany and Belgium.

While, from an insurance perspective, Integro’s Chris Jones urged people that “all documentation and logs relating to the event be recorded for insurance purposes”.

Advances in Festival Security - Chris Kemp, Mind Over Matter Consultancy Kemp warned that the industry is becoming too concerned with terrorism to the extent that, “we’re starting to lose sight of crowd management and other areas of safety”. Presenting the results of a Yourope Event Safety Group survey, he revealed that European festivals spend an average of 73% on monitoring and surveillance; 23% on safety and crowd management; and just 3% on training staff. “After Bataclan, everything is focussed on counterterrorism,” he said. “What we need to do is create a balance between all the elements.”

Acknowledging that “most people feel safer with a police presence”, he reported that in 2015, of the 100 festivals surveyed, no festival featured armed police on-site. By 2016, that had risen to 20, and in 2017, it was 93 out of 100.

The Show Goes On: Moving Forward Together The final panel considered what event security might look like in the future and who is going to pay for it. Live Nation’s Phil Bowdery acknowledged that artists have “huge expectations” about the level of security at venues, with some even asking for armed police - something that promoters in the UK cannot provide. John Sharkey said SMG Europe is focusing on an increased security environment while getting people into venues earlier.

This not only flattens out the arrival pattern, it also, “has the benefit of guests spending more money inside the building,” and helping to fund security enhancements. Mind Over Matter Consultancy’s Chris Kemp called for the creation of a unified document bringing together existing security and safety guides, while Sharkey suggested venues could have a star rating like hotels, so touring artists would know what level of facilities to expect.

Rockhal’s Olivier Toth noted that, of the countless major events held across the globe: “I can count on my fingers the number of attacks, so there is a risk we could be overdoing it.” However, he conceded: “Next time there’s an attack, it won’t be seen that way - it’s difficult to find the balance.”

Ultimately, concluded Kemp, it’s best to avoid responding to the methodology of individual attacks, but instead to formulate a coherent plan with all venue staff to be prepared for any eventuality. He stated: “These attacks are random and unpredictable but our response isn’t”.

E3S’s programme of panels was punctuated with a number of specialist presentations in which guest speakers informed delegates of the work they are involved in to improve safety and security at key buildings and events.

Crowd Dynamics at Venues, Events & Festivals - Simon Ancliffe, Movement Strategies Ancliffe detailed safety risks arising specifically from the presence of highdensity crowds caused by vehicles; slips and trips; and crowd collapses/ crushes, and how they can be minimised.

“Most deaths at events are from compressive asphyxia, which is what happens when you design a crowd-flow system that isn’t balanced,” he said. “It’s a reasonable response to move in a disorderly fashion when you think you might die - but we can design our way out of that.”

Drones, the Threat from Above - Martin Lanni, Quantum Aviation Lanni observed that the use of drones worldwide is “increasing exponentially,” meaning that venues have to “get out of a 2D-mindset and into 3D… the threat is coming from above now.” Risk assessments should now consider the possibility of a drone attack, he stated.

“The threat is real and it’s increasing,” he told E3S. His solution; engage with experts, police, local aviation authorities, and communications regulators. “Don’t underestimate the power of education,” he urged.

Full panel summaries and a selection of photos from the day are available online at www.e3s.world TPi www.psa.org.uk

Behavioural Detection - Andrew Palmer, Gatwick Airport Palmer, who leads Gatwick’s border security team, reported on the

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Focusrite has appointed Alex Jann has Area Sales Manager, UK South.

Jann joined the Focusrite team having previously held sales management positions at Audio Technica and InMusic. The new Area Sales Manager will be responsible for the sales growth and supporting marketing efforts of Focusrite’s authorised re-seller network across the South of England.

“I’m really pleased to be joining the Focusrite team as UK South Area Sales Manager. I hope to bring my previous experience in retail, support, product demonstration and sales management into the mix to get up and running quickly so I can begin work with the excellent reseller network in the UK,” commented Jann.

