TPi March 2015 - Issue 187 by Mondiale Media

TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL

WWW.TPiMAGAZINE.COM MARCH 2015

ISSUE 187

TPi AWARDS 2015

THE EVOLUTION OF LIVE EVENT NETWORKING

SONAR FESTIVAL • IPM 2015 • IN THE SPOTLIGHT: ADAMSON • THE BRIT AWARDS • THE SCRIPT THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW • YOU ME AT SIX AND ALL TIME LOW DOUBLE BILL • 10CC

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PRELUDE L-R: TPi Magazine’s Hannah Eakins, TPi Awards Event Manager, Amy Wright, TPi Awards Event Coordinator Tom Lawson, TPi Magazine’s Kelly Murray.

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GATHERING COMMUNITIES It’s with great pleasure that I’m able to say the TPi Awards 2015 were a massive success. It looked incredible, sounded immense and for the first time in its history, 27 awards flew by thanks to the speedy comedy of our host, Mr Russell Kane. On behalf of everybody at TPi Magazine and Awards, we’d like to thank all of our guests, sponsors, suppliers and worthy winners. There was a real sense of solidarity felt at our new venue - Battersea Evolution - and we’re already planning the next boozy networking marathon! The full report starts on Pg.36. Enjoy! Ours wasn’t the only awards ceremony in February; since its inception in 1977, The BRIT Awards have become a global affair with production values to match. Simon Duff goes backstage on Pg.62. From Paloma Faith’s rain effects to Madonna’s capetastrophy, TPi saw it all. Another widely viewed event we’ve covered this issue is the NFL Super Bowl halftime show. Once again the brilliant Baz Halpin helped to create a stunning show for pop star Katy Perry. This time the California Gurls singer performed at Arizona’s University of Phoenix Stadium and an incredible 114 million viewers tuned in. Talk about pressure! Elsewhere in the world, Michael Baker, Editor “There were some very of sister site, Festival Insights, travelled to Iceland for Sonar Festival held in the country’s capital, interesting, and quite frankly Reykjavik. The Harpa Concert Hall was the setting worrying revelations about for the annual festival of progressive music and working conditions and multimedia for a TPi exclusive. expectations from the live Back in the UK, I attended 10cc’s tour at event sector....” Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. This was a bit of a special gig for me to cover, not least because it featured the touring debut of Cadac’s flagship CDC eight digital console, but also because Mondiale Publishing is based in the original home of 10cc, Strawberry Studios. So we go full circle with FOH Engineer, Jon Sword who himself talks about adapting to the digital world with what was a self-produced analogue perfected band. I also went backstage for The Script’s UK tour. Production Manager Bob O’Brien led the road crew to another arena victory, and I’m pleased to report that it was one of the most humbling environments I’ve seen during my time at TPi. Turn to Pg.84 to see how a B Stage transformed their arena performances. And of course, as the official media partner to the ILMC’s production meeting, IPM, I must point you towards Pg.20 for a run down of each panel from the internationally attended debate. There were some very interesting, and quite frankly worrying revelations about working conditions and expectations from the live event sector. What became apparent throughout the day however, was the sense of community and passion in the room. If you never stop caring, there may always be an underlying concern, but unless you are proactively seeking a better future for yourself and your colleagues, it won’t be heard or felt within the industry. That’s why the IPM is a vital date in our networking calendar. Finally, many of you will have seen from our newsletter coverage and Facebook updates, that after we’d bid a fond farewell to Patrick - who is doing great on his course in Germany - we also welcomed Jamie Medwell into the clan. If you haven’t already spoken, you can find his contact details on the next page. Prolight+Sound will be his first tradeshow experience in this industry, so be gentle! Welcome aboard! Kelly Murray Editor

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Editor Kelly Murray Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8371 Mobile: +44 (0)7738 154689 e-mail: k.murray@mondiale.co.uk Editorial Assistant Jamie Medwell Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7966 664116 e-mail: j.medwell@mondiale.co.uk International Advertising & Sponsorship Hannah Eakins Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8363 Mobile: +44 (0)7760 485230 e-mail: h.eakins@mondiale.co.uk Advertising Sales Charlotte Goodlass Tel: +44 (0)161 476 9126 Mobile: +44 (0)788 0208 226 e-mail: c.goodlass@mondiale.co.uk Graphic Design & Production Dan Seaton: d.seaton@mondiale.co.uk Mel Robinson: m.robinson@mondiale.co.uk General Manager Justin Gawne Mondiale Group Chairman Damian Walsh

EVENT FOCUS 10

Waves hit the Road Waves scores an audio hat-trick.

Robe Plans Expansion Robe plans a HQ expansion following its most successful year to date.

Sonar Festival Festival Insights’ Michael Baker throws some ‘brutal and unprecedented’ shapes, whilst covering the Sonar Festival in Iceland.

The IPM 2015 Report Industry professionals gather at the Royal Park Hotel in London for the ILMC’s annual production meeting - IPM.

King of Kings Elation Professional’s new platinum SBX hybrid moving head provides brain and brawn at the King of Kings Kickboxing Tournaments.

Sennheiser at The Grammy Awards Sennheiser brings immaculate audio quality to the 57th annual Grammy awards.

10cc Stockport’s own 10cc employs Cadac’s flagship console - the CDC eight - for their UK tour.

Contributors Sarah Rushton-Read, Michael Baker, Simon Duff and Patrick McCumiskey Printed by Buxton Press Annual subscriptions (including P&P): £42 (UK), £60 (Europe), £78/$125 (RoW). Subscription enquiries to: Subscriptions, Mondiale Publishing Limited, Waterloo Place, Watson Square, Stockport SK1 3AZ, UK; Tel: +44 (0)161 476 5580; Fax: +44 (0)161 476 0456; e-mail: subscriptions@mondiale.co.uk Issue 187 / March 2015 TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL is a controlled circulation magazine, published 12 times a year by Mondiale Publishing Limited under licence. ISSN 1461-3786 Copyright © 2015 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 2015 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. Subscription records are maintained at Mondiale Publishing Ltd. Waterloo Place, Watson Square, Stockport, SK1 3AZ, UK.

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PRODUCTION PROFILE 36

The TPi Awards TPi relives the memories (or lack there of) from The TPi Awards at London’s Battersea Evolution.

The BRITs Simon Duff goes behind the scenes at the O2, London for this year’s BRIT Awards.

www.tpimagazine.com • www.tpiawards.com Cover Photography Russel Kane and the TPi Awards by Tom Martin

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You Me At Six / All Time Low Sarah Rushton-Read delivers a rock ‘n’ roll double bill.

The Script Kelly goes backstage on The Script’s UK tour to discover the ins and outs of the band’s largest ever arena production.

102

The Super Bowl TPi reports on the tech behind the Super Bowl Halftime Show, America’s foremost sporting event, where live sports meets live music.

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White Light tees off for charity.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT 112

Adamson unveils its latest S-Series news.

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Event safety is at a global crossroads.

MOVERS & SHAKERS 116 The latest industry appointments.

VITAL STATS 122 Nick and Dave Whiteoak from Video Illusions talk about their careers, from Arcadia to the Prodigy.

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AN AUDIO HAT-TRICK FOR WAVES THE FOH AND MONITOR ENGINEERS ON THE ENRIQUE IGLESIAS, PITBULL AND J BALVIN TOUR ARE SOME OF LIVE MIXING PROFESSIONALS USING TOOLS FROM WAVES AUDIO, A LEADING DEVELOPER OF DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL AUDIO INDUSTRY. The mix team for this tour has been using Waves plugins, with special focus on the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor as a key plugin for mixing live performances. Brad Divens, FOH Engineer for Enrique Iglesias, stated: “On this tour, my two must-have Waves plugins are the NLS Non-Linear Summer and the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor. I use the Waves NLS on the drum group, bass, guitar and vocal channels. It adds warmth and depth to whatever I use it on. It also gives the mix an analogue vibe and helps to make it sound more musical. I use the Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor on my master buss to help tighten up the mix and also to give it some punch. I also

use it on both of my drum groups for parallel compression.” Eddie ‘El Brujo’ Caipo, Monitor Engineer for Iglesias, explained: “I use the Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor on Enrique Iglesias’ vocal. I like to have it on a fast attack setting and a mid release at a 4:1 ratio, and it works great. I really like the way his vocal sounds with that on, and so does he. I use the Waves C6 Multiband Compressor on our lead guitar player when he switches to rhythm. That way I can just compress the muddiness out of it, and it still keeps the nylon guitar sounding smooth in the low-mid section around 180–250 Hz. Using Waves plugins allows me to deliver the same

EVENT FOCUS: Waves

Opposite: FOH Engineer John Buitrago and Monitor Engineer German A. Tarazona Llano on the Enrique Iglesias tour. Below: FOH Engineer Brad Divens; FOH Engineer Will ‘Chilly Willy’ Madera.

high-quality sound that my artists are used to having in the studio, in a live environment. Hands down, Waves plugins are the best.” J Balvin’s FOH Engineer John Buitrago added: “With J Balvin, my favorite Waves plugins are the NLS Non-Linear Summer and the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor. The first thing I do is insert the Waves NLS in each of my console groups and the NLS Buss in my stereo main channels, then choose one of the three options of analogue consoles, looking for the best colour and proper character for the group. For example, I prefer the NEVO on drums, the SPIKE on vocals and the MIKE on guitars etc. When I open the NLS Buss I have the VCA groups console, which allows me to take full control of all the NLS channel instances assigned to the plugin’s VCA groups. It’s awesome. Once

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I go through this process, the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor takes control of my mix, its smoothness and dynamics allows me to control the audience level without hurting anyone’s ears and without losing the headroom in the mix. I really love it.” German A. Tarazona Llano, J Balvin’s Monitor Engineer noted: “On monitors, the most important thing is to have a very clean mix. On the tour we have a huge runway, and J Balvin sings half of the show there rather than on the regular stage, so the Waves C6 Multiband Compressor is an invaluable plugin for my mix. It is a powerful tool for controlling all the dynamics of the lead vocal, and the compression works amazingly. I’ve found an incredible way to control my low end on the ears of the whole band: I use the Waves C6 on

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my bass channel with a sidechain key source from the Kick-In channel. I also use the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor on each stereo output of my mixes, so when I insert the buss compressor, I find the perfect finish for my 12 mixes!” Will ‘Chilly Willy’ Madera, FOH Engineer for Pitbull, explained: “On this tour, my two musthave plugins are the Waves Renaissance Vox and the Waves API 2500. I use the Renaissance Vox on all my vocals, and believe it or not, on all the congas and bongos. This plugin brings them out in the mix and gives them that snap. Our percussionist just loves it. I use the API 2500 on my Master mix to glue the whole mix and get that nice punch and analogue warmth.” TPi www.waves.com

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EVENT FOCUS: Robe Plans Expansion

ROBE ANNOUNCES EXPANSION PLANS FOR 2015 ROBE LIGHTING HAS ANNOUNCED 2014 AS THE BEST YEAR IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORY, WITH COMPREHENSIVE EXPANSION PLANS FOR ITS HQ AND PRODUCTION OPERATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, WHICH IS RAMPING UP IN RESPONSE TO INCREASED DEMAND FOR ROBE’S PRODUCTS WORLDWIDE. This is partly related to the company’s medium-term expansion strategy and also a response to the huge success of the new BMFL range of moving lights - the first of which was launched in September 2014, as well as the continued demand for other popular moving light fixtures like the Pointe and the LEDWash series. Robe has recently completed the acquisition of nearly 8000 sq m of land including four large buildings immediately next door to its current main factory premises in Valašské Mezirírí. Robe, which first moved to this facility in 2002, has gradually been buying up other commercial premises along the street, and with this latest purchase, now owns the three largest units on the block. Work has recently been completed on a brand new building at the main factory site, 10

which has created an enlarged Technical Centre, a host of new meeting, board and conference rooms and a gleaming new contemporary designed staff canteen.

of lighting. “Of course, for our best ever year to coincide with that anniversary is just amazing. It’s a tribute to the great teamwork that makes Robe rock!”

“Of course, for our best ever year to coincide with that anniversary is just amazing.” - Robe CEO Josef Valcher

CEO & General Manager Josef Valchar said: “It’s a remarkable achievement to reach our 20th anniversary and I am very proud of the company and the many creative, talented and dedicated individuals who have worked so hard to help get us to where we are today, and among the market leaders in our specialist field

In addition to the record profits, Robe has also opened two new subsidiary operations in 2014 in the Middle East and Singapore (Asia Pacific), and the latest one in France was inaugurated in January 2015. TPi www.robe.cz

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EVENT FOCUS: Sónar Festival

SÓNAR FESTIVAL IN EACH OF ITS MANY INTERNATIONAL INCARNATIONS SÓNAR EXISTS AS A NEXUS BETWEEN CREATIVITY, ENTERTAINMENT AND TECHNOLOGY, HERALDING TOMORROW’S MUSICAL AND NEW MEDIA TRAILBLAZERS WITH ASTONISHING PRESCIENCE. SINCE 2002 THE SÓNAR BRAND HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR OVER 50 WORLDWIDE EVENTS, EACH ENGAGING WITH ITS LOCAL COMMUNITY AND CELEBRATING THE TALENT FOSTERED THERE. MICHAEL BAKER REPORTS. While the term ‘metropolitan festival’ is often a synonym for physically and stylistically disparate club venues, temporarily united under a largely meaningless banner, Iceland’s edition of

Sónar hosts the entire proceedings in Harpa - Reykjavik’s concert hall and the nation’s leading bastion of symphonic music. Which was nice, considering it was -5º outside and I didn’t feel much like walking anywhere.

Walking is for chumps anyway. Having worked with the festival since its inception three years ago, Sónar Reykjavik’s Production Manager Egill Tómasson spoke to TPi about the challenges inherent in producing an

EVENT FOCUS: Sónar Festival

Opposite: Skrillex headlined the Sónar Festival in Reykjavik’s Harpa concert hall accompanied by an abundance of lasers. Below: SBTRKT combined electronic and acoustic drums, synthesisers and effects as part of this year’s show.

Icelandic festival, and the past, present and future of the event. Tómasson has been working on Iceland Airwaves for over 15 years, so the transition to Sónar Reykjavik “came about organically through those channels.” Despite partially occurring at Harpa, the sonic requirements for the indiecentric Airwaves were always very different from those of the predominantly electronic Sónar. Optimising and improving the sound system for the latter festival was just as imperative as it was for the former, as Tómasson attested to: “A lot of people are dismissive of the sonic requirements of DJs and electronic producers, but that field of music is just as demanding - if not more so - because you need a lot of headroom. You don’t want to force the PAs through a whole night of relentless kick drums.” Perhaps this year’s most significant development was the upgraded sound systems for the festival’s two largest stages - Sonar Club and Sonar Hall. Whilst the main stage set-up was entirely new - comprising 14 Meyer Sound Mica line array loudspeakers, 10 700-HP 18-inch

EVENT FOCUS: Sónar Festival

Below: The Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, where Sónar Festival had recently upgraded to 4.8mm Unilumen LED screens for its two biggest stages.

subwoofers, two Midas PRO9 digital mixers and a TC Electronic Reverb 6000 system - the second stage’s system was recycled from last year’s main stage. The latter’s set-up now includes 18 Meyer Sound Melodie line array loudspeakers, eight M3D-SUB subwoofers, 4 Up-Juniors for the front fill, and identical mixers to the main stage. Sonar Club’s updated specs, which also boasted four Meyer Sound MJF-212 and eight UM-100P monitor loudspeakers, succeeded in bringing out the nuances of both Todd Terje’s future-cognizant disco bangers and Ghostigital’s delirious rants about Scientology.

Sonar Hall very much held its own throughout the saccharine beats of Ryan Hemsworth and SOPHIE’s juxtaposition-heavy insanity. With that said, I was too busy throwing brutal and unprecedented shapes to really tune into the finer points of the mix. Sonar Lab - a subterranean techno den fittingly set within the low-ceilinged concrete confines of the building’s car park - employed six Funktion One Resolution 5 wide coverage loudspeakers and 12 F121 21-inch subwoofers to sate the crowd’s thirst for industrial quantities of German-engineered bass frequencies. The sound console came courtesy of PreSonus

(specifically a StudioLive 24.4.2), and two lots of Yamaha DSR 115 and DSR 118s speakers were used for the full range side fill. An issue endemic to hosting a festival in a smaller market is the lack of hire companies: “There are maybe three or four decent suppliers in the market here in Reykjavik,” admitted Tømasson. “But on the flipside Harpa is almost like a new supplier on the market because they own a lot of their own gear, which is nice for obvious reasons. From the lighting to the desks to the PA, it’s all installed in-house. For any extras - such as LED screens - we work with Exton, who are also pretty much a one-stop

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EVENT FOCUS: Sónar Festival

Below: SOPHIE delivered juxtaposition-heavy insanity; Ethereal electronica from Icelandic three-piece Samaris; The exterior of Reykjavik’s Harpa concert hall; Festival Insights’ Michael Baker with Sónar Reykjavik Production, Manager Egill Tómasson.

shop for our needs.” Speaking of screens, the improvements on last year’s event aren’t just limited to the sound. Last spring the festival upgraded to 4.8mm Unilumen LED screens for its two biggest stages. “Up until then we were using some old 12mm Barco DLite 7,” said Tómasson. “It’s an old mechanism and you need tons of manpower to rig it up. These new ones only require two guys to put it up and it’s real easy to work with. I think the Barco must have been a 2005 model, so we were way overdue for an upgrade. Most

artists nowadays understandably demand the higher resolution screens for a slicker visual experience. Projectors are one possible way to achieve this but it’s easy to get fed up with them, especially in a festival environment when you’re constantly having to switch things up.” A new initiative that Tómasson and the Sónar Reykjavik team have begun is to host production workshops for kids. Operating on a first-comefirst-serve basis, this year’s classes spanned a two-day period and culminated in a show within Harpa’s seated venue - Sonar Complex.

