Soft Cell

58PRODUCTION PROFILE

SOFT CELL

For one night only, synth-pop innovators Dave Ball and Marc Almond joined forces onstage for the last time to celebrate 40 years of Soft Cell. For their final curtain call, the duo ensured it was an event to remember. TPi’s Stew Hume was on site at the O2 Arena to see how this heady production was pulled off without technical rehearsals…

59

SOFT CELL

Undoubtedly, many readers will understand the pressure of the ‘one-off show’; you know you’re only going to get one crack at the live performance. This was magnified for Soft Cell’s Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, as the concert was streamed live to cinemas across the UK and Ireland.

Despite not performing together for 17 years, both Ball and Almond were keen to keep the time-honoured tradition of delivering their all onstage. With a large, automated square lighting truss and a giant 3 segment LED backdrop, the O2 venue is certainly a long way from the ‘80s club circuit when the band made their name.

One of the first to join the band’s 40th celebration was Ric Lipson from Stufish. Speaking to TPi about his induction into the world of Soft Cell, he recounted a story which wouldn’t be out of place in an espionage novel: “It all started with this rather out of the blue phone call,” he recalled. “I was asked to meet a guy called Mark in a female fashion outlet. Intrigued, I made the trip to Mayfair, still unsure what this mysterious show was all about.” The Mark in question was Mark Langthorne, Almond’s long-time manager. “We spoke for an hour or so about Soft Cell and his vision for the one-off performance. From the outset, he let me know this project would not have the biggest budget but they wanted to make an impact. Despite this, I was still very interested. Our ethos at Stufish states that if a project is intriguing, we’ll give it the time of day.”

Lipson spoke to Lighting Designer, Rob Sinclair. “Both Rob and I had just collaborated on the latest Queen + Adam Lambert tour and I thought this show would be right up his street!”

“Mark Langthorne – who took on the role of Creative Director – already had some strong ideas for the video content, along with laser and pyro elements,” explained Sinclair, who joined the conversation. “It sounded like a fun job, so naturally I said yes!”

With the two creative leads in place, the task of pulling together the suppliers was the next port of call, a role that was gladly taken up by Production Manager Kamal Ackarie.

The last time TPi crossed paths with Ackarie was backstage at Festival No°6 while he was working for the legendary outlandish performer, Grace Jones. With several years’ experience in live events, the PM has made a name for himself within the high-end art scene, putting on shows in venues including the Tate Modern. “But I have never tackled a show of this scale,”

admitted Ackarie. “It was 6 months of incredibly hard work, but what an experience! I remember so vividly dancing to tracks like Tainted Love in discos throughout my teenage years. The fact I’m here at 53 years old putting on their final show is really quite a trip - and such a huge honour.”

Despite not being from the world of arena shows, Ackarie had plenty of established relationships with the suppliers he could count on. These included Colour Sound Experiment, Really Creative Media, Adlib and ER Productions. “The whole show was frankly unrealistic,” laughed Ackarie, about the big vision of the performance. “It’s only thanks to the faith of the people we brought together that it happened. We never even had a full production rehearsal and the first time the set was put together was hours before doors. I dare say it might have taken a few years off me, but my God, it was worth it!”

SHOW DESIGN Although the likes of Really Creative Media, Colour Sound Experiment, Stufish and Rob Sinclair had all worked with one another previously, respectively, this was the first time all 4 had joined forces on a single show. “We have all been in the wars together many times,” stated Sinclair. “I couldn’t have wished for better people. I have to give thanks to Liam Griffiths, who put so much work into programming the show, and to Kamal for holding it all together.”

Colour Sound Experiment provided the entire lighting and LED package, and leading the team was David ‘Fletch’ Fletcher. Speaking prior to the performance he discussed how Colour Sound Experiment entered the picture. “It was around February when we learned of the project. It’s been quite the experience as it’s an ambitions design for a one-off show. Not only that, but Soft Cell haven’t performed on stage together in some time, so expectations are high!”

The backdrop to the performance consisted of 160sqm of ROE CB5 configured in 3 segments to create a cross. The centre screen measured 11m high by 6.5m wide and was flanked by two 6m-high by 8.4m-wide side screens. The ROE CB5 is still relatively new to Colour Sound Experiment’s stock and is part of a £1m LED screen investment by the West Londonbased company this year. “The CB5 is such a reliable product,” enthused Fletch. “Both Rob and the team from Stufish have created a stage which

60

SOFT CELL

Colour Sound Experiment’s David ‘Fletch’ Fletcher and Production Manager, Kamal Ackarie.

has moved away from traditional IMAG settings, with all the video surfaces behind the band. From what we’ve seen so far it looks fantastic!” Colour Sound Experiment’s video crew was chiefed by Fergus Noble who worked alongside Ed Blackwell and Gareth Manicom.