Richard Johnstone, UK Sales & Marketing Manager at Focusrite, concluded: “I am delighted to be welcoming Alex to Focusrite. He brings with him a wealth of relevant industry sales and marketing experience which will further strengthen the partnerships with our authorised reseller network and help to create additional demand for our brands and products.”

Cardiff-based event and project management specialist, 11th Hour recruited 3 new full time team members to help meet growing demand for its services.

Project Manager Kirstie Evans joins from Cardiff Council’s events team where she gained a wide variety of production experience. A graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Kirstie also has experience in TV and film production management.

Joined by Assistant Project Manager, Pete Morgan who studied Live

Event Technology at the University of Glamorgan before gaining experience working as a senior technician in television technology supply, as well as freelancing in the wider events industry.

Sarah Everson take on the role of Assistant Warehouse Manger. With a degree in Music Technology, Everson apprenticed at The Wales Millennium Centre, where she gained invaluable insights into all aspects of event production and developed strong technical skills.

11th Hour Director, Andy Hopkins, commented: “To keep pace with sharply growing demand for our services, we’ve recruited 3 dynamic and highly motivated individuals who bring with them a combination of experience, energy and a real passion for the events industry.

“11th Hour is moving forwards in leaps and bounds and our progress maintains pressure on everyone at the company to work hard and smart.

The new team members have all slotted in and hit the ground running we’re delighted to have them on board in the thick of the action.”

Coda Audio UK, the newly-created, wholly-owned subsidiary of Coda Audio International, announced the recruitment of Scott Fraser to the position of Technical Sales Manager. Fraser, a vastly experienced audio professional, has worked with RG Jones, Yamaha and Autograph in locations as diverse as Glastonbury Pyramid Stage, Westminster Abbey and the Sir George Martin Hall in Monserrat.

The new Technical Sales Manager commented: “I’ve known Rich for a long time and we’ve crossed paths on many occasions over the years. When he contacted me about getting involved with Coda [Audio], I was all ears.

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Opposite: 11th Hour’s Kirstie Evans, Pete Morgan & Sarah Everson; Focusrite’s Alex Jann; Coda Audio’s Scott Fraser.

Below: Rockpool’s Peter Dillamore-Bailey, Susanne Traynor & Charlotte Dillamore-Bailey.

It must have been 5 years ago that I first heard a Coda [Audio] speaker; I think it might have been a monitor being put through its paces when I was working at Amber Sound. I remember going down stairs to take closer account and being struck by how good it sounded. Scroll forward to the present and after meeting Rich, then going over to Hanover, Germany to look at things in more depth, it took no time at all to realise that these are extraordinary products.

“As Technical Sales Manager, my role will be open up new routes to the UK market, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including consultants, specifiers, designers and engineers, as well as the traditional ‘buyers’. Opportunities to be involved with something genuinely gamechanging are extremely rare and I’m really pleased to be on board.”

Managing Director of Coda Audio UK, Rich Rowley, added: “Scott is someone whose reputation as a top practitioner in the industry is well deserved. He combines the know-how and hands-on qualities of the most highly qualified engineer with proven sales and marketing skills – put simply, he knows his way round every business and technical aspect of professional audio.

“In recent times, Coda Audio has assembled the services of some formidable international talent and Scott fits that bill perfectly. With Steve Norman already in position we’re creating a real A-Team here at Coda Audio UK and I’m excited to have someone of Scott’s calibre on board, helping to drive Coda Audio further and higher.”

Automation and motion control specialist and manufacturer Kinesys has announced 3 new appointments, boosting the company’s HQ in Hampton, Middlesex, UK. Kinesys Co-founder and Managing Director Dave Weatherhead commented: “It’s been a strong year and we’re pleased to welcome our three new staff. Their skills and personalities are a perfect complement to the current team as we prepare for a new and exciting phase in Kinesys’ development”.

Charlie Felicien joins as Digital Marketing & Communications Assistant and will work closely with MD Dave Weatherhead and David Bond, who heads up Kinesys USA to develop global brand strategies for the entertainment automation manufacturer.