Next year, the team is looking to expand upon these educational offerings, in the hopes of ushering in a new generation of tech heads. “After all,” as former TPi Assistant Editor and sound enthusiast, Patrick McCumiskey, said: “At the end of the day you’ve got to do what you love.” It seems as though Iceland is also on the path to creating a new breed of engineers, designers and operators, keen to pave the way... TPi www.sonarreykjavik.com

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EVENT FOCUS: IPM 2015

THE IPM 2015 FOR THE EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR, THE ILMC’S PRODUCTION MEETING - IPM - HAS GATHERED INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE IN ORDER TO DISCUSS PRESSING TOPICS WHICH AFFECT THE WORKING ENVIRONMENTS OF THE LIVE EVENTS INDUSTRY. ATTENDEES FROM 35 COUNTRIES GATHERED AT THE ROYAL PARK HOTEL IN LONDON, UK, TO VOICE THEIR OPINIONS. THE 2015 TOPICS WERE AS FOLLOWS: A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE, WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN... SAFELY’, ‘BACKSTAGE TO THE FUTURE’, AND ‘I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD’. TPi AWARD WINNING PRODUCTION MANAGER, KEITH WOOD, OF PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS WAS THE IPM’S GUEST HOST. TPI REPORTS ON THE DAY’S FINDINGS... Panel 1: A Square Peg In A Round Hole - Static CDM Regulations Implemented In a Dynamic Event Industry Chair: Eddy Grant (University of Derby, UK) Panellists: Keith Wood (Production Solutions, UK) Martin Wielaart (Amsterdam ArenA, NL) Martina Pogacic (Event Service Group, HR) Mark Surtees (Outback Rigging, UK) The confusion over the new CDM - Construction, Design and Management - regulations is a well documented subject in our pages thanks to Andy Lenthall’s all-seeing and all-hearing PSA column. It seems that many of you are asking the same 18

questions. Repeatedly. When the CDM changes come into place next month, it will affect Europe and Australasia. This is a subject that has been broached at the IPM before, but with the regulations so close on the horizon, how are production designers adapting? Eddy Grant, a leading health and safety practitioner is still very frustrated by the impending regulations - which he believes will be illogical when put into practice for our industry. The rules of CDM are derived from the thinkers in the construction industry, a sector that is often unfamiliar with temporary stage building. “How can one industry govern another, when until very recently it didn’t

EVENT FOCUS: IPM 2015

Opposite: The audience were given the chance to ask questions and offer their opinions. Below: Delegates from 35 countries attended the talks.

know existed?” he asked. Obviously, an expert in construction is not an expert in live production and concert touring. The general consensus is that there is so little understanding on their part for what building within event production requires, that the regulations are proposing rigid black and white rules for an industry which works in the grey. Every show is different, so a lack of flexibility could actually establish more problems when put into practice. Production Manager Martina Progacic of Event Service Group explained: “Theoretically CDM works, but practically it does not. I don’t want to break the law, but I don’t actually know how to follow it.” Production Solutions’ Keith Wood agreed, explaining that what is written in the CDM guidelines is not always ideal when considering how this industry operates: “The HSE fails to recognise what the artist wants. Ideas about show design often come from them and so designs can change at the last minute. That can’t be ignored. At the end of the day, it’s the artist who is paying our wages - so where does that leave CDM?” If the technical people who need to implement these rules don’t know how to follow them

every time a show is being built, then who knows if they are being followed? Where do the rules leave staff welfare on production sites, or the reality of safety during design compromise? We will only know the answers to these questions post April 2015, when the debate will presumably become a daily struggle… Panel 2: What Goes Up Must Come Down… Safely Weather, Gravity and Temporary Structures Chair: Jim Digby (Event Safety Alliance, US) Panellists: David VandenHeuvel (Weather Decision Technologies Inc, USA) Steven Corfield-Moore (Serious Stages, UK) Paul Cook (Live Nation Music, UK) Martin Goebbels (Robertson Taylor W&P Longreach, UK) “I don’t know about you, but I’ve still never been to a show that was worth dying for,” stated Jim Digby of the Event Safety Alliance, a US-based global committee formed to enhance the knowledge of safety within the industry. The entire room nodded in

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EVENT FOCUS: IPM 2015

Below: I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead - fatigue risks were assessed. Post discussion, the IPM offered a networking drinks reception during its closing party.

agreement. As an industry, we have to “deliver safety” the panel declared. Again, the room agreed. Yet how this is done seems to differ from country to country, a notion that can present massive flaws when considering the value of human life. Safety relies on information before an event, not during and certainly not in hindsight. Accurate judgement when determining the outcome of a live outdoor show and can only be made with all of the necessary information in good time. Understanding the weather has a big part to play in outdoor event safety. Weather prediction is not something a production manager or festival owner is well versed in; this is the job of an independent operator. David VandenHeuvel of Weather Decision Technologies Inc explained how his company’s state-of-the-art weather monitoring services can be sent all over the world instantly to inform a production or festival’s key decision maker about the potential of what could occur. Highlighting the tragic circumstances around

the deadly India State Fair stage collapse in 2011 as an example of production failure, Digby furthered: “Nobody died in Indiana because of the weather. People died due to a lack of planning.” To date, a US$50m settlement has been won for the families of the victims of this event. The point is, is an industry which is build on the creativity using the latest technological advances, there never should have been a loss of life when the option to use weather forecasting is readily available. Why do we keep allowing this to happen? Panel 3: Backstage To The Future Proven Tech and New Developments Affecting the Production Industry - in association with TPi Magazine Chair: Lee Charteris (Flash entertainment FZ LLC, UAE) Panellists: Chris Beale (Pinnacom Ltd / SPLtrack Ltd UK) Kevin Coffey (Luminos Lighting Ltd, UK) Niels Werner Adelman-Larsen (Flex Acoustics,

DK) Andy Mead (Firefly Solar Generators Ltd, UK) Amongst the topics debated was Backstage to the Future, chaired by ex-Pat Lee Charteris, VP of Operations at Flash Entertainment in the UAE. His chosen topic explained how new technologies are able to help to make live-music productions “easier, better, safer or more economical.” However, this wasn’t the overriding feeling from some members of the audience. For example, it was noted that a well-known British band on a comeback tour had expressed to their production team that they didn’t want to feel engulfed by technology. Times had changed somewhat since their last tour, and lighting fixtures seemed able to take over the stage. This sentiment means that in some cases, it’s felt that technology is taking over the artist’s performance rather than enhancing it. From an audio point of view, former musican and Sound Designer,

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EVENT FOCUS: IPM 2015

Below: The debate heated up during a Q&A; Backstage to the Future - proven tech and new developments affecting the production industry were brought to our attention.

Niels Werner Adelman-Larsen of Flex Acoustics explained the origins of his company’s new product. Unflattering acoustics in venues where it could not be helped led to the development of the aQflex and aQtube absorbers. Based on the discovery that under certain conditions surprisingly high sound absorption can be heard via portable inflated flexible structures meant that the addition of the product to any indoor venue gives greater audio satisfaction. His AqFlex product was developed and used at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest - held in a former shipyard that was transformed into a concert venue. It was not at all invasive and the live show went ahead without an acoustic hitch. In terms of festival and outdoor applications, generators are causing a stir to the future of power supply. Firefly Solar’s Andy Mead championed the replacement of traditional diesel generators with its own UK manufactured solar alternative. An environmental engineer, Mead believes that ‘clean’ technology is even able to assist with climate change. With over 500 festivals in the UK alone every year, is the solar powered generator the way forward? Panel 4: I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead Fatigue Risks Assessed Chair: Carl A H Martin (cahm.uk)

Panellists: James Cobb, UK (Crowd Connected Ltd, UK) Martin Cramer (Mojo Concerts / Live Nation, NL) Mark Armstrong (L3 NRC Rigger and Assessor NRAG, UK) Yana Lombard (Rashid Lombard Inc, SA) Two years ago, Carl A H Martin brought to the attention of the IPM attendees the need to discuss the dangers of long working hours in the event production industry. The 2015 debate focussed on what has been done since to improve the working conditions within touring and live production environments. This will never, ever be a 9-5 industry but it must be a safe one at last. The outlook this year would suggest that although some individuals and companies have made steps towards improving long shifts, there is still a huge task ahead when dealing with the problem as a whole. One point raised by in-house venue managers in the audience suggested that part of the problem is familiarity breeding comfort which is needed when relying on experienced in-house personnel. For example, it is often desired that promoter reps on tours are often required to not only meet production managers on site but to also be there during the load out 18 hours later. This may put a production manager at ease but

it will also hinder the acceptable working hours of the rep. This theory was news to chairman Carl A H Martin, who has himself has worked in venues for a large part of his carer. However, the floor gave the consensus that this is often expected. Ex TPi Awards PM, James Cobb talked the delegates through the effects of fatigue from being over worked. Side effects included impaired vigilance, poor decision-making and delayed reaction times - echoing the similarities of being over the drink driving limit (in the UK and US). His research from 2013 explained that the lack of sleep could endanger lives due to critical decision makers - production managers or automation operators for instance - being affected by lack of rest. A survey conducted by Cobb revealed that that majority of people working in this industry get an average of less than six and in some cases less than four hours sleep a night on a regular basis. The troubling conclusion however was that long working hours are not only accepted by the majority of workers, but that the lifestyle is so deeply ingrained in touring culture that it will take a mammoth effort from all over the world to realign our thinking. TPi Photos: Sytske Kamstra and Martin Hughes http://27.ilmc.com/ipm

Visit us on stand 11.0 A64

EVENT FOCUS: King of Kings Below: The King of Kings kickboxing events are well-attended in the live sports sector; The Platinum SBX fixture.

ELATION PLATINUM SBX FLEXES ITS MUSCLES AT KING OF KINGS KICKBOXING EVENTS ELATION PROFESSIONAL’S NEW PLATINUM SBX HYBRID MOVING HEAD SHOWED BOTH ITS BRAIN AND BRAWN AT THE KING OF KINGS EAGLES SERIES AND KING OF KINGS WORLD GRAND PRIX KICKBOXING TOURNAMENTS Held at the Manej Sports Arena in Chisinau, Moldova and broadcast live on FightBox HD and Eurosport HD respectively, Elation dealer Eventica Grup SRL, a regular staging and technical contractor of KOK tournaments, turned to the Platinum SBX for its multifunctionality as well as its power and dynamism. King of Kings events are some of the most popular kickboxing events in the world. Intense affairs with pre-bout introductions, a vital step in building up the exciting atmosphere, a powerful, dynamic light was needed to match the emotion and adrenaline of the fighters themselves. Lighting Designer, Serghei Mosin of Eventica Grup turned to the Platinum SBX, which lined the front edge of an entrance stage, to highlight fighter introductions and energise the room. The Platinum SBX is a versatile three-in-one luminaire with dual optical system that has flexible 24

use as a spot, beam, or wash fixture. Serghei Bukin of Eventica Grup SRL said the SBX’s multi-use capability was an important factor in its choosing. “We needed an extremely bright spot but also a powerful beam luminaire at the downstage edge of the stage for fighter introductions and the SBXs absolutely satisfied us. They proved themselves to be better than we expected and now my colleagues at other rental companies have a great interest in them. It was a great choice and we even have plans to widen our SBX inventory.” Not only can the SBX change between beam and spot modes quickly, but its unique frost system produces a wash effect when needed. The Platinum SBX produces 15,000 lumens of power and houses a zoom, 13 colours, 23 gobos, and the rotating prisms for a host of design possibilities. TPi www.elationlighting.com

Not Playing Games

World Wide Launch Prolight + Sound 2015 April 15th Hall 8.0 Stand L76

Cadac Holdings Ltd. One New Street, Luton. Bedfordshire. LU1 5DX. England. UK Office Tel: +44 1582 404 202 US Office Tel: +1 805 451 5445 www.cadac-sound.com

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EVENT FOCUS: The 2015 Grammys Below: Ed Sheeren performed using a Sennheiser SKM 2000 / MD 9235 combination at the 2015 Grammy Awards.

SENNHEISER BROUGHT IMMACULATE AUDIO QUALITY T0 57TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS AT THE 57TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS, HELD AT LOS ANGELES’ STAPLES CENTRE, SENNHEISER DELIVERED RELIABLE WIRELESS AND EXTRAORDINARILY DETAILED AUDIO TO A HOST OF WORLD-CLASS RECORDING ARTISTS INCLUDING ED SHEERAN, SAM SMITH, BEYONCÉ AND MADONNA. Sennheiser user Sam Smith scooped up four Grammys at this year’s awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album; Ed Sheeran performed a guitar-centric, stripped down version of his hit single Thinking Out Loud, singing through a Sennheiser SKM 2000 / MD 9235 combination, while Beyoncé delivered the performance of a lifetime through the Sennheiser Digital 9000 wireless system. During a ceremony that featured no less than 23 live performances, Beyoncé’s powerful rendition of Thomas A. Dorsey’s Take My Hand, Precious Lord - a traditional gospel hymn also sung by Mahalia Jackson at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral in 1968 - was the emotional pinnacle of the evening. Dressed in an angelic white gown and performing amidst a 12-piece choir and a swooning church organ, Beyoncé’s vocal navigated effortlessly through the quiet valleys and explosive passages of the timeless hymn. The Sennheiser Digital 9000 was successful in capturing every nuance of Beyoncé’s extraordinary vocal range and expression. “For this particular performance, she wanted to go for the old school vibe of a church hymnal,” observed Stephen Curtin, Beyoncé’s FOH Engineer. “I had 100% confidence in the Digital 9000, since we just used it on Beyoncé and Jay Z’s stadium tour, where it was rock solid. People may not be aware of this, but Beyoncé’s Grammy performance was right in front of the PA system with SPL reaching approximately 100dB. We ran the vocals on top of all this without any issues at all. Having that kind of control is an entirely new experience in itself.” At monitors, James Berry was pleased with the performance of the SKM 9000 transmitter and MD 9235 capsule combination: “The audio 26

was pure and clean, and represented her vocal better than any other microphone out there. With the Digital 9000, you get out exactly what you put in - and this translates to in-ear monitors, the FOH mix and the broadcast world.” At FOH, Curtin appreciated the Digital 9000’s ultra-wide frequency spectrum and its ability to handle Beyoncés powerful, dynamic voice: “Distortion is just something we have never experienced with the SKM 9000, and with the digital HD transmission, you are not losing anything at all.” The audience was completely transfixed when Mary J. Blige joined Sam Smith on stage for an emotionally charged performance of his instant classic Stay With Me. Smith crooned through a Sennheiser SKM 2000 handheld transmitter coupled with an MMK 965 capsule, while Blige provided skilled accompaniment singing through her Sennheiser SKM 5200 transmitter / Neumann KK 105 S capsule combination. Simon Thomas, FOH Engineer for Sam Smith, was not surprised by Smith’s spectacular rise to fame, or his success at the Grammys. “I always had this feeling that Sam would go all the way, ever since I mixed his first American show in July of 2013,” he said. Thomas was extremely careful when selecting the right capsule for Smith’s voice, which has extraordinary range and power: “I chose the Sennheiser 965 capsule for its extremely smooth response. I needed a microphone that was going to be very sensitive in the quieter moments, but could also take a good old spanking when we pushed it.” In terms of reliability and RF performance, Thomas expected nothing less than perfection: “I have no tolerance for RF interference, since my attention has to be on mixing the show,” he said. “To be honest, I have been using

Sennheiser transmitters and receivers for over a year and a half now and I can’t remember ever having a single RF issue.” Madonna’s performance of Living For Love was bolstered by a Sennheiser SKM 5200 transmitter coupled with an MD 5005 capsule, along with a Sennheiser 2000 IEM wireless system for monitoring. Meanwhile, Annie Lennox lent her special brand of sizzle to Howlin’ Wolf’s I Put A Spell On You, singing through a Neumann KMS 105 wired condenser microphone. Later in the evening, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga turned on the charm with a playfully romantic performance of Cheek To Cheek - which saw both artists sing through a Sennheiser SKM 5200 transmitter and Neumann KK 105 S capsule combination. Over the course of the evening, hosts and presenters such as Smokey Robinson, Miley Cyrus, LL Cool J and others used Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld transmitters both on and off stage, coupled with Neumann KK 105 S capsules. In addition to having its products represented in the vast majority of Grammy performances, Sennheiser was also on the ground to support the event’s enclave of FOH and monitor engineers, broadcast professionals and RF technicians. “We wanted to use the Digital 9000 for the Grammys, but the sound vendor that we normally source it from had it out on another project,” recalled Curtin. “We called up Sennheiser and asked if they could send a unit out, and before we knew it we had one on the ground with a complete microphone package. To be able to get a wireless system of that calibre so quickly was a great example of the support we received.” TPi www.sennheiser.com www.grammy.com

GAME CHANGER nd 2015 u o S + t h g i Prol : B51 h t o o B .0 1 Hall:1 15 15-18.4.20

BRIGHT MULTI FUNCTIONAL LIGHT

EVENT FOCUS: 10cc

OUR LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN: CADAC’S FLAGSHIP CONSOLE SOUNDS OUT 10CC’S UK TOUR SINCE THEIR INCEPTION IN 1972, BRITISH ROCK BAND 10CC HAVE NEVER BEEN SHORT OF TALENT. FORMED BY MUSICIANS WHO COULD SING, WRITE AND PRODUCE THEIR OWN RECORDS BUILT THE FOUNDATION FOR WHAT WOULD LATER BECOME A LEGENDARY ACT. 43 YEARS ON, 10CC ARE STILL VERY MUCH APPRECIATED TODAY - BOTH ON VINTAGE VINYL AND ON TOUR. TPi’S KELLY MURRAY SPOKE TO THEIR FOH ENGINEER, JON SWORD ABOUT HIS ADMIRATION FOR THE BAND AND HIS NEW FAVOURITE MIXING CONSOLE, CADAC’S FLAGSHIP CDC EIGHT. Originally comprising the artistry of Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley, Lol Crème and Eric Stewart, the band recorded some now-legendary albums in their own studio, Strawberry Recording Studios, based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, UK. The facility offered the north of England a professional recording environment and soon became very popular. History was made for several other artists at Strawberry too, including Paul McCartney, The Smiths and Joy Division. The building also happens to be the home of TPi and Mondiale Publishing. As I type this article from what was the studio’s control room, it’s hard not to notice that the walls are adorned with 10cc gold discs and memorabilia, showing the band’s clear musical imprint. In 1976 Godley and Creme left the band, leaving Gouldman and Stewart as the main 28

creative forces behind 10cc. Upon Stewart’s 1996 departure, Gouldman continued to tour with a new line up from 1999. The current line up comprises Gouldman, Paul Burgess, Rick Fenn, Keith Hayman and Mick Wilson and the band continue to successfully tour today. On the last night of their recent UK tour, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall became the setting for a 10cc homecoming gig, with Gouldman declaring: “What better place to end the tour?” During an impeccable soundcheck, the band joked and jammed with ease, engulfing the venue’s tricky architechture. At the helm is Jon Sword, both FOH Engineer and Tour Manager to the band. Like many of you reading this will surely be able to relate to, Sword got his own start in the audio industry when he was in a college band and started to question the bad sound at gigs. By chance, an onlooker was observing his skills and asked if he

was an engineer. When Sword explained that his wasn’t, he was then asked if he’d like to be. “It happened to be Brian Poole of the Tremoloes who was asking the question. Of course I said yes! I earned £25 per day back then. A week after that conversation I found myself in Spain and I’ve been touring the world ever since!” After mixing for the likes of the Feeling and Sophie Ellis Bextor, Sword is currently three years into his role(s) with 10cc. It’s a journey which has afforded him the opportunity to test out various desks over the years, and today Sword is using a Cadac CDC eight desk. He told TPi: “I don’t like many digital products because they’re not creative in my mind. This dawned on me a couple of years ago when I was mixing at Pucklepop festival in Belgium. I was in a situation where a young engineer asked me where the touchscreen was on the Midas XL3 console that had been provided. I thought to

EVENT FOCUS: 10cc

Opposite: 10cc performed at the Brigewater Hall on the last night of their UK tour. Below: Tour Manager and FOH Engineer Jon Sword has recently started using a Cadac CDC eight digital console; The band played their legendary Sheet Music album in full.