“The idea was always to have both Dave Ball and Marc Almond at the forefront of the performance,” explained Lipson. “The stage is not actually that big, coming in at 32ft, but we had to recognise and compete with the grandeur of the O2, hence the ginormous LED wall. On top of that, we also had the idea of an automated truss structure above the band which would give the show scalability and be cladded with neon pink cells – provided by Brilliant Stages.” The staging specialist also provided two lifts.

Colour Sound Experiment supplied the 6 Kinesys Elevation 1+ motor systems, which was used on the square 9 x 9 square truss. During the show, it descended at a 45° angle. “Having this extra automation element really added something to the show,” enthusedAckarie, explaining how Lipson’s vision of using automated elements created a more “intimate” moment within the set, harkening back to the band’s small club shows. “Essentially, lowering the truss creates a small venue space for the band to perform in within the O2 bowl,” stated Ackarie.

The front and wing truss was made up from Litec pre-rigged truss which was extremely quick to assemble and rig on the day, commented Colour Sound Lighting Crew Chief, James Hind: “It literally flew in and up!”

Collectively, the lighting rig consisted of an impressive collection of Robe fixtures: 46 BMFLs, 22 Robin MMX Spots, 56 Spiiders and 12 Robin 600 LEDwashes. Also on the rig were 174 Martin by Harman VDO Sceptrons, 6 Novalight Super Novas, and 9 GLP JDC1’s “Despite some shifting around, the design remained very true to Rob’s initial

“It’s only thanks to the faith of the people we brought together that it happened. We never even had a full production rehearsal and the first time the set was put together was hours before doors. I dare say it might have taken a few years off me, but my God, it was worth it!”

Production Manager, Kamal Ackarie

62

renders,” explained Fletch. “As is the nature of the beast, we had a few lastminute additions including 4 Claypaky Scenius Unicos to light the truss set border.”

When creating the show design, Sinclair was conscious both of how the performance looked for the live audience, and for those watching in cinemas up and down the country. Although it’s a factor he has become accustomed to in recent years, he explained: “I kind of light everything for television these days as everyone is always filming with phones. We metered the spots and key light prior, then I spent the show looking at the monitor while Liam Griffiths ran the show.”

Griffiths talked through the choice of fixtures. “We used the JDC1’s both as a strobe and an up stage wash,” he began. “This worked well on camera as it really filled in the empty space behind the band. We also got to use the Spiiders in a similar way along with their striking ‘flower effect’. Going from a wide wash to the power effect works sowell. Since seeing them in action on this show, I’m sold.”

For control, Colour Sound Experiment supplied an MA Lighting grandMA2 with the new grandMA3 as a back-up. “The grandMA3 is still very new for us,” stated Fletch, noting the flight cases for the desks are still in production. “They’ve been out for a few smaller shows but this is the first time they’re being used on a rig of this scale.”

The entire show was time coded with Griffiths having control of a selection of faders to ride levels and saturation throughout. “This was a necessity as we didn’t have any rehearsal time with the rig,” Griffiths stated. “This level of control meant Rob and I could adjust on the fly. Cast Software Wysiwyg was also of the utmost importance as it meant I could visualise how it would look. During the load in everyone was so pushed for time. I

SOFT CELL

couldn’t just stop the Kinesys ops from moving the truss while I was making final tweaks – it was just a matter of being patient.”

On site providing support for Griffiths and Sinclair were the strong crew of Sam Kenyon, Jon Rickets, Sam Akinwale, Alex Bratza and Adam LaFemina. Fletch gave his final thoughts on his involvement: “The whole experience has been a bit of a nostalgia trip. I remember when Soft Cell first came out - and to be working on their last ever show 40 years later is certainly one of those ‘full circle moments’. It seems that right now lots of bands are reforming but I am particularly happy to be involved in this reunion!”

Colour Sound Experiments’ Managing Director, Haydn Cruickshank added: “As always, it was excellent working with Rob and we were all very proud to be part of such a landmark show and do our bit to make it memorable for the many Soft Cell fans everywhere.”

VIDEO CONTENT Really Creative Media (RCM) handled the content which would play throughout the performance. TPi sat down with Content Director Jack James and Director of Really Creative Media, Nick Dew to discuss what they brought to the table.