Alessandro Manicone is appointed as Software Application Engineer, and his core duties will include coding, and he will also be assisting with some general software support.

While Matthew Daglish will become a Workshop Technician, where his key role will be product assembly and testing. All Kinesys equipment is manufactured in the UK, so Daglish will test onsite.

The Kinesys USA team has also recently increased, reflecting healthy interest in the art of automation and motion control, which is becoming an increasingly popular additional visual dimension for shows and events.

Elation Professional has announced that Kraig Knight and Joe Adams have been appointed as Regional Sales Representatives. The duo join from Professional Sound and Lighting Products, where they represented Elation

Professional fixtures. Knight will serve as the company’s new Regional Sales Representative for the Rocky Mountain region, while Adams will cover Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Knight said: “I am excited to be working for a brand that I truly believe in and whose amazing products I have been selling for years. I look forward to working with all of the long-time customers and friends I have made over

Production Manager We are seeking a self-motivated team player with good interpersonal skills and proven knowledge of large scale UK and international touring to join our team. This position is primarily office based and will oversee the technical elements of all of our shows. The successful candidate will also be responsible for creating budgets, negotiating all supplier and crew contracts and creating production riders.

You will need to be a skilled negotiator and be fully conversant with all relevant health and safety legislation.

Applicants should include a copy of their current CV and salary expectations. Please apply to hr@flyingmusic.com quoting reference JS040T. www.flyingmusic.com

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Below: Elation Professional’s Joe Adams & Kraig Knight; Mojo Barriers’ Dan Gormley; Kinesys Charlie Felicien, Alessandro Manicone & Matthew Daglish.

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the years while developing new customers but now with focus just on the Elation brand!”

Adams commented: “Working with so many great customers the last 13 years, some of whom became mentors of the business and good friends, this is a business I truly enjoy.

When the opportunity to work directly for Elation came available, I knew this is where I belonged.

“My job duties will be to work and support our existing dealer network and it is my goal to develop Elation as the ‘go to’ lighting manufacturer in the Midwest.”

Knight and Adams begin their new position on 1 October 2017 and bring with them collective decades of industry experience.

Mojo Barriers US office has announced the appointment of Dan Gormley as Vice President, joining fellow US Vice President Jordi van Berkum.

Gormley commented: “I am delighted to be joining Mojo Barriers as the company prepares to introduce new product ranges into the US market. I have the upmost respect for Mojo and relish the challenge to continue to evolve and improve our effectiveness and reach, expand the offering to clients, while developing and further strengthen our brand.”

The new Vice Present has 8 years experience working in live entertainment, which has provided him with an understanding of promoter cost containment requirements, along with the development of both new processes and products to reduce overhead production costs. Gormley’s past roles have included festival site development, design, and the construction of live event facilities.

German Light Products (GLP) US has announced the appointment of Jim Gregory as its new Regional Sales Manager for the Southeast.

The newest member of the GLP team will bring more than 25 years of industry 94

experience, working with touring, local productions, house of worship, as well as special and corporate events.

“When the opportunity arose, I jumped to work for such an industry leading company.

GLP products are of the highest quality and hold up to the test of time. I wanted to work for a company with excellent products, first and foremost, and the quality of the GLP staff is top notch,” Gregory commented.

GLP US President Mark Ravenhill added: “We are very happy to welcome Jim to GLP. His experience, combined with his understanding of customer service are at the top level and he will be an absolute great fit to the team.”

Gregory is located in Nashville, Tennessee and will cover the entire Southeast region.

Ravenhill concluded: “I am excited to be part of such a great team. With my experience, I understand what is involved in making an event happen to the best it can be. I feel the GLP product line paired, with my experience, we will be able to fully meet any production needs customers have.”

Rockpool Tour Catering has announced the appointment of Susanne Traynor as Head of Operations.

The newest member of the team brings over 10 years experience, covering events worldwide from music tours to festivals to sporting events.