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myself ‘right, that’s it; it’s time to embrace the digital world because the new generation don’t know the analogue one!’” For 10cc’s tour, Phil McDaniel of rental company ESS suggested Sword try out the new Cadac desk, a suggestion he was open to. “I’ve been lucky enough to take out the first lot of DiGiCo SDs and Soundcraft Vis over the years so my thinking is that if a product is good enough, why not champion it? Obviously you have to test it out first, so I was happy to give it a go. The great thing about Cadac products is that they sound amazing; they’re known for really great sound quality.” Sound quality is a vital feature, but for a band like 10cc, there could be no compromise. “The band has a very dynamic mix. It took me almost a year to get this fluid with their sound, not just the core of it, but every tiny aspect. I had to learn how nail it. Graham’s been doing this for over 40 years and the whole band is incredible at what they do. 10cc were pioneers

of studio production in the 70s and their work still stands up in a concert hall now. Everything has to be heard with this band, so in that sense, this is either the best or the worst job in the world!” he laughed. “What I mean is, they’re very critical and because of that, it keeps the relationship interactive. It keeps me on my toes and I really like that. This isn’t a band that you can stand away from the desk with; you’ve always got to be hands-on to deliver. It’s a multi-talented, complex set up.” The tour is set up without the aid of a support band; instead 10cc play two sets, the first being their second studio album Sheet Music played in its entirety and after an interval, they come back and play their best-known hits. A venue such as the Bridgewater Hall has a natural sound to it which in this instance, requires some taming from Sword. The band do however, trust him implicitly, and the Cadac CDC eight has been worked out very well. The console is Cadac’s flagship digital live

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EVENT FOCUS: 10cc

Below: Rental company ESS supplied the audio rig for the tour which also comprised a Turbosound PA and a Sennheiser G3 IEM package.

sound console, designed specifically for the demanding worlds of concert touring and fixed installation. Perhaps what set’s Cadac apart with this product is the innovative approach to its user interface. Gone are the multiple strips of restrictive fixed physical controls found on conventional analogue and a majority of digital consoles, instead replaced with an intuitive user interface accessed by 24-inch HD LCD touchscreens. The console has been designed to be far less menu dependent than other digital consoles. The combination of this user interface with the Cadac mic-pres, and state-of-the art DSP and FPGA processing technology, makes the desk a unique proposition for those who do not want to be faced with audio or creative compromises. Digital encoders, which display the clean and logical graphical user interface surround the touchscreens. This arrangement naturally leads to an instinctive use of contemporary touch and traditional encoders to access the features on the console. An additional centrally located 6-inch LCD touchscreen provides quick access to the advanced system controls and automation functions.

“The wonderful thing about this desk is how simple it is. Simplicity is key, and now I have it,” said Sword. “I never get feedback with this desk; it just sounds musical to me. It gives me the best clarity with the least effort and therefore allows me to mix rather that fight problems.” The support of the Cadac team has also made the transition to a new desk a smooth operation. “Cadac feels like a bespoke company to me. I know that it’s not, but they’ve been so great to work with that that’s kind of how I feel. For example, when I first took it out, I had a couple of slight software issues, as you’d get with any new desk, but it was rectified straight away. Rob [Hughes] and James [Godbehear] have been great. When you get that support, it all feels very personal.” The rest of the audio set up was supplied by ESS. Phil McDaniel told TPi: “We provided 16 stacks of Turbosound Aspect 890 system with TSW218 subs, configured in a ground stack formation, flown hangs, and in and out fills where required.” For monitor duty, a Yamaha PM5D-RH was positioned on stage and the band wore Sennheiser G3 IEM systems, yet it was the Cadac CDC eight at FOH which stole

the show: “It has unequalled audio quality, and innovative workflow layout and we’ve had an open and engineer-led feedback program via Cadac’s Rob Hughes,” he added. After a set list which included I’m not in Love and Dreadlock Holiday, the crowd were treated to a truly stunning a capella adaptation of Donna before Rubber Bullets shot the dancing crowd a kiss goodnight. As a nod of respect to his touring crew, frontman Graham Gouldman thanked his road staff, from Sword to the truck drivers, without which he explained, “This wouldn’t be possible.” After 44 years, it’s refreshing to acknowledge that talent hasn’t overridden humility, and the work of Sword and the rest of the production team is stil duly noted. As the lights came up at the end of another successful UK tour, Sword resonated his earlier thoughts: “I’m happy with that,” he said. “I really do believe this is the best sounding digital desk I’ve ever used.” TPi www.10ccworld.com www.cadac-sound.com www.esspahire.co.uk

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2015 WINNERS…

TOUR MANAGER OF THE YEAR

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

TPi AWARDS 2015 A PRODUCTION EVOLUTION THE 14TH INCARNATION OF THE TPi AWARDS, HELD ON 16 FEBRUARY AT LONDON’S BATTERSEA EVOLUTION, SAW 27 AWARDS PRESENTED ACROSS VARIOUS CATEGORIES SUCH AS ‘LIVE PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR’ AND ‘OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION’. THE AWARDS WERE GIVEN TO THE WORTHY RECIPIENTS BY HOST, STANDUP COMEDIAN RUSSELL KANE.

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Opposite: The 2015 TPi Awards were held for the first time at London’s Battersea Evolution. Below: The new venue dramatically improved sight lines, catering and interactivity for the guests.

Drawing over 1,100 industry professionals from all corners of the globe, guests from France, South Africa, Australia and Brazil all fell prey to host, Russell Kane’s infectious wit during his pre-awards performance, which was given a stratospheric boost thanks to this year’s new event space. “There is a limited choice of venues in which to hold a 1000+ awards dinner in London,

so when we got the chance to use Battersea Evolution we were really excited,” said Amy Wright, Events Manager at Mondiale Publishing. “Due to the scale of the production we install, architectural features are not a requirement, so the venue promised a true blank canvas for us to play with, and it delivered perfectly!” This 5,500 sq.m blank canvas is, in essence, exactly the kind of venue that TPi Awards

suppliers VME, Euro Screens and Hawthorn feel most at home in. When compared to the previous venue at the Hammersmith Novotel, the load in and out was made much easier for production staff and, as highlighted by Wright. The upgraded venue allowed the scale of show to be significantly expanded. TPi’s General Manager, Justin Gawne, commented: “This year’s TPi Awards represented

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: Awards were distributed across 27 categories, including Live Production Of The Year, Favourite Venue and Tour Manager Of The Year.

a sea change in the event’s operation. The move to Evolution has dramatically improved sight lines, catering and interactivity for the guests. It was unanimously received as a step up from previous years.” FUN AND GAMES The 2015 attendees were treated to a array of interactive sponsorship goodies, including flashing bow ties courtesy of Robe, whose 200+ lighting fixtures made up a significant part of the lighting rig; and, of course, the PRO show

endorsed selfie stick, which provided attendees an excuse to exercise shameless social media vanity late into the night. Before dinner, over 100 tables immersed themselves in the #CreateLight competition, a light sculpture contest instigated by Philips Vari-Lite and predictably, a significant number of tables sculpted phallic, glow in the dark skyscrapers with the luminescent glow sticks provided. Lightheartedness aside, #CreateLight was a live event in its own right, with a superb crew

headed up by Production Manager, Liz Madden of NoNonsense Group. “I have been Production Manager three times and the TPi Awards are a fantastic event to be involved in. The team at Mondiale Publishing are really supportive, but you are always very aware of who is in the audience. There’s nothing like a bit of pressure to keep you on your toes!” said Madden. Hawthorn, a new supplier to the awards, provided lighting, rigging and draping. Madden explained: “We were obliged to use Hawthorn for all rigging as they are the in-house team. As

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: The change of venue meant that the load in and out was made much easier for production staff; The Favourite Transport Company award was sponsored by Festival Insights; PSA’s Andy Lenthall paid tribute to our late friends and colleagues.

plans progressed, it made sense to use them for the lighting as they already had an existing relationship with Robe. “There are, as always, additional costs when working with an in house team, although Tom Ring, our venue contact, has in depth knowledge of the venue and this made it easy to work with them. Each year we change the local crew supplier to give everyone a chance to support the event and give something back to the industry. The Salima crew, who provided follow spot operators and security for the VIP bars, were friendly, helpful and above all hard working. It was a pleasure to work with them!” VISUALS This year the Awards were introduced with an awe-inspiring audiovisual display designed by Digital Insanity’s Richard Bagshaw and Touring IT’s Richard Shipman. As the display progressed it quickly became apparent that 2015’s production had raised the bar to unprecedented levels for future AV industry awards ceremonies. “It was our responsibility to come up with a theme for the video. The challenge was to make it entertaining enough to grab peoples attention, but at the same time ensuring that 38

the information came across,” said Bagshaw, who created the content in pre-production using Adobe After Effects. “Following on from last year’s grindhouse cinema theme, this year we decided on the theme of glitch, or digital distortion. One thing we did this year, which we haven’t done in the past, is to make the audio walk up match the style of video glitch. All the video was synched

Screens 3mm LED screen was great as it meant that every little bit of distorted detail was crystal clear.” The opening track, a glitched-up dubstep remix of Muse’s Knights of Cydonia, provided the thematic anchorage from which the distortions in video and lighting were triggered. With so much sensory content being run simultaneously, processing power was required

“The move to Evolution has dramatically improved sight lines, catering and interactivity for the guests. It was unanimously received as a step up from previous years.” - Justin Gawne, TPi General Manager

up to the audio, based on frequency analysis of the tracks, some of which had been striped with time code and sent for lighting to chase. This meant that the whole room shook in unison when the glitches occurred and we also had several strobe and video effects that we layered up over the walkup stings to add an extra dimension. The fact that we were using a Euro

by the boatload. Enter d3 Technologies. “We ran two d3 Technologies 4U V2.5 media servers for playback, one for primary and one as a hot backup both offering three full HD outputs per machine,” continued Bagshaw. “Luke Collins, our d3 Programmer, controlled the d3 via midi, and the cameras are also being fed through the d3 server, so we had full control

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: Cheshire-based VME were the audio suppliers for this year’s awards. The PA of choice was a Martin Audio MLA Compact system.

of all sources via the d3 server and can also blend and mash up the cameras as required. We were using the d3 server as an integrated graphics package, and it responded to this challenge flawlessly!” “One very useful feature of d3 is its ability to pre-visualise the show, which allowed us to program the show prior to getting on site and know what it was going to look like,” commented Luke Collins, d3 Technologies’ Programmer. “Then once on site it was simply a matter of connecting to the LED wall and our previsualised show became a reality. As well as driving the LED screens, d3 also played out the walk up audio during the awards and provided time-code to the lighting desk for the intro video.” Richard Shipman, frontman for Touring IT, alongside his partner in crime, Bagshaw, have been directing video at the TPi Awards for over a decade. “Despite all the visual and acoustic triggers set to

time code, it’s my job to scan the show and choose optimal camera angles for the screens,” said Shipman. “This year, myself and Richard chose to embed the sound within the content as opposed to letting the audio simply playback. Ensuring that the live camera feed was integrated within this was tricky - seeing as the glitches needed to be perfectly synchronised - but there was no other option. And yes, even though the show was pre-programmed, there was still - for me - that live aspect to the operation, which certainly kept things interesting.” Shipman joined the attendees in his praise of the new venue: “Compared to the Novotel, the Battersea Evolution is a dream. The only real challenge was that we had to do a one-day load in, as opposed to the night before in Hammersmith. But all in all, it was great! “The challenge with the TPi

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: Euro Screens provided Absen LED screens for the show; Russell Kane hosted the awards brilliantly, capturing the audience’s attention from the moment he walked on stage.

Awards is to keep things technically interesting for the people in the crowd. It’s unlike any other awards show because this is for the events industry, these people put on the best shows in the world. People are waiting for you to fuck up so they can take the piss later on. But that’s kind of its appeal. Above all else, it’s a fun awards show to do because it’s for our peers. A PowerPoint presentation won’t cut it with this crowd!” SCREENS Providing the 200 Absen 3.9mm LED modules to create the 7-screen design was Euro Screens. Ben Hyman, General Manager of audio supplier to the awards, VME, explained: “VME is a sister

company to Euro Screens and has provided the sound for the awards since 2013. For the 2015 awards, we offered to supply the screens too. Given the close working relationship that we have built up with Mondiale and Liz Madden from NoNonsense, having Euro Screens provide screens as an additional service seemed to be a natural progression for our involvement within the event. In the past year, VME has invested in 240 panels of Absen LED screens. Traditionally, quality has been the Achilles heel of many a Chinese manufacturer, but with Absen, the case is a little different. “Of all the Chinese manufacturers, Absen has consistently outperformed the competitors

in a number of regards - build quality, ease of rigging, control systems and price. They have been able to develop high-density LED panels at a cost that has allowed us to heavily invest in a large number of screen modules, allowing us to grow a substantial hire stock of A3 panels. They also have representation in the UK and Germany, so technical support and service is easy to obtain should it be necessary. Three 1920 by 1080 outputs fed six Novastar 660 LED processors, that mapped the seven individual screens to frames within each output. The setup was fully redundant, so there was a primary and backup media server, and all our screens had dual processors configured for redundancy. It was a fairly complex setup but

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10:56 AM

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards Below: Hawthorn served as first-time lighting suppliers to this year’s awards; The lighting design was helmed by LD, Jack Sayer and Hawthorn’s Tom Ring, who ensured that the proceedings ran without a technical hitch.

one that ensured stability throughout the night. “The design consisted of a good number of screens, but there wasn’t really any complicated rigging,” continued Hyman. Cabling was easy as racks were right behind the screens. Given that we loaded in on the day of the awards, the clock is constantly ticking. For this event specifically, it’s always good to have a rig day to iron out any niggles, but luckily everything went according to plan. There’s always something to keep you on your troubleshooting toes, but we had a good team around us to ensure that

everything was delivered according to plan.” LIGHTING This year, Hawthorn was responsible for the lighting design of the event, with Lighting Designer, Jack Sayer and Project Manager, Tom Ring ensuring the proceedings ran without a technical hitch. “We were informed that the TPi Awards were coming to Battersea Evolution this year, where we are the in-house,” commented Ring. “We were very keen to get involved this year,

and Liz (Madden, Production Manager) at No Nonsense Group gave us the opportunity to pitch a design.” Lighting Designer, Jack Sayer first started working in the industry nine years ago at a small hire / production company, and came to Hawthorn through his knowledge of Avolites media servers, as he explained: “After building up my skills in lighting I decided to go freelance and further develop my passion in lighting design and programming. Within my time freelancing I decided to extend my

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: Sayer created a clean and stylish looking design, using fixtures that could create multiple looks throughout the event.

skillset into media servers, eventually buying my own Avolites Ai media server. This year has seen a change for me, as I am now full time at Hawthorn as Head of Lighting at our Cambridge office, dealing with lots of highly creative projects including driving our Ai Infinity EX-8 servers.” While Ring came up with the concept of a series of trusses pitched across the room to create chevron shapes; it fell to Sayer to utilise this dynamic dimension of the truss design to create a wide variety of positions with the lights. He continued: “I wanted to create a clean and stylish looking design using certain fixtures that could create multiple looks throughout the event. Tom and I agreed the overhead trusses should be purely made up of 46 Pointes as this would give me scope to drive these lights to their max. “I am a big fan of Robe fixtures, and I’ve used the Pointe since it came out as it’s a brilliant unit to use mainly down to its versatility and speed.” Also specified by Sayer were a wide selection of Robe fixtures including 38 BMFLs (22 in the main room, 12 in the reception, four in the atrium), 32 LED Beam 100’s (14 floor US and 18 on the front truss), 21 CYC FX8’s (LX2) and 70 Parfect 100’s (18 per truss in the reception, 16