Having worked with Rob Sinclair on several projects, RCM were one of the first on his list. “We have taken on two roles for Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” explained Dew. “First is producing the visual content for the show. Second is the camera package and media servers used on the night.” James continued: “The content was really driven by Mark Langthorne who had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve with the project. What we have produced is very much a modern imagination of the aesthetic that made Soft Cell so famous in the ‘80s.”

Alongside the content streamed on the LED surfaces, RCM also

SOFT CELL

incorporated several IMAG shots. “We ended up splitting the pit in half,” explained Dew. “We have taken one side to capture the IMAG content with the other side being used by Live Here Now who are handling the live stream.” For its pit and FOH cameras RCM utilised Black Magic URSA Broadcast cameras along with a selection of Agile pan and tilt robo cams, to get those close-up shots without being too much of a distraction for the performance on stage.

For control, RCM deployed a pair of Catalyst V6 media servers with an MA Lighting grandMA2 Light and OnPC Wing for control. These were tamed by programmer Jake Whittingham. “It’s certainly one of our go-to setups as it’s very flexible,” stated Dew. “Practically on these one-off shows where it’s very ‘run and gun’, you don’t have time to learn a new technology and you need to be comfortable with the system.” James agreed: “The Catalyst is very adaptable and deals with issues as they pop up. So, for a show with

no rehearsal time, it was a no brainer. It’s a very similar package to that which we created for the Liam Gallagher tour which was a great success.” All the camera feeds were sent to a Panasonic Touring PPU system which was overseen on the day by Video Director Phil Jennings and engineered by Bjorn Parry.

SFX ER Productions were also on site providing a selection of lasers and pyrotechnics to support the visual feast. “Rob first got in touch with us during the summer,” recalled ER Production’s Ross Marshall. “We have worked with Rob before on numerous projects, most recently for the Pet Shop Boys, Queen + Adam Lambert and Shania Twain. Soft Cell are one of the iconic British pop bands and as this was a one-off show, and the last one, it was a great opportunity!”

SOFT CELL

The Adlib audio team consisting of James Coghlan, Billy Bryson and Stuart Watson; FOH Engineer, John Gale.

Lasers were always an element that Creative Director, Mark Langthorne had been keen to include from the initial design meeting with Stufish. In total, ER Productions supplied 6 Phaenon Pro 30000’s and 24 Kinekts. Along with the lasers, the company also delivered 10 Galaxis G-Flames along with 8 Magic FX Stadium Shot 2’s and 2 Look Solutions CRYO-FOG. “We used the G-Flames with power upgrades, for 8m flames for the track Heat,” stated Marshall. “Prior to the show received the pyro cues from Kamal. Meanwhile for the Stadium Shots we fired 17 x 17 silver metallic streamers during the finale track, Say Hello Wave Goodbye and the CRYO-FOGs emitted low smoke during the track Martin.

According the Marshall, the main challenges for the team and ER Productions were the timing of the special effects, as there had no rehearsals for the production. “Thankfully we had a very experienced team on site who we trusted to think and respond quickly and were capable ofdelivering cues in a safe manner,” he stated. Along with Marshall handling the special effects were Joey Jackson and George Baker.

BROADCAST Handling the broadcast end of the shows was leading Live Recording Label and Production Company, Live Here Now who partnered with event cinema distributor More2Screeninema to stream the performance in screens across the UK and Ireland. “I don’t think any of us knew how extensive it was all going to be until they rolled

“I’ve worked with James (Coghlan) on several other shows and it’s always a great collaboration. I have full faith in him and the rest of the Adlib crew, who are always on top of things!”

FOH Engineer John Gale

66

in,” reminisced Ackarie. In total, the broadcast team consisted of 60 crew members – that’s right, 60. “Each one of them was very professional and worked well with the rest of the live production team,” he noted.

For the performance, Live Here Now partnered with Toward Infinity who took care of the filming for the stream. The show was broadcast in 5.1 surround sound audio and filmed in full HD with a comprehensive 13 camera set-up. The cut was directed by Tim Sidwell who has also worked on similar performances for Bring Me The Horizon, Marillion, Steps, and Bananarama. The live broadcast surround sound audio mix was engineered by specialist Will Shapland.

The company is also responsible for the release of the show onto multi-format fan deluxe editions. These products will include CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Heavy Weight Coloured Quadruple Vinyl, Audio Hardback photobook and a very limited-edition box set.

AUDIO John Gale, Almond’s long time FOH Engineer, handled audio duties for the performance. Speaking to him at FOH by his DiGiCo SD10 console, he discussed the set up. “I remember the conversations being thrown around while on tour with Marc’s orchestral show this time last year,” Gale stated. “I have been working with him for some time but this show is certainly a lot bigger than we are used to. Marc’s tours are usually in theatre so this is a different level!”