Rockpool Directors, Peter and Charlotte Dillamore-Bailey, commented: “Susanne brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and passion, which we are delighted to bring into the company as we grow and expand.” Traynor added: “I am really excited and looking forward to joining Rockpool and helping to expand the business in a profession and industry that I love.” Rockpool Tour Catering provides personal band, tour, private party and venue catering.

TPi www.tpimagazine.com/category/industry-jobs/

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BACK CHAT

EMMA REYNOLDS Production Manager; TPi Award-winning Stage Manager

definitely Glastonbury, where I production manage both the Pyramid and Other Stages. It’s such a huge event and working on such an iconic stage like the Pyramid is a constant challenge that requires an incredible amount of time and dedication.

We have really complex productions coming in each day of the festival and acts who are second and third on the bill would be headlining at any other festival. Making all the parts fit and doing everyone’s show justice takes a lot of planning and a lot of sleepless nights! All the stress is more than worth it when you see it come together though; I hope that feeling never gets old.

Why is this job in particular so important to you?

I first went to Glastonbury over 20 years ago and literally thought it was the greatest place on earth! I would be so happy to be working at Glastonbury in any capacity, but to be working across the 2 biggest stages at the festival, managing all of the artists’ production and to be in a position to really push the production levels forward yearon-year, really is a dream come true for me. I am very grateful to the Glastonbury team for taking a chance on me and giving me all of the opportunities they have.

How did you initially get into the industry?

I’ve wanted to do this ever since I went to my first festival, Monsters of Rock, at Donnington in 1992. I had absolutely no idea how! After going off to university some years later to get a degree in Marine Biology, I ended up getting my break into the industry through a friend I had met on a snowboarding holiday - Gill Tee from Entertee.

The Hop Farm festival was about to launch its first year around the time we met and Gill asked me to come and work in the artist liaison team. At the time I was working in the skateboard industry and was used to dealing with the professional athletes, so the crossover wasn’t too big of a leap. After a lifetime of gigs, I really enjoyed the experience of seeing how everything worked behind the scenes.

A few months later, Gill took a chance on me and I took the plunge into music-based events. I ended up working on the Hop Farm festival every year after that, until its sad demise 4 years later. Each year my role had grown and I really found my feet with technical production and stage management, which was the part I was instantly drawn to learning about.

At Hop Farm I got to work with some huge and legendary acts such as Bob Dylan, Eagles and Morrissey. The festival even hosted the only ever UK festival performance by Prince. It was an amazing opportunity to learn the craft while also working with some of the biggest music acts in the world.

You won the TPi Stage Manager of the Year award in February, what does it mean to be recognised?

Winning this year was huge for me! Firstly, to even be nominated was amazing and such a nice surprise. Then when I made the shortlist and I couldn’t believe it! The other names on that list were legendary stage managers who I’ve looked up to for years. To have my name up there on a list with them was pretty surreal. But to actually win on the night was such a great feeling and something I am very proud of. I don’t want to harp on about women in production, but there aren’t too many females in technical and stage-based roles, particularly on larger productions, so to be recognised at that level was really special for me.

You must have had lots of career highlights, but what do you still want to achieve?

Something I’d really like to do at some point is to be at the helm of a huge, super-complex world touring production.

I love having to be really detailed and relish a challenge.

I also really enjoyed my stints on the road with Metallica these last few years.

My main goal at the moment is to evolve my role at Glastonbury as much as I can with the existing team. Most of the team I work with at Glastonbury are really wellestablished and some of them have been there for over 20 years; I would consider it a real achievement to be able to look back over a 20-year career at Glastonbury and see how far how far we had been able to take the production levels during that time.

You have work in various roles, what’s been your most challenging to date?

Since starting in the industry I have tried to keep my skill base as varied as possible. I feel like having all-round experience really helps when you work in a specialised role like technical production and stage management. I took an AutoCAD course and progressed to teaching myself 3D CAD, which was a bit of a brain-frying experience, but one that was so rewarding and has been really useful to have on so many projects. My most challenging role to date is 98

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