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: Digital Insanity’s Richard Bagshaw, Luke, d3 Technologies Programmer; Tom Ring, PM and Jack Sayer, LD.

for specials - including the Robe bar and the DJ area). In addition, one MDG The One Hazer and 10 Martin by Harman Atomics were utilised. “This was the first time I’ve used the BMFLs and they certainly didn’t disappoint; great gobo selection, amazingly fast zoom and iris and extremely bright and fast for a unit of that size. “The LED Beam 100’s are also an amazing unit in my opinion, because they produce great colours and are very small, they can hide anywhere, and their speed is ridiculous! “Robe’s CYC FX8’s are a very unique product with full pixel control and their zoom and tilt ability meant that I was able to create a variety of different looks without too much fuss. The whole lighting show was orchestrated on an Avolites Tiger Touch II console, with an Avolites Pearl Expert Pro running as backup. Sayer continued: “I have always been an Avolites user - and owner of an Expert Pro. I love the flexibility and the speed with which I can create

different looks. My programming style takes inspiration from Rock ‘n’ Roll, where you don’t get huge amounts of programming time, so knowing the desk inside out is important. This skill was vital on this show, as everything had to be programmed in pre-production due to the short get in time on the event. “My personal programming style is very cue heavy with different cue-lists and linking cue-lists in order to be able to chop and change throughout the programming time and being able to edit the cues very quickly. “Obviously this was a very high-pressured event due to the audience attending, I took this into consideration and extended my allocated pre-production programming time,” continued Sayer. “The height of the venue always plays a factor but designing with this in mind and being able to see the design in our 3D visualisation suite was great. The main special consideration was time, the entire crew arrived at 6am in order to get

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: The TPi bar in the main reception area; The awards were kick started with a impressive lighting show designed by Sayer and Ring; The Hawthorn crew; The audience were encouraged to participate in the Philips Vari-Lite’s #CreateLight sculpture competition.

everything in and give me some programming time before rehearsals. As Hawthorn is the inhouse supplier for Battersea Evolution, this gave us a massive advantage when working here due to our in depth knowledge of the space and system.” Hawthorn’s in-house black Milos 300mm Light Duty Truss was employed for behind the stage and drape lines, with silver Prolyte x30v creating chevrons across the ceiling. All in all,

everyone involved in the event, and I would also like to thank Ashley Lewis, Mick Hannaford and Nathan Wan from Robe for all of their help throughout the lead up and on the day of the show.” Ring added: “It was Stressful knowing that the whole industry is looking at us in a room full of lighting designers - but really good to showcase what we are capable of. It was also really good to work with Jack (Sayer, LD) on

“Above all else, it’s a fun awards show to do because it’s for our peers. A PowerPoint presentation won’t cut it with this crowd!” Richard Shipman, Touring IT

350-metres of truss were hung from the ceiling. The silver truss was used to create an extra dimension to the roof in contrast to the black drapes - 150-metres of black wool serge drape also supplied by Hawthorn. The London-based company also supplied 20 eight by four LS-Live Litedecks, carpets and fascia, in addition to 50 motors and power distribution for the site. Concluded Sayer: “I would like to thank 48

his first large-scale event with Hawthorn since joining the company. I am very proud of the team that I had working with me to put on such an amazing show with very little time.” AUDIO Delivering audio to this year’s Awards was once again Cheshire-based VME, whose nine-strong crew implemented a Martin Audio

MLA Compact system to distribute PA sound flawlessly to all corners of the busy room. VME Project Manager, Ben Hyman was on hand to discuss the company’s role at the awards. “This was our third year working on the awards. Historically the Novotel posed a few issues for the sound, mainly with regards to the infamous ‘back room’, which everyone is aware of.. Being our third year working on the awards now, we’ve been able to hone in and improve the sound year on year. “This year, we’re using 12 MLA Compact modules in a left centre right configuration, and three hangs of MLA mini as delay hangs (4 cabinets per delay) to help distribution without having to overstep the venue’s tight SPL restrictions and eight MLX subs (four a side) to give a little helping hand to the low end needed for the music genre that the awards was focused around. Given the roof height and loading capacities, MLA Compact and Mini were the most ideal choices of speaker cabinet for the event. At FOH, VME supplied a Yamaha CL1 desk, which was manned by Audio Technician Mike Thorpe. Hyman explained: “The CL1 has a really small footprint. For a corporate event of this kind, the Yamaha console fits in perfectly.” Four Sennheiser SKM 5200-II handheld radio

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: Chris Pyne and Andy Davies, Martin Audio System Techs; VME; Jack Sayer, the event’s LD on an Avolites console; Mondiale Publishing Events Manager, Amy Wright with TPi Awards Production Manager, Liz Madden of NoNonsense Group.

microphones were used with EM3732-II, with QLab providing backup audio playback for the stings, as they were played by video from their servers. Continued Hyman: “Unfortunately we’re constrained with the venue a little, as with most venues, in terms of SPL. We’ve got to be careful as there’s a zoo nearby in Battersea Park. The Llamas apparently don’t like bass! We’ve been clever with the MLX subs running them cardiod,

believer in the show, and they have supported us each year. Everyone working on the show is doing so because they really want to be involved with the show. It would be much easier to be on the other side drinking and relaxing, but at the end of the day, it’s a privilege to be involved, and we’re not prepared to turn down the opportunity! According to Dion Davie, Director of VME, host Russell Kane reacted very positively to the

“You are always very aware of who is in the audience. There’s nothing like a bit of pressure to keep you on your toes!” - Liz Madden, NoNonsense Group

and ensuring leakage from the entire system is kept to a minimum. It’s only with a system such as MLA that allows us to control the sound in such a way, which is why we achieved higher than normal levels in the venue. “It’s got to be right. It’s not an easy corporate show. Everyone’s got a critical ear. It’s very nice to have Martin Audio here with us supporting the show. Martin Audio is a great 50

sound coverage, adding: “He was completely blown away with the sound, having performed in the venue previously, and told us he had never experienced anything this good - which was awesome. “Russell Kane covered a lot of ground across the stage with his Sennheiser handheld radio mic. But with so much rejection and loads of headroom in the system we were delighted

with the way the MLA system behaved.” Kane used a Sennheiser SKM 5200-II wireless microphone with an ME 5004 cardioid capsule, a combination designed for world class live events. He concluded: “In fact, all the feedback we had was positive, with guests saying it was the best sound ever.” Davie also praised the role of NoNonsense Group’s Liz Madden, commenting: “You couldn’t ask for a better Production Manager she was brilliant.” Reciprocating to this compliment, Madden added: “As always, the VME team were a pleasure to work with; they adapted well to the new space and delivered exceptional sound in the venue. Presenter Russell Kane had raised concerns about the sound at previous events at the venue but he was delighted with the superb quality on this occasion.” Madden continued: “Russell Kane was a true professional and working with him was a real pleasure. He totally understood what the event was all about and captured the audience’s attention from the moment he walked on stage and hosted the awards brilliantly. He did have reservations about the venue as when working their previously there were issues with the sound but he was thrilled with the results and

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: The many generous sponsors of this year’s TPi Awards; The audience excerised shameless social media vanity late into the night.

said it was one of the best events he had worked on.” Martin Audio’s Andy Davies provided technical support for the event, and was de facto System Engineer on the night, creating the optimisation of the system in the Display2.1 software. Working alongside Davies providing MLA support was Chris Pyne, former FOH Engineer to Kylie Monogue. TPi last met Pyne backstage on a swelteringly hot day in Hyde Park in the summer of 2014, when Pyne was assisting with the British Summertime festival. On a cold day in February, Pyne commented: “At this event, coverage is the most important thing to take into consideration. Particularly in this environment, speech intelligibility is of prime importance in an awards ceremony, and as such, becomes our priority. “The room itself is geared perfectly towards live sound. The room is walled by thick black draping, which helps to absorb a surprising amount of background

reverb and echo. It was an exceptionally dry room. In this environment, its good to be dead.” Continuing the trend of praising the venue, Pyne concluded: “The venue is much easier to deal with than the hotel, that’s for sure. Makes life much easier. The difference is that it is a venue above all else.” FURNITURE AND BRANDING The Battersea Evolution central bar area provided guests with the ideal post-dinner focal point for the late night antics that have come to define the TPi Awards and after show. As liberal measures were deluged into tumblers, poured by bearded barmen at the TPi central bar, on the outskirts, a smattering of coloured Chesterfield sofas were strategically placed for small clusters of networking guests. Rider Provider’s Georgia Juet commented: “This is our second year in partnership with the TPi Awards. Last year we provided classic furniture to fit with the film noir theme. This year we rolled out our

PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: The TPi Awards tabloid style newsletter; Kane called the awards one of the best awards events he had worked on; The TPi bar provided an area for guests to mingle; The space was later transformed into the after party space for awards.

coloured chesterfield sofas - Rider Provider has the largest stock of coloured Chesterfields in the UK!” “We’ve got orange, purple, pink, green, and red ones.” In addition to the foyer area, Rider Provider also kitted out Robe and XL Video VIP rooms. “It was a very straight forward event, the venue is nice and easy to get in and out of, so for us, this made matters much more straightforward!” Sunbaba were once again entrusted with branding. Madden commented: “Sunbaba made use of the space available in the foyer and around the great central bar to ensure all the supporters and sponsors of the event were given the recognition they deserve.” HEALTH & SAFETY Gallowglass Health & Safety provided consultation and advice to the TPI Awards, working closely with the venue team and coordinating with contractors to create an integrated event safety management plan. Principal Safety Consultant, Steve Kearney said: “We started pre-production for the Awards in late December 2014 after being contacted by Production Manager Liz Madden of the NoNosense Group.” “Reviewing suppliers’ documentation on behalf of the production company was 54

an integral part of creating the event safety management plan. Detailed site plans provided by the production company and the various suppliers enabled us to ensure that no part of the installation would compromise the safety of another or create any additional risk. “All the information provided by the NoNonsense Group, suppliers and venue were collated into the event safety plan. This was sent on to the venue for approval and passed on to all suppliers, so that everyone involved was aware of all the procedures and safety measures that had been put in place.

extra set of eyes (in this case, Madden’s) work was monitored and instruction was given to members of the production where necessary. “Obviously a large number of guests in an enclosed space poses certain risks and we constantly monitored access and egress for guests and staff. It was also important to ensure that the siting of tables provided sufficient access for waiting staff during service. “Given the high profile of the awards and involvement of the best companies in the industry, there’s no room for slip-ups of any kind. But as you’d expect, some of the best

“There’s always something to keep you on your troubleshooting toes, but we had a good team around us to ensure that everything was delivered according to plan.” - Ben Hyman, VME “An event of this size involves a lot of individual suppliers working in close proximity, increasing the potential for one contractor to unintentionally enter another’s work area and put them at risk,” Kearney said. It was therefore encouraged that all contractors should inform each other of works they’d be carrying out. Segregated work areas were necessary and with the assistance of an

suppliers were involved. From our point of view this was evidenced by the quality of the health and safety documentation they provided us with. This gives a very good inclination as to how to they will operate onsite.” Kearney concluded: “A structure that has been specifically designed as an event space will have built-in benefits from a health and safety perspective. The Battersea Evolution offers

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: TPi Awards

Below: The Robe sponsored LED bowtie; The team from Plaster & uTRAC; Chauvet Professional sponsored a camper van style photo booth which captured some candid moments during the after party fun; The furniture for this year’s award show was provided by London-based Rider Provider.

some fantastic facilities for production companies, including rest and welfare areas. The dedicated vehicle and pedestrian-only routes also provide good access and egress, which significantly reduces the risk of accidents.” TRUCKING KB Event supplied two trucks for the show. “We were delighted to support TPi for this years awards, it is a genuine pleasure to be involved,” said Managing Director, Stuart McPherson. “What can I say? The parking and loading situation was in a different league to last year. Access, load in and load out were a breeze. Battersea Evolution is by far our venue of choice for an event like the TPi Awards.” McPherson added: “Planning was excellent and suppliers and venue were all very accommodating so very straightforward and easy for us this year.” Madden concluded: “Getting used to a new venue was a good challenge and they understood the needs of the event and worked with us to make the event a success. We have had positive feedback and we have found a new home for the event. Having just 24 hours to make everything happen was a challenge but everything was planned in advance and we made use of every minute to ensure sufficient time was available for a rehearsal. KB Event left a trailer on site as large vehicle movement is restricted when guests are 56

on site. This meant that load out of kit in the main space could happen as the show was dismantled making the process much smoother.” Madden is passing her PM duties on for the 2016 events but said fondly: “I will miss working on the event but I am looking forward to simply attending it once again. It’s not easy staying sober at one of the industry’s best events!” As preparations for the next year’s TPi Awards get underway, TPi’s General Manager Justin Gawne concluded: “We are looking forward to creatively utilising this space to its maximum capacity over the coming years.” TPi Magazine & Awards would like to extend a huge thank you and congratulations to all of the winners, shortlisted nominees and all those who attended. Your support was incredible. TPi Photos: Tom Martin, Patrick McCumiskey www.tpiawards.com www.vme-uk.com www.hawthorns.uk.com www.euroscreens.co.uk www.riderprovider.info www.kbevent.com www.sunbaba.co.uk http://nononsensegroup.com www.digitalinsanity.co.uk www.salima-ltd.co.uk www.gallowgroup.com

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

THE 2015 BRIT AWARDS THE BRIT AWARDS 2015 IN ASSOCIATION WITH MASTERCARD WERE HELD FOR THE FIFTH YEAR RUNNING AT THE 02, LONDON. WITH A SET DESIGN BY ES DEVLIN BUILT BY STEEL MONKEY. A HOST OF OTHER TOP SUPPLIERS INCLUDING LIGHT INITIATIVE, BRITANNIA ROW, PRG, OUTBACK RIGGING, STAGECO AND STRICTLY FX ENABLED THIS CHALLENGING SHOW TO HAPPEN. PRESENTED BY TV FAVOURITES ANT & DEC, THE AWARDS FEATURED LIVE PERFORMANCES FROM NINE GLOBAL SUPERSTARS CULMINATING IN A GRAND FINALE FROM MADONNA, HER FIRST APPEARANCE AT THE BRIT AWARDS FOR 20 YEARS. SIMON DUFF REPORTS ON A NIGHT OF AMBITION AND COURAGE. The trophy for 2015 BRIT Awards was designed by British artist Tracey Emin who is famed for her innovative conceptual art. A bold and triumphant design, it set the tone for this year’s main event, which included a 36-metre wide video screen. A total of 14 large neon writing signs - inspired by Emin’s work - were brought into the room by Es Devlin’s bold design, hung over the stage and auditorium. They were operated by Outback Rigging on a Kinesys motion control system. From sound to set design, lighting, video and special effects the event reflected all those values. Production Manager Tony Wheeler, from Nine Yards Productions worked with Kate Wright 58

and Lisa Shenton of Papilo Productions, to manage the production of the event, contracted on behalf of the BPI. Other key suppliers included Steel Monkey, Eat Your Hearts Out, Show & Event Security, Showstars, Stage Miracles, Oglehog and Lovely Things. LED powerhouse, Light Initiative, worked in collaboration with scenery builders Steel Monkey and award winning Scenic Designer for the BRITs, Es Devlin to build the dramatic, large-scale illuminated hand-writing, which repeated the words that artist Tracy Emin had on her design for the official 2015 BRIT Awards statuette. The large scale hanging pieces, which

read: ‘congratulations on your talent, on your life - on everything you give to others - thank you’, were almost invisibly arrayed above the stage and audience. Bryn Williams, Managing Director for Light Initiative: “There were a number of practical issues we had to confront when delivering this project,” he explained. “Our biggest challenges were time constraints and the scale of the project itself. Nothing on the market could cope with the dynamics of following the sharp twists and turns of handwriting, to pull this project off we needed to create a new ultra flexible LED Neon Strip. Working closely with our suppliers and within the constraints of a tight schedule we were able to provide exactly the right product for the job.”

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

Opposite: Paloma Faith performs Only Love Can Hurt Like This. Below: Madonna, pre-stumble, singing Living for Love.

“All of these large scale projects rely upon everyone’s interaction and having a good team; PRG, Steel Monkey and Outback made the job go just how it should” Simon Cox, Light Initiative’s Technical Project Manager. STAGING Stageco’s Project Manager on site, Luc Dardenne worked under the auspices of BRIT Awards Productions, alongside Account Manager Dirk De Decker, and Crew Chief Stefaan Vandenbosch and regular crew partner Showstars, to provide the staging, as well as numerous platforms and risers for spotlights, cameras and show control. “Stageco effectively supplies the foundation of the show for others, like set company Steel Monkey, to build upon,” said Dardenne. “Our stage is 30-metres wide by 25-metres deep, but directly behind that is another stage area (18-metres by 20-metres) on which the performing artists’ changeovers and set pieces are prepared. At the rear of the O2 Arena, Stageco provided a two metre high platform to accommodate the lighting and sound control. Steel Monkey fabricated nearly a thousand lengths of steel and over 800 sheets of CNC prepared timber.”