SOFT CELL

Alongside Monitor Engineer Clem Southgate - another veteran of the Almond camp - the two engineers went into band rehearsals with the Soft Cell duo and a collection of other live elements prior to the performance. “Along with Dave and Marc we also have 4 backing vocalists, some extra live percussion and a small brass section,” detailed Gale. “During this time we worked with Producer Philip Larsen who went through all the original stems of the band’s tracks and recreated elements for a digital playback mix.” Although there were several elements of digital playback, Gale explained how the large majority of the show was live, most of which coming from Bell’s spaceship of synths. For the synth-aficionados amongst you, his current set up includes a myriad of Korg products including a Prologue, an MS-20 and MS10. Also present was a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. “For Dave I actually just get a stereo feed from his onstage mixer,” stated Gale. “He’s also in control of a lot of the ‘trap’ elements pulled from the album. Then I’m at FOH blending both those elements along with the other live aspects.”

For control, Gale opted for a DiGiCo SD10 while Southgate chose a Yamaha CL5. “For me, like L-Acoustics, DiGiCo is my first choice for nearly all tours. It’s handling of snapshots is so versatile and really suits my style of mixing.” Adlib provided its standard Waves multi rack system run on a Mac mini along with a DiGiGrid MGB with 2 Waves SoundGrid Extreme Severs.

Gale was keen to comment on the latest Waves integration with the console. “It’s fantastic how Waves now amalgamates with each of the snapshots.” In total Gale was handling 16 outputs including timecode which was sent out to all other departments. “In fact I think audio is one of the only departments not using time code,” laughed Gale. “There simply was not time to time code each of the cues with the 33 songs for which we ended up producing cues.”

For microphones, Gale made use of Almond’s “trusted companion” – the Shure Beta 58. “He’s used it since the early days and it’s become part of his tone,” said Gale. “It’s great for levels which Marc has plenty of. It’s a microphone I’m really comfortable using having used the model on Björk’s latest tour. Sometimes it’s good to stick with what you know.”

Originally, the idea was to keep the stage as clean as possible - although, in the end, production opted to add a selection of stage monitors for stage sound using d&b audiotechnik M2’s along with L-Acoustic KS28’S and Arc II’s for side fills.

Adlib supplied the entire PA and control package along with the crew of James Coghlan, Billy Bryson, Steven Selby and Stuart Watson. The PA of choice was an L-Acoustics K1/ K2 system. “It’s a pretty tried and tested

setup,” discussed Bryson, PA Technician. In total, Adlib deployed 12 K1’s and 6 K2’s each side, all powered by LA12X amps. The sub setup consisted of 10 stacks of 2 high KS28’s. Additionally, every sub stack also featured a Kara box for extra coverage for those close to the stage. Further down the O2 bowl in delay world were 2 hangs of 8 deep L-Acoustics K1 array. “This was a collective decision between Adlib and John, our FOH Engineer,” explained Bryson. “The K1’s power ensured every seat in the house got the same audio experience.”

“A K1 and K2 L-Acoustics set up was always at the top of my wish list,” stated Gale, clearly satisfied with the system he had control over during the performance. “It’s the brand I use most and it feels comfortable.” He continued to enthuse about the Adlib team he worked alongside. “I’ve worked with James on several other shows and it’s always a great collaboration. I have full faith in him and the rest of the Adlib crew, who are always on top of things!” It was a sentiment shared by PM, Ackarie: “This was my first show of this scale, and having such a reliable supplier like Adlib was such a blessing. The team knew exactly what needed to be done and really kept my mind at ease.”

SAY HELLO, WAVE GOODBYE With the stage set in the nick of time the O2 gradually filled with those eager to witness Soft Cell’s swan song performance. Kicking things off with their first single Memorabilia, while Bell began tinkering behind his fortress of synths, Almond ascended via the stage lift to raucous applause. “So here we are!” he exclaimed, before launching headlong into Soft Cell’s nostalgic back catalogue. Throughout the performance, between the impressive laser show, the imposing lighting rig and the giant LED backdrop, it was hard to grasp that this was the first time the full production pieces had slotted into place. Certainly a fitting farewell for the final Wave Goodbye… TPi Photos provided by Stufish www.softcell.co.uk www.stufish.com www.gribiche.org www.coloursound.com www. reallycreativemedia.co.uk www.adlib.co.uk www.liveherenow.com www.brilliantstages.com www.er-productions.com

68