SOUND WORLD With the sad passing of long term BRIT Awards Sound Designer, Derrick Zieba last year, the baton has now been passed to the highly capable and trusted hands of Colin Pink. Like Zieba, Pink’s background is rooted in theatre. In fact the first musical he mixed at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where Pink was trained, was a Derrick Zieba design for ‘On The Town’. On graduating from the Guildhall, Pink worked with Zieba on shows for Theatre Projects and in regional productions. He then worked at The National Theatre for 10 years, both as a Mixing engineer and Sound Designer. Pink commented: “What was fantastic about The National Theatre was that you started as a technician, then operated small shows then worked your way up to do the large scale productions. Trevor Nunn was one of the directors when I was there and I did a lot of work with him on large scale musicals.” Pink went freelance in 2005, and notable West End theatre successes include The History Boys and Derren Brown. Recent recent high profile event work includes heading up the live operating team for the London 2012 Olympics, The Great North West Run opening ceremony, 59

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

and mix duties on The Classic BRIT Awards, as well as Hans Zimmer’s 2014 Eventim Apollo show, the latter two both Britannia Row productions.“For big events such as The BRITs, a theatre background is necessary because you are effectively dealing with many different scenes,” Pink explained prior to the show. “Each band is a different scene. The art is to keep that flow seamless.” Pink was confirmed as Sound Designer for the show in October 2014. “The work flow from then is defined around set design for PA, and knowing what bands, what songs and what the line up is. That defines what is going to happen and that can change all the time. We do start with certain equipment that is going to be a given. In this case, for the FOH audience mix it is a DiGiCo SD7 console. All acts were happy to work with that. Although Royal Blood are using a Midas PRO6 from Britannia Row. The reason for that is that the band are currently on tour and using that desk, so it makes sense.” Pink explained what what he likes about the SD7: “The great thing about the console is flexibility. It has massive functionality, a great number of channels, ins and outs and a great interface. Nowadays, most engineers are already familiar with them or they are quite quick to learn. Josh Loyd, who is mixing the music acts at FOH, lays out each performance, starting with the first act, which is Taylor Swift in this case,

using about 30 channels. Josh will then lay up the next act at Channel 31 so that he never has to double up channels.” The split for this year’s 2015 audio feeds from stage was four way; one to FOH, one to broadcast then two for monitors. There were two SD7s working on monitors - managed by Pete McGlynn and Steve Donovan, who performed flip flopping duties - to ensure smooth change overs and final line check guarantee. One of Pink’s main challenges at The BRITs was to ensure dynamic auditorium PA coverage for the live show, without introducing too much colouration to the live broadcast sound. He explained the PA set up. “I am a big fan of L-Acoustics systems and have specified a K1 / K2 line array.” The main L-R hangs comprised L-Acoustics K1 and K2 elements, with K1 subs flown behind the K1 hangs. The L-R side hangs were also made up of K1 and K2 enclosures and Kara elements covered rear L-R. Ground subs were SB28s, ARCs were used for outer fills, as well as further KARA cabinets for front fill and more K2 boxes were utilised for delays. Pink is keen to stress that L-Acoustics K2 is an ideal tool for addressing large arena spaces like the O2 and Britannia Row, which now have over 100 K2 boxes in their inventory. “K2 offers the K1 industry benchmark performance in a rescaled package, making it one of the most

versatile systems on the market.” Beside its sheer power, K2’s inter element angles can be set from 0.25°, ideal for the long throw high balcony coverage required at the O2, up to 10° for excellent coverage in the near field. The K2 also features the Panflex technology, a unique solution for adjusting the horizontal coverage pattern to any audience or room geometry. “Combining this with the K1 allows you to hit every one of the 17,000 people in the O2 with the same sound quality, minimal interference, and with fewer boxes,” Pink continued. All amplification came from L-Acoustics LA8’s with Lake LM 26 processors. A Dante returns system was employed throughout, with two separate fibre returns for stage end and delays. Britannia Row’s Audio Crew Chief was Dee Miller, while Stefan Krista, a veteran of many major events, ran the stage with Paul Gardener and Luke Chadwick. Sergiy Zytnikov was the Chief System Tech, ably assisted by Richard Trow. Another long-term Britannia Row and BRIT Engineer Chris Coxhead handled presentation, VT and playback mix duties, using a Midas PRO2, whilst Josh Lloyd managed the band consoles. Outboard audio comprised a standard package of valve compressors and Bricasti reverbs supplied as standard, plus extras added

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

Below: Ed Sheeran strips back his sound with an acoustic rendition of Bloodstream.

at the request of specific artists such as a FOH Waves SoundGrid server package. “Preparation, preparation and more preparation is the key to all of the audio,” emphasised Pink. All presenters’ microphones including hosts Ant & Dec were from the Sennheiser Digital 9000 Series. Taylor Swift used a 9000 Series with SK 9000 bodypack and Ed Sheeran utilising a SKM 2000 with e9235. While Sam Smith performed with a SKM 2000 and e965, Kanye West used a SKM 5200 with e5235, Madonna took the stage with a SKM 5200 with MD 5005, and Take That made use of the SKM 5200 with e5235. Sam Smith, Madonna and Take That all used 2000 Sennheiser IEMs and in-house IEMs from Sennheiser. Britannia Row has successfully worked with Sennheiser as the RF partner on The BRITs for over a decade. “Their logistical and engineering help has been invaluable,” Pink said. “There are now so many hand helds, instrument packs and IEMs that supplying all of the show’s needs would be impossible without Sennheiser’s assistance. Unlike other award shows I always try to give the

artists their own RF mic preference, be it Sennheiser, Shure, Audio Technica or another and to let artists bring in their own RF if they wish. This gives even more of a headache to my excellent RF Supervisor, Sapna Patel, who has to coordinate frequencies and licensing between Britannia Row kit, Sennheiser kit, the band’s own kit, instrument kit from UK backline companies and RF products brought in from the US. This is where Sennheiser’s assistance comes into its own from Andrew Lillywhite and Mark Saunders. We often end up with a spreadsheet showing over 150 coordinated pieces of RF kit just for the live performance part of The BRITs, excluding any TV or comms use. The challenge of achieving that on a live-to-air show without a whisper of interference is huge, and I take my hat off to Sapna and to Mark and Andrew who make that happen every year.” LIGHTING After a break last year to work on the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Emmynominated, Al Gurdon resumed his long-time role as Lighting Director, in

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

Below: Taylor Swift performed Blank Space.

partnership with lighting provider, PRG. Gurdon once again worked with PRG Project Manager Rich Gorrod, another BRIT Awards veteran. Gurdon’s design for The BRIT Awards was the first use of the new PRG Best Boy HP Spot, the brighter version of the PRG Best Boy Spot luminaire. He had six of the HP versions and 30 regular Best Boy Spots. With a 1,500W lamp, the Best Boy HP Spot produces an outstanding 35,000 lumen output. “As a part of the design, we used the Best Boy HP Spot, the new brighter 1,500W spot, which has a very intense brightness and is ideal for keying,” said Gorrod. “It has a good, flat field and the CTO is excellent for colour correction. I also really like the high power shutter. There’s nothing else on the market right now that compares.” Gorrod explained that PRG’s proprietary Bad Boy Spot was Gurdon’s workhorse fixture on the show with 24 of them deployed in the rig. “Also, five Bad Boys were used as back truss spots; that’s been happening quite frequently

because they’re small, bright, and compact,” he said. “They make great followspots when paired with the Bad Boy followspot controller with its handy zoom, iris, and intensity controls. Everything can be also be controlled from the console, but the followspot operator also retains control so it’s a win/win situation.” For general followspots, PRG fielded four long-throw Lycian M2s and a 4kW Robert Juliat Lancelot. The High End Systems Hog 4 consoles connected to four DP8000 processors to send Art-Net to the PRG Series 400 data distribution system. “I can’t rate the Series 400 system highly enough,” raved Gorrod. “On this show, we only used the PRG Super Node’s Art-Net processor on the fibre network and it’s rock solid. We use it all the time for this kind of production and we were up to 60 universes for The BRITs. We provided power and data transmission for Tracey Emin’s LED neon signage, which was manufactured by Light Initiative after I recommended them to production. A couple of my regular 63

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

Below: PRG Project Manager Rich Gorrod; Stageco Project Manager, Luc Dardenne and Crew Chief Stefaan Vandenbosch; Showstar’s Paul Calverley.

crew worked on the installation.” PRG also handled all the control for all the lighting motors on its Kinesys motor control system, which Gorrod described as: “A truly fantastic product - load lights per motor and when running a group of motors and one motor stops, they all stop. It’s a must on a 110 motor system. Everything comes back to two dimmer areas so that if we need to move something during rehearsals, it’s not a question of finding a motor controller and plugging it up. All the

motor cables run back with the lighting cables, so everything is live and ready to go.” The PRG crew included Gordon Torrington, Luke Jackson, Alex Peters, Peter MacDonald, John Hetherton, Simon Lynch and Gareth Morgan, Artist Extras Techs Simon Anderson, Chris Henry and Peter MacDonald, and Hog 4 console operators, Theo Cox and Russ Williams. Meanwhile, three students from The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology assisted with preparations for the show - an

annual arrangement whereby individuals are selected via an interview process. Along with a significant quantity of truss, the remainder of PRG’s equipment included 66 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Washes, 48 Clay Paky Mythos hybrid beam / spots, 169 Clay Paky Sharpy moving beam lights, 42 Solaris LED Flare Jr. strobes, 12 GLP impression X4 and 52 impression 120 RZ automated LED units, 34 Clay Paky A.leda B-Eye K10 LED washes and 50 Philips Color Kinetics iColor Cove LED fixtures.

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

SPECIAL EFFECTS One of the most unique performances on the night came from British newcomers Royal Blood. Their performance was handled by their Creative Director, Paul Normandale of Lite Alternative Design. He commented: “I liked the idea of an intimate close performance space, to highlight the relationship of the two players in a restrained space.” To help define that limited space, Normandale turned to his long time effects providers, Strictly FX of Chicago, USA and their new laser, Vortex. “The Vortex can make a perfect cone; you can’t do that with any other laser system, and you can’t really do that with a light either,” noted Laser Programmer, David Kennedy of Strictly FX. That cone provided the restrained space that Normandale envisioned for Royal Blood. “The Vortex is a truly unique effect, which is indeed a rare thing,” Normandale added. For Take That’s stage set Quantum Special Effects designed and supplied a large spherical structure, mounted with lights and 50 longarmed flaming mini cauldron’s hung in front of the graphics on the backing screen. Each bowl was timed to ignite from the first chorus and simultaneously with the graphics behind, to represent the burning sun. Towards the end of the song, two confetti blowers released a

steady stream of white confetti over the stage and crowd. Aquabatics created The Cloudburst over and around Paloma Faith. It involved several weeks of trials, tweaks and dry runs before a full rehearsal with Paloma in preparation for the live filming on the night. They provided a rain effect over a 12-metre by two-metre area of the stage, which fell from a height of 10-metres onto the dancers. A four-metre square rain curtain (essentially a sheet of water) then surrounded the singer half way through the track, followed by a further rain effect directly above her towards the end of the song. The installation included 0.5 km of hose with 6,000 litres of water as well as a water heater to ensure the water was warm during the act. VIDEO Oglehog were the video producers tasked with overseeing the biggest and most ambitious BRITs to date. On the main stage the video screen was 36-metres wide at the top by 13.2-metres high created from 968 panels of Pixled F12 LED screen supplied by XL Video. The catwalk was created from 360 panels of LEDGO 15mm floor supplied by LedGo. Side of stage relay screens were 26ft Projection IMAG screens with Panasonic 20K projectors plus four

16ft relay screens with twin 12K projectors on each. Oglehog had a control room in the O2 service yard next to the CTV OB trucks that contained six SNP V5 Catalyst servers, supplied by SNP, which were controlled by Hog 4 desk, also supplied by SNP. Nick Malbon programmed and operated the Hog 4 and SNP Catalyst servers, ably assisted by Richard Porter. Also in the control room were two of Oglehog’s own cameras plus six feeds from the broadcast facilities, all cameras and VT were mixed via a combination of Grass Valley Kayak vision mixer and Barco’s new Encore 2 system. Individual artist requirements included a request from Ed Sheeran who used a custom designed screen comprising of 128 panels of Pixled F7 screen, forming the floor and a ceiling. Sam Smith’s set deployed four Barco 40K projectors to cover the orchestra risers and for Royal Blood four Bradley Engineering Robo Cams were used. Chris Saunders, Director of Oglehog commented: “Whilst I have been involved in the BRITs for many years, the main difference this year was The BRITs organisers came to Oglehog to put the show out to tender. This years show was video heavy and we took what was an evolving design to a number of vendors to look at what they had to offer. The market now has a bewildering array of LED screens if

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

you don’t know what your looking at! We bring a pragmatic approach to specifying products helping us come up with the best solution, on budget. We were very pleased when XL Video came through with a good product with the F12, I was very keen to get the panels installed into the MC touring frame, which in my mind is a market leader. XL Video’s, Paul Wood was our Project Manager and as always he was brilliant.” RIGGING Outback Rigging, celebrating its 20th year in business and 13th BRIT Awards, was responsible for all rigging, audiovisual and mother trusses. It also supplied all of the hoists for the event including Kinesys motion control automation. Set up over four main mother grids, one over the main stage and three over the auditorium, a total of 120 tonnes of equipment hung from The O2 roof, which included a huge amount of moving elements over both the main stage and auditorium. Conrad Ryan, now Technical Director at Outback Rigging after joining as an apprentice in 1999 is now on his tenth BRITs. Speaking before the show he explained the changes he has seen on in that time: “The BRITs were at Earls Court when I started. It has always been a hugely demanding show with an overall set design and then within that artist elements. When we started we were using Ibex systems

for motion control. Within the last 10 years the use of Kinesys motion control has really come in. Now it is a huge part of the show. For this year we have we have six significant artists sets that we fly in and out, hung at 20-metres above the stage and then a major element over the auditorium.” For Outback Rigging work on this year’s show began in earnest early January. “It is a steady flow from there,” commented Ryan. “We got the primary stage design from Es Devlin and

the wire. We work closely with the entire BRITs production team and especially on the technical elements with Technical Production Manager, Tony Wheeler, Malcolm Birkett, CAD Stage Technical Sesign and Steel Monkey, who have been doing the fabrication of the set elements for many years. So between the three of us we look at and work on all the designs, making things fit as they come in. Obviously then it’s a question of my team trying to work out the rigging and a weight picture.”

“The BRITs were at Earls Court when I started. It has always been a hugely demanding show with an overall set design and then within that artist elements...”- Conrad Ryan, Technical Director, Outback Rigging

from there we were able to begin our design for the mother grid over the main stage. That was our starting point. There are certain things that are a known value from the start such as the PA and video screen size and weight. Because of the nature of music awards shows artists can hold back on their requirements. It makes for an exciting show, but at times it really does go to

In total over the four mother grids some 420 hoists were hung, including 83 Kinesys motion control systems. A total of 1.5km of truss was installed, 3km of cabling running across the system, as well as a spider cam broadcast system that Outback Rigging assisted with and installed. A key design feature for this years show was the use of 14 flown neon Tracey Emin

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

Below: BRIT Awards rehearsals; Kanye West performed his new track All Day; Tracey Emin’s neon writing was a BRIT Awards commission; The art was manufactured by Light Initiative and read ‘congratulations on your talent, on your life - on everything you give to others - thank you’.

writing signs, used at points over the dinner guests and main stage, and flown in and out for presentations, all running on a Kinesys system. Ryan explained other key elements: “Then we had all of the moving band elements, a large flying grid with a water management system on it for Paloma Faith. For the water system, designed by Aquabatics we had to manage that over the large fixed stage video screen, allow it to travel in and out above the stage into a show position and out to a hidden position. We had some large six metre high set letters for George Ezra which fly in and land on the stage, all on Kinesys hoists. The majority of the hoists we used were liftket hoists that have been converted to work with Kinesys systems Elevation One Plus Control and Vector software. We stored a six metre diameter riser for Madonna that flew in and out. Ed Sheeran had a 10-metre by two metre video ceiling panel that was wheeled out then flown into position. We also have a Vortex laser that we lowered in at show height for Royal Blood. And there were a pair of Barco 40K projectors that were lowered in over the audience for the Sam Smith number.” On site Outback Rigging ran two separate Kinesys motion control systems operated by Steve Bellfield and Darragh McAuliffe with a team of eight spotters out on the floor, who had an eye line on all the elements making sure that if there was any emergency the system could be stopped. Ryan commented that it’s a 70

real Outback team effort with Charlie Longcroft, Operations Team Manager, as his right hand man on the technical side and Stuart Cooper running budgets. And how does Ryan keep so calm under all this pressure? “Simple. I drink loads of Chamomile tea,” he laughed. “But seriously, we have hugely trusting relationship with The BRITs production team. They trust us and we trust them.” CREWING AND SAFETY Alongside Stage Manager Mike Grove of Stage Miracles provided an ASM and 15 highly trained crew for the production load in, rehearsals and show-calls. These were joined by a further eight crew members for show-calls on show day and another 14 crew dedicated to individual bands and all were overseen by Crew Boss, Frank Moran. As the dust settled and the VIPs headed into the after-party, local crew company Showstars prepared for a major overnight challenge. The East London firm’s work on the event began as the O2’s loading doors opened at the start of the hectic 10-day schedule that has become a way of life for Showstars’ Logistics and Personnel Manager, Paul Calverley and his colleagues. “This was my 15th BRIT Awards,” said Calverley. “Although Showstars has been involved with The BRITs in one way or another since 1993, when it was at Alexandra Palace.

And since Stageco took over the staging in 1997, we have supplied all steel and production crew. Our peak of activity was from 10.30pm at the end of the show, Wednesday night. On Thursday when we had 152 crew members, split into 72 for the night shift and 80 during the day, to work on the breakdown and load-out.” Showstars enlisted several Departmental Crew Chiefs to take responsibility for specific areas. For example, Peter ‘Mavis’ Ridley headed the spot operator team, consisting of nine front of house ops and seven truss spot ops. “Lighting Designer, Al Gurdon likes to use us and as he returned to his role this year after a break, we expected an increase in our spot call this time,” said Calverley. “We book the crew, get them all together and show ‘Mavis’ all the spot positions, and then he takes them all away to get everything worked out. It’s the same with the PA and lighting. PRG’s Richie Gorrod will tell us what he needs from us, we will allocate numbers accordingly and Tony Say or Richard Sullivan will head those teams. There’s always a leader of every split-off group while Stuart Milne and I are present to oversee the entire project and maintain a management presence.” Finally keeping the event safe and secure were The SES Group who have been involved with The BRITs for 15 years, managing security, crowd safety, international media and of course the all-important red carpet. Planning for SES starts weeks in advance and like so many other

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The BRIT Awards

Below: Sam Smith sang Lay Me Down; Showstar’s crew during the build.

events at The O2 when The BRITs come to the arena, they need huge flexibility, with the building configuration being adjusted from the standard O2 show format. SES has worked on hundreds of shows and events at The O2, having been contracted to the venue for the past five years. In conclusion Kate Wright of Papilo Productions said: “I thought this year’s event was a tremendous team effort with all suppliers

going beyond the call of duty to deliver a truly spectacular show. The event was not without its technical challenges but everyone embraced them and came up with some fantastic solutions.” TPi Photos: JM Enternational www.brits.co.uk, www.papilo.net www.aquabatics.co.uk www.britanniarow.com www.lite-alternative.com

www.nine-yards.co.uk www.lightinitiative.co.uk, www.oglehog.com www.outbackrigging.com www.prg.com, www.Q-sfx.com www.showandevent.com www.showstars.co.uk www.snp-productions.co.uk www.stageco.com, www.stagemiracles.com www.steelmonkey.co.uk, www.strictlyfx.com www.xlvideo.com

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: YM@6 & ATL

YOU ME AT SIX & ALL TIME LOW FEBRUARY 2015 SAW US PUNKSTERS, ALL TIME LOW, AND BRIT ROCKERS, YOU ME AT SIX JOIN MUSICAL FORCES TO SUCCESSFULLY STORM AND CONQUER FIVE UK ARENAS. FOR THE SCREAMINGLY LOUD, BRALOBBING FANS IT WAS A DOUBLE WHAMMY - TWO VERY DIFFERENT SETS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE - AND FOR THE CREATIVES AND CREW THAT PUT IT ON THE ROAD, IT WAS A DIPLOMATIC COOP THAT DELIVERED A INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS THAT ROYALLY PAID OFF . . . SARAH RUSHTON-READ GOT INTO THE MIX. You Me at Six - also known as YM@6 - and All Time Low - ATL - presented a formidable double act with bearded rockers, YM@6, providing a serious foil to the off the wall Baltimore four piece ATL. Between them they blasted into the mainstream, touring UK arenas and packing them to the rafters with a seething frenzy of extremely vocal teenage girls. YM@6 Tour Manager Tom Begley has been friends with members of the band since they were 15, however he only started working with them last year: “I previously toured with YM@6, working for the band supporting them. Although I’ve tour managed support bands for arena tours before, this is my first headliner, so we’re all experiencing something new together. In the process I’ve discovered that when you’re the guy responsible for the band that closes the show there’s a whole heap of new things to deal with. However, co-headlining doesn’t cut the work down as each band still 72

has its own production crew: lighting, sound, production management etc. Thankfully we do share catering, buses, trucking and equipment suppliers.” Of course, as anyone who has toured with co-headliners may know, this kind of ‘sharing’ can sometimes mean sharing the limelight and that is where things can get a bit tricky. “Most production managers have their own list of preferred vendors and most engineers and lighting designers have their preferred tools of delivery, they tend not to be too flexible on those!” Begley’s counterpart for ATL, Tour Manager Brian Southall, knows this from personal experience: “I’ve been on co-headline tours where the atmosphere between the two band’s production teams has been far from harmonious, on occasion quite explosive! Thankfully it is not the case here. I’ve known this band for a few years now but like Tom it’s the first time we’ve worked together. This is

ATL’s first arena tour and they’ve been fantastic. They’re certainly a fun band to hang out with.” The five date sell-out tour kicked off on the 9 February in Cardiff and continued on to Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and London’s O2. “So far the worst thing about this tour is the lack of sleep,” laughed Southall. “We load in at 7am and we’re not getting to bed until 2-3am. However I have to take my hat off to the YM@6 team and Dan Nickleski our Production Manager, because they’ve all worked really hard to make this work.” Production Manager for YM@6 is Rob Highcoft: “As Brian (Southall) just said I’m one of two Production Managers on this tour, however we both have dual roles - Dan is also ATL’s Monitor Engineer, and I am YM@6s Stage Manager!” With two creative forces, both wanting their own way in terms of suppliers and kit, Highcroft and Nickleski decided the only fair

PRODUCTION PROFILE: YM@6 & ATL

Opposite: ATL co-headlined their latest arena tour with British pop-rockers YM@6. Below: SSE System Tech Perttu Korteniemi with FOH Engineer Adam Boole; ATL Production Manager and Monitor Engineer Dan Nickleski.

approach was to lay their cards on the table and play it out. “We each stated which suppliers we wanted and of course the result was two opposing lists! In the end we struck a happy compromise and everyone got something they wanted.” A CO-PRODUCTION The outcome was that SSE provided the audio and Leeds-based ZigZag provided the lighting.

“SSE are fantastic, the company’s kit is always in tip top condition, plus we get great technical back up,” said Highcroft. “ZigZag was ATL’s choice and although a small company, had all the kit we wanted. Screens were provided by Chaos (now PRG) and Richard Shipman, Andy Tonks and the Chaos team did a phenomenal job. Pyrotechnics is supplied by Pyro Junkies. LSLive built the set and the rigging came through SSE / WigWam. MM Band Services are doing the

buses and trucking is TransAm. Catering is via touring specialists Sugar & Spice.” Although Highcroft has been with You Me at Six for eight years he says he never gets bored. “I still find it really exciting to be able to watch a band on the rise and remember the long days and nights we spent in a clapped out Sprinter van driving from club to club. It amazes me that we’re now playing packed out arenas. I’m just grateful for the incredibly supportive vendor

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: YM@6 & ATL

Below: LD Jeff Maker animated ATL’s logo in a number of different ways to provide the visual content for the band’s set.

team and the hardworking crew, who believe that nothing is too much trouble and have cooperated so well to pull this tour together every day.” In the ATL camp, Begley’s foil in production is Production Manager and Monitor Engineer Dan Nickleski: “I have been working with ATL for the past five years now. Typically they have been selling out two nights, back to back at Brixton Academy, so an arena tour was the obvious next step. This shift in scale is made much easier by co-headlining with You me at Six. The fan base is similar yet there’s enough differential between the demographic to make it work.” PYROTECHNICS Special effects experts Pyrojunkies developed a package for this co-headline tour worthy of an arena double bill. Said Pyrojunkies Project Manager, Dan Mott: “We supplied all of the pyrotechnics and special effects for both bands, which was a great experience. Our pyrotechnic effects included over 48 Waterfall Units, 120 eight-metre Stage Mines, 70 eight-metre Stage Comets, 24 4.5-metre Duration Gerbs and 50 1/4 by six-metre Jets.” The result was a visual extravaganza which kept fans gasping during the bands’ much anticipated performances. Other effects included four of Pyrojunkies own XL Superblaster Confetti Blowers, six of its Stadium Shot Confetti Cannons and one Co2 T Shirt Guns which fired merchandise into the audience. Continued Mott: “I’d like to say 74

thanks to Louis Oliver for YM@6 and Daniel Nickleski for ATL for their creative input. It was a brilliant tour to work on.” LIGHTING First to hit the stage with its off the wall offering was the hilariously ironic and fast paced, pop punks ATL. The band’s Lighting Designer, Jeff Maker created a lively and colourful precision design that’s sharply on-beat, warm and delightfully punchy: “I try to throw the beams as far as I can to make the stage and the band look as big as possible.” By contrast Louis Oliver of Okulus has delivered a design that is atmospherically moody and understated. Lots of low heavy back and cross light, precision cuing and constantly moving lighting angles keeps the momentum of the show shifting with the music. A mix of strong beams and sharply focused gobos blast into the haze filled room, complemented by some remarkably acid colours from the Philips Showline Nitro 510 Cs. For many of the songs Oliver chose to go with a relatively low trim but occasionally counters that with angular truss movements, which take the look from theatreintimate to arena-epic in an instant. “As mentioned before by my colleagues, coheadlining can be awkward; there can be forced compromises on both sides,” said Oliver. “That said I think we’ve been lucky,” continued Maker. “Louis and I have found a nice middle ground on most things. For me there were particular fixtures I wanted to use, primarily Robe BMFLs and Pointes, and I also have a preferred lighting

vendor - ZigZag.” Equally Oliver was keen to retain his own truss design and his own lighting fixtures: “I added a couple of elements,” said Maker, “but I loved Louis’s truss design anyway.” Although both share elements of each other’s rig, visually the two shows are poles apart. “Basically if something’s rigged we share it!” Maker continued. “I have my own separate floor package and Louis has his. On ATL we have a lot of risers and ramps - it’s like a playground for the band! We both use pyro but Louis’s is downstage and ours is rigged overhead with more off-stage left and right.” Maker keeps his trim height high and open: “This is for two reasons: firstly our risers are about 4ft high and the rear video screen hoverers above it. I don’t want to block the view by having the truss too low. Also it allows me to silhouette the guys with the video content when they’re running up on the catwalk - I really like how that looks.” “The composition of the lighting rig is eclectic; Oliver admitted. “I was keen to use the Clay Paky Mythos on this tour. The overall design is based on the first tour we did for the ‘Cavalier Youth’ album campaign, but we’ve expanded it. Where we were using Pointes and Sharpy Washes, we’re now using BMFLs, Clay Paky’s Mythos and Philips Showline Nitro 510C strobes.” Oliver has also expanded the onstage video wall: “When we made our fixture choice we wanted luminaires that would complement the content but at the same time cut through it. For

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: YM@6 & ATL

Below: Okulus Lighting Designer Louis Oliver delivered a moody and understated design for the YM@6 show.

me the Mythos exceeded all expectations; it’s multi-functionality and crisp clear gobos made it ideal for our relatively modest rig. At some points I use it as a beam unit and at other times a crisp clear spot. It has fantastic colour mixing and output and for its size it’s packed with some really helpful features.” Maker chose the BMFLs and uses them to great effect, delivering a myriad of big, bold beamy looks that blast around the arena. “Yes I love the BMFLs!” said Jeff, “Great colour-mixing, great gobos … and great zoom!” In addition Maker dotted 24 Pointes around the various multi-level risers and runways, while LEDBeam 100s were positioned underneath the stretched gauzefronted band risers, to deliver multiple layers of light and colour. To top it off Maker used Robe CycFX 8s to outline the runways and riser podiums to give a sense of perspective and form. VIDEO For YM@6 video content is a lively mixture of live camera and pre-recorded commissioned by Oliver’s company Okulus and designed by Pablo Beckett of Bryte Design. The content is managed by a Green Hippo Hippotizer V3

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: YM@6 & ATL

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HD, plus there’s also a camera feed for the IMAG side screens. “I have to say a big thank-you to Pablo,” Oliver stressed. “The band wanted the visuals to govern the atmosphere and flow of the show. That was then translated into a mood board, which I sent off to Pablo and he came back with some stunning content. To create harmony across the video backdrop, we used the same style effects across the pre-recorded content and the camera feeds. It gives a more cohesive feel to the show.” Each designer then had his own floor package. “I’ve kept mine pretty simple; I’ve got a bunch of Clay Paky Mythos, Showline Nitro 510Cs and Robe 600’s positioned upstage to back wash the screen during the show.” Although deceptively modest in size the show is busy and varied. Oliver uses an MA Lighting grandMA2 console and says every cue is pre-programmed and then triggered by time code. “I can adjust the intensity of the main video screen and I tend to trigger the strobe hits live,” he concluded. Maker’s console of choice is the Avolites Sapphire Touch - one for the show and one backup: “I’ve been using Avolites on every tour

for the past eight years. With the new Titan 9 software it’s clear that Avo is making all the right adjustments to the system. Right now this one is working really smoothly.” Maker pre-programs cue stacks for specific songs, but he also works the show live: “I like to feel connected, I’m out there to have fun. I treat the show like it’s a level on a video game. I feel that if I really nail it I will get to the next level! The show is constantly changing and thankfully the band really trusts me with what I think looks good.” When it came to video content Maker approached the band with his initial ideas and between them they hired Videographer Brendan Walter. “Brendan did a great job with our content, it’s very different from YM@6, comprising a lot of vintage movies and the intro they put together is awesome. The band isn’t too keen on the live camera stuff so I use it sparingly on four songs. They do however love their logo so we animated them in a number of ways, particularly at the finale, where the band want to go out with a visual bang.” Chaos Visual Productions (now part of PRG Nocturne) supplied the video package. In charge

PRODUCTION PROFILE: YM@6 & ATL

Below: YM@6 Tour Manager Tom Begley; FOH Engineer Adam Boole used a Soundcraft Vi6 console on the tour; ATL’s Lighting Designer, Jeff Maker created a lively and colourful design for the show; The Chaos Visual Productions team (now part of PRG Nocturne).

was Video Director Richie Shipman and Crew Chief Andy Tonks. “We supplied a 30 by eight Winvision 18mm video screen. Because this is a double headline we have two different lighting consoles interfacing with the Hippotizer. That did present its own challenges but it’s all working well now,” said Shipman. “We have five cameras,” continued Tonks. “Two (what cameras) in the pit, one (what kind) FOH and two fixed Bradleys.” The show is busy, lots of cutting between content and cameras. Shipman uses a Black Magic console. “The double headline means we’re doing two full shows a night so it can be a bit wearing,” he explained. “It’s a great bunch of people, enthusiastic, proper rock and roll.” AUDIO Back to FOH and Engineer Adam Boole who has been with YM@6 since 2007: “Back then we were touring pubs. Today my console of choice is the Soundcraft Vi6. I like to keep things simple; this is a straightforward rock and roll show for me. I’m not using any plug-ins or an external analogue kit. I’ve got a DS and compressor and that’s pretty much it. What you hear is basically just the band.” Boole has chosen to carry an L Acoustics K1 and K2 system. “I have K1 for the main hangs and K2 for side hangs with 24 SB 28s to deliver the extreme level of bottom end we need. Mics 80

are a mix of Shure and Audio Technica, which never fail. I’ve still got my original AT mics from when I first started touring. Beside the fact that they’re a bit scruffy they work a treat. For vocals I’m using Shure SM 58 and then Audio Technica AE2500s mics on guitar and AE3000s on overheads. Ball works closely with System Tech Perttu Korteniemi from SSE. “He was with me on the last four UK tours and he’s great. He knows how I mix and he knows exactly how I want things to sound. I don’t touch my graphic at all - he’s one of the best system techs out there.” At the stage end of the snake is Monitor Engineer Peter Fergie: “I started with the band last summer, filling in for their previous engineer on some of their festival season. That led to the US tour at the end of last year and then onto this tour.” There’s quite a range of mix preferences from the five band members. “The band is easy to work with, they’re very clear when it comes to what they want. They play to a click track so that obviously features in most of the mixes. This is balanced out with their own preferences generally with themselves on top. Josh (lead singer) likes to hear of the crowd, he’s very interactive.” This is the first arena tour for Fergie: “It’s been quite an experience. Its nice having a stage that’s big enough to handle what we want to

do. It’s a quiet stage in the sense that they are all on in-ears, however the amps and the drums are still quite loud.” Fergie’s control console of choice is Allen & Heath’s iLive series - a tiny rack mountable surface, which has been round the world with him: “It’s fantastic and really handy for some of the smaller shows. Allen & Heath has helpfully hooked us up with the T112 for this arena tour. It gives me a bigger surface but I can still use the same mix rack and gear. Basically it’s given me a few more faders to play with.” For in ears (IEMs) the band and crew are using JH audio J16’s with Shure PSM 900’s. “I’m doing about ten mixes including techs. There’s a real range of dynamics in this set, it’s longer and there’s a few quieter songs so there’s quite a lot going on.” Production Manager and Monitor Engineer for ATL Dan Nickleski takes care of four band members and one hired AUX guitar player and two crew guys - eight IEM mixes, plus he’s using the side fills. “Each person has very different requirements,” he explained. “Some people never ask for any changes, whereas others I’m literally riding the mix all night. Each person is heavy on what they’re doing but the guitar player loves to have the crowd at the top of his mix!” Everyone in the band and backstage is on Sensaphonics 2MAX Earphones. “They’re highly

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: YM@6 & ATL

Below: ATL frontman Alex Gaskarth; Pyrotechnics for the show were supplied by Kent-based special effects company Pyrojunkies.

sensitive, which gives me more output at lower volume settings. They’re also made by Chicago people, that’s where I’m from, so there’s another good reason to use them. “I’m using a Midas PRO 2 C. I use every input and output and all the pop groups and VCAs. We’re feeding video cues, we also have a feed going to FOH to a talk speaker for Jeff (Maker), which gives him a countdown to the intro to ensure we’re all synced.” Phil Gornell is in charge of FOH audio for ATL. “I first met the band in 2007, however for the past seven years I’d been working with other artists. It was time for something new so I gave the ATL guys a call and said: ‘Hi I’m available’ and they took me on.” Also electing to use the Midas PRO2, Gornell said: “Dan loves the PRO 2 C but I need the extra faders the PRO2 offers. The Pro series, no matter how sonically impressive it is, does have its limitations. The limited DSP meant that had to use Waves Multirack via a Klark Technic network bridge. As a Waves Live artist, it’s great

to have tools like the C6, and RVerb, which I’m used to using in the studio, accessible to me in a live environment. I’m also recording 44 channels a night: plus I have the Waves MaxxBCL on my left / right mix bus. In terms of the sound, I strive to get a CD quality-mix, something the fans are used to and can relate to. A lot of clarity and balanced frequency response, which can sometimes affect the overall volume achievable. You can’t just go rock and roll on it and turn the subs and guitars up. That’s why I like the Waves MaxxBCL; with the L2 at the end I can limit my transient information, and this in-turn will lift the level of the guitars and other onstage instruments for a constant level and dynamic. It’s that “limited” effect which the public are used to hearing from modern records, so it’s a no brainer for me to strive to achieve it live. So who chose the PA? “To be honest we get a bit spoilt at this point. It went a bit like this: ‘Which PA do you want?’ ‘I don’t know, lots of K1?’ ‘Yes!’ - job done!” he added.

Clearly then, where so many co headliners have tripped, the YM@6 / ATL partnership have marched to success on every level. Creatively and technically each show was unique; the audience screamed equally as loud for both bands and no one fell out - what more could a co-headlining tour ask for? TPi

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

NO SOUND WITHOUT SILENCE COMPLETING THEIR THIRD UK ARENA TOUR WITH A PAIR OF ELECTRIFYING, SOLD-OUT SHOWS AT THE O2 LONDON, IRISH BAND THE SCRIPT SOLIDIFIED THEIR POSITION AS THE PERFECT POP-ROCK OUTFIT. FRONTED BY DANNY O’DONOGHUE, A FORMER JUDGE ON TV’S THE VOICE UK, THE TRIO PERFORMED A UNSTOPPABLE BLEND OF HITS, WITH ANTHEMS FROM PULLED FROM THEIR LATEST FULL-LENGTH RELEASE NO SOUND WITHOUT SILENCE. TPi REPORTS FROM BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE TOUR’S ALL-ENCOMPASSING SHOW DESIGN LED BY LD JAMIE THOMPSON. The Script’s current tour opened in Tokyo in January and arrived in Britain a month later led by Bob O’Brien, the band’s Production Manager since 2011 who was asked on board by the band’s Tour Manager, Ian ‘Quinner’ Quinn. “I’ve known him years but we hadn’t toured together in quite a while when he called to ask if I’d step in. I loved it straight away - the whole setup with The Script,” he said. “It’s definitely like a family, so it’s a very nice tour to look after.” PRODUCTION PLANNING There were a lot of suppliers already in place when O’Brien got to the band’s camp, something which he didn’t feel the need to change: “It’s 84

all about the band, not about my existing relationships with companies. If the band has a good relationship going on then I have no reason to change that. All of our suppliers are doing an amazing job,” he added. For audio Adlib take the reigns, while PRG Lighting and PRG Nocturne handle visuals alongside a laser show from BPM SFX. LS-Live is the staging company of choice for the third time in three arena tours, Stardes supplied trucking and Coach Services has supplied the tour buses. The Tour Company handle travel booking needs,Horizon Entertainment Cargo are responsible for freighting duties and Snakatak are feeding the crew. The tour has been a pretty smooth run for

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Opposite: The band is currently on their third arena outing; The album artwork set the tone for the visual themes of the tour.

O’Brien and his team, starting out with the service they received at rehearsal stage from LH2 Studios. “LH2 were absolutely fantastic, they were perfect actually. They look after us really well and the facilities are second to none. They’ve really got it right,” he said. This tour has had a re-vamp in terms of what The Script’s shows offer on both a visual and interactive level. For example, this is the first time the band has encorporated a B Stage into their production. “They wanted to lend a more intimate feel to the performance and get in amongst the audience, which is hard thing to do in an arena. I’d seen the new V-Thru product from PRG Nocturne out with Nine Inch Nails without knowing exactly what it was, so when we were looking at B Stage design options regarding video, it fit in really well with Jamie and band’s ideas. “The result works on two levels; you have the band playing inside the sheer screen on the smaller stage but because it’s layered you can put content on it. Jamie does a really clever thing where he lights it from the top as well and there are lasers going on inside too, so you could say that the B Stage becomes a show in itself. PRG Nocturne’s package with the lighting and video and all their prep really suited our needs. Their V-Thru product was a major part of

that.” As far as moving the tour goes, O’Brien’s crew requires four tour buses - three for the crew and one for the band - and 11 trucks in order to get the tour on the road. There are 46 crew personnel and 15 drivers, plus the double drivers when needed. He continued: “You’ll find a lot of the crew on this particular run are all repeat crew who have been here for quite a while and I think that’s a good sign, when people come back and want to tour with you again!” In the production office, O’Brien is ably assisted by Production Coordinator Jane Woolfenden. FOH SOUND Out front post sound check is Richy Nicholson, who like the rest of sound supplier Adlib Audio’s crew, is working with a smile on his face. “It’s a pretty slick production, isn’t it?” he asked, rhetorically, from behind his DiGiCo SD7 mixing console, a desk that was widely recommended to him. “Everyone was telling me how good the SD7 was and how fantastic it sounded but until you actually get onto something and get your own thing flowing, you can’t make that decision. Now I can say the SD7 is great; it’s got a duel-engine so it has redundancy built into it so, it got tonnes of faders, it’s easy to find your

way around too and the thrill is that it sounds great, technologically it’s a step up from what I’ve used previously.” “We’re pretty involved with DiGiCo as all our Adlib crew have been trained up for console servicing,” added System Tech Tony Szabo. “I actually went to DiGiCo for two days before the tour, basically ripping the console apart and pulling things in and out so I know how to really support Richy out here.” Talk about teamwork! There is also an SD11 on the road for triple protection. It’s all connected in the loop so should there be a major failure for any reason, Nicholson can still run the show from the smaller desk. “It’s pretty impressive for a console of that size,” he enthused. “It has 14 inputs and 14 outputs, but with it existing on this loop, it can pick up any number of inputs… it’s a powerful little thing,” added Szabo. “Most of the magic is done inside the console, but I’ve got an XTA Electronics D2 and Empirical Labs Distressor chained together on each of the vocals, and I’ve also got a pair of Yamaha SPX2000 units for a few different effect cues in the show. The support I get from Tim Shaxson, Dan Page and Dave Bigg at DiGiCo has been excellent,” continued Nicholson. For vocal needs, a Sennheiser 9235 dynamic head on a 2000 Series handheld is the toy of

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Below: PRG provided a lighting rig which comprised fixtures from PRG, Clay Paky, Martin by Harman and Philips Vari-Lite; Singer Danny O’Donoghue uses a Sennheiser 9235 dynamic head on a 2000 Series handheld with an Irish flag design simply taped on; Video vendor PRG Nocturne provided a complete package from cameras to I-Mag.

choice. Marc Peers, Crew Chief for Adlib Audio noted: “The band’s background is in production as they produce themselves in the studio. They keep us on our toes for sure! They know what they’re talking about and can tell us in clear, technical terms which is brilliant. Danny is very particular about his microphone.” The 9235 is working out great as Nicholson furthered: “We’re two weeks into the tour and Danny has developed a habit of using his microphone as a drumstick at the end of the gig. You could say that’s not ideal but those Sennheisers take such a beating, they’re not just made for the road, they’re made for drumming, haha!” The Sennheiser theme continues with the in-ear package which needed special attention due to the B Stage set up. Peers explained: “We’ve had to take a bit more care with the radio, transmission, research and reception this time. I’ve had a lot of advice from Mark Saunders at Sennheiser, who recommended that we upgrade. We’ve gone from G3’s to the 2000 Series. They have a higher power transmitter and to be fair, they’ve been absolutely flawless!” MONITORING MARVEL In Monitor World, Paul ‘Mini’ Moore, is mixing on a Soundcraft Vi6, a desk he practically stumbled upon. “I actually fell into using this desk, we were doing a show in London where 86

we couldn’t bring any production in and they had one of these consoles. I brought it into our rehearsal and immediately fell in love with it. I thought it sounded amazing so I did one show with this desk and the band actually noticed a difference - they were all asking me what it was. I think it’s fair to say I’m a bit of a Soundcraft boy now!” he said. The band listens to a full range of mixes with various bits a little louder depending on the preference. Although Mini differs from the majority of the sound crew because he works directly for the band and not the sound provider, he’s full of praise for the company. “Adlib are brilliant; the crew are really on top of their game and the gear is great, very high quality.” FOH Engineer Nicholson agreed: “Our guys have been outstanding. The gear has been packaged really well, allowing us to be super flexible when less than ideal situations have called for it!” THE CONSISTENT PA Adlib Audio has also has supplied an L-Acoustics K1 PA system for the tour, a decision that was met with approval. “Before we started this tour we did a few shows in South Africa and a show in Dubai, so we’ve been able to mix it up in terms of the PAs but it’s always nice to come back and get onto a K1 system, because

it’s consistently good,” Nicholson continued. “I found that too,” agreed Szabo, who views the system as a home comfort. “When you come back to a K1 it’s like coming home to a warm bowl of soup in the middle of winter; it’s so soothing.’” In the air, the main L-R hangs consist of 14 boxes of K1 and four KARAs while eight K1SBs are flown directly behind each of the main hangs. Side hangs L-R comprised 12 boxes of K2 and there was an additional upstage L-R hang of nine KARA cabinets. On the ground, Szabo has designed a (top secret!) arrangement of subs which included 19 SB28’s in total with a pair of KARA cabinets on brackets for centre fill and L-R stacks of four ARC2 cabinets for front fill. On the stage, 2B15’s and SB28’s were utilised. Front end EQ and PA distribution is done with a mixture of Lake LM 44 and LM 26 processors at both FOH and on the stage, connected using Dante over Fibre. Everything from the microphone inputs to the mixers all the way to the output of the amplifiers themselves is running at 96k. “I actually only just found this out!” commented Nicholson. “I’m very impressed!” “We’re trying out some new Lab.gruppen PLM 20,000K+ amplifiers this time around and they’re doing really well. I’m hoping that we’ll move to them soon if they continue like this. They’re very, very powerful not just in power

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Below: The flown lighting rig; Adlib Audio provided engineers and kit to the production. FOH Engineer Richy Nicholson used a DiGiCo SD7 and was assisted by System Tech Tony Szabo, who was working with an L-Acoustics K1 PA system.

but in the DSP involved is a lot more than I thought. They’re great utility amplifiers, the Swiss army knife of amplification,” Szabo added. A LEADING LIGHTING DESIGN PRG is helping Show and Lighting Designer Jamie Thompson along the way to another touring victory. Over the last 10 years, Thompson has been earning a formidable reputation with The Script and a number of other top acts including Bastille and Joss Stone. Just over two years ago, he co-founded the design partnership Mirrad with Bryan Leitch and Dave Cohen in a move to pool their experience and resources. “As an individual designer, it’s very hard to push forward, so it made sense to team up, and benefit from each other’s knowledge. It’s an on going process for all of us,” Thompson said. “PRG has been very involved with Mirrad since we started and it’s been very helpful to tour alongside such a prestigious company. They worked really hard the last time we went out, on the #3 World Tour, and in the intervening two years we’ve gone to PRG for a number of our other tours with acts like Bastille, so it’s become a very strong relationship.” A long-time fan of the Philips Vari-Lite range, Thompson’s lighting kit includes six VL3000 Washes and 10 VL100s on this tour. He also becomes very animated when discussing PRG’s proprietary fixtures. “I’ve found PRG’s lighting products to be very optically beautiful,” he commented. “On our last tour we used the Bad Boys as well as Best Boys which were then new. This time, I’ve chosen 27 Bad Boy Spots because the colour mixing and quality of the beam is just phenomenal - even better than a lot of the VLs out there at the moment. When you have so much LED at the back, you need a good profile fixture that’s going to cut through it. I spent a lot of time playing around with them and looking at the effects, and I think they are very bright [48,000 lumens], 88

punchy, robust fixtures. You can use a gobo from one end of an arena to the other and it still looks as crisp as it does at the source. For that alone, it’s a very beautiful light.” Four of the Bad Boy Spots are deployed as on-stage truss spots, using the Bad Boy Followspot Controller. “This is a new idea for us,” explained Thompson. “Danny, the lead singer, hates front light and it’s been a bone of contention since we started with follow spots but it’s very difficult to not have front key light. On this tour, he made me promise to do our best to put in side spots. “Meanwhile, PRG’s Scottie Sanderson told me that they’d developed a new method whereby the Bad Boy Spot could be supplied with a handle for a spot operator, and that was a very good move. It gives us a great source of light; it’s bright and I also have the advantage of controlling it from the desk. We also have 18 Best Boy Wash fixtures and they’ve been great for us, too.” As well as Thompson’s own Avolites Sapphire Touch consoles, Clay Paky products feature heavily in his specification. “After initially choosing the Super Sharpy beam, we went with a huge amount of Mythos fixtures in the end because I think it’s more versatile,” he explained. “It’s a spot and a beam, and if anything I think the Super Sharpy is too bright. Clay Paky’s [A.LEDA] B-Eye LEDs have also been very useful. We have 68 of them and they add another layer that you can’t necessarily achieve with a spot or a wash.” Thompson’s system runs with the aid of four Super Nodes, the powerful and convenient networking interface from PRG. “The Super Nodes are mainly used at front of house for a lot of the splitting out to the B Stage,” Thompson explained. “It’s great for checking on the status of the DMX and making sure everything is working correctly, so it’s been a very useful tool for us. My involvement with that side amounts to very little, however, it’s fortunate that Matt

Morris, our dimmer technician, is an absolute genius when it comes to networking.” Other lighting equipment provided by PRG includes eight Chauvet Professional Nexus 4x4 LED units, 10 Martin by Harman Atomic 3000 strobes, 11 Chromlech Jarag-L 5-cell PAR30’s, 24 Chromlech Jarag-5 25-cell PAR30s, 24 GLP impression 120rz LED bridge lights, 12 Thomas 8-Lite PAR36’s, two Strong Xenon Gladiator III front of house spots and four Reel EFX DF-50 haze machines. In addition to dimmers / system tech Morris, the lighting crew included crew chief Aidan McCabe, moving Light Technicians Jonty Rivers and Stephen Bliss, and lighting technicians Tom Comrie and Neil Smith. VIDEO As a Video Director, Paul ‘Eggy’ Eggerton’s work has spanned a vast array of tours and events, with Oasis, Stereophonics, Biffy Clyro, Kasabian and Kylie Minogue among his many clients. A regular fixture of The Script’s tour entourage for the last four years, Eggy is currently directing the band’s show with the aid of PRG Nocturne’s high-definition Flypack - the product of an ongoing collaboration between PRG and Grass Valley, the leading producer of broadcast video equipment. The second of its kind built so far this year, the new Flypack comprises some of the latest hardware from Grass Valley as well as Ross Video’s NK Series 64 by 64 3G Multiformat Video Router. PRG Nocturne is scheduled to produce 10 of the new HD Flypacks for video directors and engineers to use on the road. “This is my third tour with The Script,” said Eggy, “and this time I’m using the Karrera K-Frame control desk from Grass Valley. The Flypack is a full-on, all-singing, all-dancing system that is packaged very well, and the Karrera is more than adequate for what is required of the production. You can do pretty much anything you want to do with it. There

PRG and PRG Nocturne are proud to be part of the The Script’s touring family. Congratulations and many thanks to Danny, Mark, Glen, Simon Moran, Bob O’Brien, Quinner, and Jamie Thompson.

PRODUCTION RESOURCE GROUP

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Below: Production Manager, Bob O’Brien; Production Coordinator, Jane Woolfenden; Tour Manager Ian ‘Quinner’ Quinn and Stage Manager, Sean Brady; Kez Thornley, Video Crew Chief; Nick Keiser, Video Engineer and I-Mag Director, Paul ‘Eggy’ Eggerton; Automation Operator, Adrian ‘Paddy’ Neilly; Laser Technician, Nick Lloyd; The Snakatak catering team Stephen ‘Knuddy’ Knudsen and Robert Oliver (with Murray the bear).

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are whistles and bells but we’re not shaking or whistling! For this tour we’ve taken a very simplistic approach. It’s a very straightforward, no frills camera cut without any effects, keying or overlays.” Also included in the Flypack system are five of Grass Valley’s LDX 80 Première cameras - two with Fujinon 99:1 long lenses, two with standard lenses and a fifth with a wide angle lens. “The LDX 80 is a very good, compact camera and I’ve been getting lovely, high quality pictures from them every night,” Eggy commented. The camera package also includes two fixed Panasonic cameras for POV content and a pair of Panasonic robocams for remote close-ups of the band.” On and around The Script’s stage, video is a dominant force. The main screen behind the band comprises 480 tiles of the PRG Nocturne V18 LED modules and measures a commanding 14.3m wide by 6.72 metres high. Further displays come in the form of LED banners constructed from PRG Nocturne V28 modules of varied lengths. Three are positioned at stage left, three at stage right, one is downstage top, another

is upstage and a further three banners are embedded in the actual stage itself. At FOH, Jeff Brown is operating two Avolites Media Ai S8 media servers that run the video content designed by creative agencies Blinkin LAB, The Light Surgeons and TwoSevenTwo under Mirrad’s management. “This time, we outsourced a team of video artists to produce the kind of material we wanted instead of putting everything in the hands of another company,” said Thompson. “Ultimately, despite putting more stress on ourselves, it’s worked in our favour.” Eggy is very complimentary of the behind the scenes support provided by Mark O’Herlihy. He told TPi: “Mark and I have worked with each other for quite a while now, and I always get good backup. If ever there’s a problem, I call him and it’s always dealt with very smoothly.” His video team mates include Crew Chief Kez Thornley, Video Engineer Nick Keiser, lead LED technician Stevie Marr, Camera Operator Dan Ormerod and John O’Brien and Jake Black who both have the twin roles of LED Tech and Camera Operator.

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Below: Audio Crew Chief, Marc Peers; Media Server Operator, Jeff Brown; Show and Lighting Designer, Jamie Thompson; Monitor Engineer, Paul ‘Mini’ Moore; Head Carpenter, Ashley Groom; Stardes provided trucks for the tour, depicted awaiting load out.

“Since I’ve been onboard with the band, PRG has serviced a wide range of concerts and one-off events for us, including their #3 World Tour two years ago.” said O’Brien, who previously toured with PRG when he served as Franz Ferdinand’s PM. “When Nocturne became PRG Nocturne, that sealed it for me. They were able to offer us a complete package and even if we were doing smaller dates, it became a project for them rather than another job or band. That’s what interested me.” LASER LIGHT Apart from a one-off event for the iTunes Festival in London, this is the first time The Script has incorporated laser technology into their productions. For the laser display, O’Brien has entrusted BPM SFX with the responsibility with Laser Technician Nick Lloyd is heading up the operation. “I’ve got six lasers on the stage projecting laser effects both above the audience and onto the stage and 60 blue beam lasers along the back of the stage which creates a web of lasers over the top of the audience,” he told TPi. The lasers are used on several songs including Superheroes, the blue beams are

used in Man On A Wire and the stage lasers are used again in No Good In Goodbye. “BPM are very good at what they do. I’m a freelancer but I know that everything is taken care of properly, especially in terms of H&S. It’s very strict with lasers at the moment from both the venue and local council POV. That’s because unfortunately lasers can be pretty dangerous if used in the wrong hands. I’m here because of my experience and my knowledge of the products; I know exactly how to use them safely,” he added. An independent company called LVR - Laser Visuals Research was assigned to sign off all the necessary H&S requirements for the tour. Laser Animation manufacture the lasers in use. Lloyd has also specified a Pangolin Live PRO system to run the show. “It’s quite versatile and I can program very quickly which is always a bonus,” he added. STAGING, AUTOMATION AND BEYOND Halfway through the show, the band relocate to the centre of the arena to perform two numbers on a specially constructed B Stage 91

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Below: The B Stage was manufactured by LS-Live and set the scene for the PRG Nocturne V-Thru gag half way through the show; Clay Paky B-EYEs featured heavily in the lighitng design; PRG Nocturne’s control room.

directly above LD Thompson at FOH - a move encouraged by a wish to minimise the impact on audience numbers. The pinnacle B Stage was originally going to be eight ft tall but when staging provider LS-Live were looking at the application with the band - who wanted to put more instruments on it, including an upright piano, a drum set and amplification for the guitars - it grew to a 16 ft circularised top that was 10 ft in height. “Because of that decision, the access to the B Stage grew as well. This meant we also made some custom access treads and a landing stage half way up,” explained LSLive’s MD, Mark Blount. “It did turn into quite a roomy old B Stage in the end! It also gave the engineers underneath more room to work in as well.” The B Stage was positioned above the FOH pit, creating a roof for the tech out front. The stage is custom manufactured from H30V truss, it’s got four legs, a circular top and Litestructures LiteDeck decking on the top. “All of our staging is certified by an independent external structural engineering company,” added Blount. On the main A Stage, LS-Live implemented further video elements into the main body of its standard rolling stage. PRG’s LED tiles enabled a mirror effect of the nerve-tingling graphics happening on the B Stage. The 56ft wide rolling stage also has two 18ft tech wings. Head Carpenter Ashley Groom, known as ‘Big Lad’ - if you ever meet him, you’ll understand why - explained: “Essentially we’ve got a 92ft wide stage, which is much larger than you would typically get on any arena gig, however when 92

everybody has the same vision for the end goal, that’s when it all comes together. “I’ve always had a really good working relationship with LS-Live too. It’s the sort of company where if you ring them up with a problem, a solution is sorted very swiftly. That’s exactly what you need when building a show like this.” The four-man carpentry department is completed by Ray Whelan, Phil ‘Spider’ Stewart and Josh Perry. Surrounding the band on the B Stage is the aforementioned PRG Nocturne V-Thru modular LED display product. It offers an unprecedented 66% transparency and virtually limitless show design potential. Each panel is 4.5 ft tall and six ft wide. For The Script, V-Thru is constructed in the form of a nine-sided [nonagon] display, measuring around 18 ft tall with 12 PRG Best Boy 4000 Spot luminaires in place to highlight the band members. The No Sound Wthout Silence tour is visual feast, with content featuring themes connected to the album artwork. The scientific depictions within seen on the sheer V-Thru serve as a poinient reminder that the band wants to feel connected to their fans, and this product not only allows it but encorporates the show design into to. To ensure the B Stage gag runs smoothly, a Kinesys K2 motion control system provides automation during this portion of the show, operator by Automation Technician Adrian ‘Paddy’ Neilly. He said: “There is no second fiddle with automation and the Kinesys K2 motion control system is amazing. It’s so user-friendly. Any tour can present it’s own

challenges every day, but Kinesys take the challenges away.” Neilly is also running the Kinesys Vector software. PRG’s Sanderson explained the challenge of incorporating the Kinesys automation into the B Stage video design: “The main hurdle was keeping the neatness and aesthetic of the show, and managing to keep the cable runs out of eye shot.” PM O’Brien discussed his choice of product: “After seeing a demo and realising that V-Thru is nearly 70% transparent, Jamie came up with the idea of having the V-Thru wrapped around the band. It’s been used very creatively in many formats although I believe this is the first time that V-Thru has been deployed in this way. It’s also very effective for I-Mag as another form of display. So we have the screen on the main stage, the side I-Mag screens, the whole main stage and, when it’s flown out to trim above the B Stage, there’s the V-Thru providing an extra dimension throughout the show. When the band saw it for the first time in soundcheck, they loved it.” LOAD CELL With touring show weights constantly on the increase, and many venue roofs not getting any stronger, for PM O’Brien to determine the actual weight of the rig, as opposed to relying on calculations, he turned to Load cell Rental’s Colin Luke. “With around 70 points on the proposed rigging plot, the production team turned to Load Cell Rental to provide the equipment from their stock of over 200 wired

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Below: Adlib Audio supplied an L-Acoustics K1 rig, which System Tech Tony Szabo described as a real ‘comfort’.

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and wireless Load Cells. I started liaising with Bob in October 2014, and with a provisional booking ensuring availability of the cells for the rehearsal period, it was a matter of waiting for a final plot design to dictate the exact numbers required.” Having weighed up their own requirements and after liaising with Load Cell Rental staff, the decision was made to use the Motion Labs Wired Load Cell System: “The system is simplicity itself, with a Load cell, an eight way Hub and an eight way display, with connecting cables, for long term installations or touring it is a bulletproof option” continued Luke. In order to assist with a smooth first load in at rehearsals, O’Brien also decided to use the installation service offered by Load Cell rental. Luke explained the procedure: “We worked alongside every other department to install the cells in a timely manner and ensuring the system didn’t get in the way of the show cables. As soon as the motor was hanging we attached a Load Cell and then left the production team to attach the truss and all their own equipment, once they had finished with the truss we connected the cells to the hub on the truss and then one power data loom off the end of the truss with the show cables. Once the trusses got to trim we connected all the looms to a rack of displays and labeled the displays with the plot reference points, any changes made to the truss loadings could then be monitored to ensure safe working loads were maintained.” The system was left in place throughout the rehearsal period and removed at the load out. O’Brien commented: “I wanted to ensure that I had done all I could to determine precise show weights, and Load Cell Rental provided a hassle free solution which enabled us to monitor the weights during rehearsals and hit the road on tour knowing we were working safely within limits.” Load Cell Rental, now in its third year of trading is experiencing increasing demand for its services from dry hire of cells through to its weight report service. “I think the people who carry the burden for H&S compliance on their shoulders are starting to recognise the value of using Load

Cells and in particular our weight report service which provides an independent report of the shows weights, compliance with the new CDM regulations is also having an impact this year,” he concluded. CATERING Stephen ‘Knuddy’ Knudsen, Chef with Sheffield-based tour caterering service Snakatak is new to the The Script’s camp, but the company is a firm favourite with the crew. “I’ve not worked with the band before but the tour is lovely, it’s just got a really nice vibe to it,” he said. “We make quite a balanced and varied menu, making sure there’s something for everybody including any vegans or people with allergies. In terms of the day to day running of the tour, we sit down and plan a menu in advance and make sure that we take people around the world with all different cuisines from our cooking,” he explained. O’Brien is himself an advocate: “Snakatak are something else… I can’t help myself, I must have put on a stone on in two weeks. My wife is coming out to see the tour in a couple of days and I think she’s going to have a word with the caterers! Snakatak have always been a home away from home and I know a lot of people say that about their catering companies, but for us they’re the number one choice.” The sentiment hasn’t gone unnoticed for Knuddy: “I think the band and crew are great, they’re really nice guys and it’s been a pleasure to cook for them. What’s nice is that they’re very humble people who appreciate what we do - I can’t ask for any more than that. They always have time to speak to you and that’s the difference between this industry and a lot of others, whether you work in a restaurant or a hotel, you very rarely get the personal feedback that you get on tour. We’re a family and this is the family kitchen; the catering area is a neutral and calming zone - just the way we like it to be.” UNSUNG HEROS Audio Crew Chief Marc Peers summed up the dynamic of the tour perfectly: “Everyone implicitly knows what their role is and they slip into it effortlessly, so it’s really

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Script

Below: The B Stage in all its glory, the smaller stage enabled the band to get closer to their fans for what was their biggest arena production to date.

easy to work on. We all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses inside out.” “There has been a lot of work and thought put into this tour so that the band are happy and the audience is happy whatever is happening at the production end,” agreed O’Brien. “In a way it’s all about the band but without my crew it wouldn’t be possible. They’re a talented bunch. From our Stage Manager Sean Brady to our set builders - they’re the unsung heroes working behind the scenes

who make it all come together. When you see big shows like this, it’s important to always remember the people back here.” As 16,000 fans scream in delight from every which way imaginable, it would seem as though this tour isn’t going to be forgotten any time soon. TPi Photos: Kelly Murray, Mark Cunningham, Charlotte Goodlass, Scott Davies and Rich Rowley.

www.thescriptmusic.com www.adlibaudio.co.uk www.nocturneproductions.com www.mirrad.com, www.kinesys.co.uk www.prg.com http://bpm-sfx.com www.hecargoworld.com www.ls-live.com http://snakatakcatering.com www.stardes.co.uk www.coachservice.com http://loadcellrental.com www.thetourcompany.co.uk

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Super Bowl Halftime Show

THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW SUPER BOWL XLIX SAW THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HANG ON FOR A NARROW AND DRAMATIC WIN OVER THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, BRINGING THE TITLE BACK TO THE SIX-STATE REGION FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2005. AN ASTONISHING 114 MILLION VIEWERS TUNED IN TO WATCH THE GAME AND, AS IN MANY OF THE YEARS PRECEDING IT, TALK SOON TURNED TO THE SUPER BOWL’S EMINENTLY EXTRAVAGANT HALFTIME SHOW. TPi REPORTS ON THE TECH BEHIND THE PRODUCTION, WHERE LIVE SPORTS MEET LIVE MUSIC... With an unrivalled legacy of exuberance and excess, the Super Bowl Halftime Show has featured memorable performances from Madonna, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, James Brown and Michael Jackson, and while bird flipping and boob slipping may have clouded the memory of recent years, this year’s show redirected attention back to the main event in one of most intricate and entertaining routines in the game’s history. The Super Bowl took place on 1 February 2015 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where Katy Perry took to the stage during the halftime break in gleefully flamboyant form, delivering a faultless 98

performance flanked by Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott and a menagerie of dancing beach balls. Totally in keeping with the show’s kitschy aesthetic, this multifaceted medley was kept in check by Perry’s choreographers Nick Florez and RJ Durell, whose job it was to harmonise the performance around the 12 minutes of animated, projected and LED content which would form the basis of her set. VISUALS The content was projected onto a huge circular surface more than 160ft in diameter, which intermittently transformed the floor from perspective-altering chessboard to

tropical island paradise. On hand to deliver the content was Ohio-based production company Lightborne, which was tasked with providing innovative visual solutions for Perry’s demanding routine. “When the project was awarded we moved into hyper drive,” explained Lightborne President, Scott Durban. “We began the process of developing style frames and storyboarding each song in the medley. We perfected the look, feel and flow of the show before moving on to the actual production.” Prior to the contract being awarded in November 2014, Lightborne had been working with Perry’s Creative Director, Baz Halpin on concepts and style frames for each of the songs

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Super Bowl Halftime Show

Opposite: Lenny Kravitz performed alongside Katy Perry at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in Glendale, Arizona. Below: Kravitz accompanied Perry in her performance of I Kissed A Girl during the show’s opening sequence; Visual production company, Lightborne helped to transform the stage into a tropical paradise.

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that she would perform. “It was a really exciting challenge to find the correct visual style for this segment of the show,” explained Durban, who was aware that the visual content would have to accurately reflect the playful and energetic spirit of Perry’s performance. Lightborne worked in conjunction with Halpin, as well as Executive Producer Ricky Kirshner, Director Hamish Hamilton and Show Designer Bruce Rogers to create imagery that could be projected onto the dance floor, which meant that the visuals would need to be precisely synchronised with the songs. Additionally, Lightborne was also responsible for designing and animating the giant 3D chessboard which served as the backdrop for Perry’s chess piece dancers, who were all meticulously choreographed by Florez and Durrell. The creation of this virtual environment also allowed for extensive rehearsal, which ensured efficient use of the production’s

time and budgetary resources. Lightborne relied heavily on a d3 Technologies projector simulation to run through the entire 12 minutes of content. Perry’s Lighting Designer, Jason Rudolph was able to map the football field around the stage, using eight d3 4×4pro media servers, with the d3 servers sending out four feeds to control the LED stage, providing a dynamic graphic platform for Perry’s airborne final. In addition to the d3 Technologies media servers, VER provided an MA Lighting grandMA2 console, as well as all of the necessary projection and LED gear. Rudolph commented: “The servers allowed us to load in all the physical dimensions of the performance - the venue, the stage, the projection screens, props, set dressing, even virtual performers, and recreate the entire performance in three dimensions. There were a lot of challenges on the Super Bowl and the d3 servers

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Super Bowl Halftime Show

Below: Perry was joined on stage by her backup dancers; The singer concluded her set with a rendition of her hit single Firework; Lightborne designed the projected content to accompany the finale and transformed the stage into a giant chess board.

There were a lot of challenges on the Super Bowl and the d3 servers held up excellently.” Rudolph, who also manned a grandMA2 Light for video projection and orb control, added: “The grandMA2 Light is my console of choice. It always performs excellently and the Super Bowl was no exception.” LIGHTING This year’s show marked a considerable anniversary for Bob Barnhart of Full Flood Lighting, who returned to the Super Bowl for his 17th consecutive year and his fifth as the show’s primary Lighting Designer. “The halftime show has an amazing entrance and exit and a lot of different things happening in between,” commented Barnhart. “The first 2.5 minutes alone featured 600 glowing orbs, a giant lion and the moving chessboard.” Barnhart, who selected a large array of Clay Paky Sharpy, Mythos and A.leda B-EYE K20 fixtures for the show, was more than familiar with the immense scale of the project and knew that versatile lighting fixtures were a central concern: “Sharpys are great for their white-hot beams; they’re really good for giving air graphics in a large-format venue, whereas 100

I knew right away that the Mythos’ versatility could be very useful to me.” Barnhart positioned 140 Sharpys on the upstage side of the 400-level rail and the south end zone rail and deployed several on a cart behind the show’s giant tessellated lion puppet, to add some light and texture

to illuminate the dancers and fill the air with beams of light. In addition to the Clay Paky fixtures, Barnhart hand-picked 12 of the new X4 Bar 20 from GLP, as well as 16 large format impression X4 XL, which features an impressive 55 x 15W LEDs. GLP’s US President, Mark Ravenhill recalled

“The first 2.5 minutes alone featured 600 glowing orbs, a giant lion and a moving chessboard.” - Bob Barnhart, Lighting Designer Full Flood Lighting

behind the creature as it moved through the dark. Barnhart, who was introduced to Clay Paky’s new Mythos hybrid fixture at a demo at A.C.T Lighting’s LA office, chose to position the Mythos fixtures around the perimeter of the projection surface on giant rolling carts,

his early conversations with the LD when he introduced the new X4 Bar 20, GLP’s new zooming and tilting batten unit: “Bob was looking for something new for the upstage portion of one of the stages - a low profile fixture that would add an extra dynamic - and

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Super Bowl Halftime Show ®

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Below: Lighting Designer, Bob Barnhart positioned 140 Clay Paky Sharpys on the upstage side of the 400-level rail and the sound end zone rail; Barnhart also used 12 X4 Bar 20 fixtures from GLP as well as 16 large format impression X4 XLs.

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this seemed the perfect solution.” Due to the X4 XL’s large aperture, Barnhart was not only able to achieve a different aesthetic, but by using the pixel patterns that the unit produces in a number of segments, he was able to add a whole new dimension to the show’s design. Barnhart remembered: “It was about two weeks before we loaded in when Mark made them available to me and showed me some videos. This was certainly something new in terms of a strip light, particularly with the tilt option, and I knew it would enable us to produce some very different effects. We had a good spot lined up for the Bar, although we relocated the X4 XL’s to the band stages, where we placed them on the risers to help outline the bands.” On the back of the Super Bowl show’s phenomenal success, Barnhart enthused about the

merits of the X4 Bar and was in no doubt that he would add them to his tool-box on many of his future shows: “I look forward to using them again,” Barnhart said, “and hopefully in some new and exciting configurations!” Ayrton were the LED fixtures of choice for Barnhart, for whom the new, compact MagicRing-R1 and NandoBeam-S6 played a significant role in enhancing the overall effect of the show’s considerable lighting design: “I used the MagicRings on the band carts to give some energy and movement to the background,” said Barnhart. “While the NandoBeams were perfect in providing an additional layer of effects and eye candy.” A total of 12 Ayrton MagicRing-R1 beam projection fixtures were incorporated into the band carts and 10 Ayrton NandoBeam-S6 beam / wash fixtures were rigged on a truss positioned directly upstage from

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Super Bowl Halftime Show

Below: The singer performed California Gurls with support from a Audio-Technica AEW-T6100a hypercardioid dynamic handheld microphone and the notorious ‘left shark’; Perry and her backing dancers performed atop the similuated chess board stage.

AUDIO Roaring, losing control and finally getting her freak on, Perry delivered her eclectic set list

The Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful from world-renowned artists Idina Menzel and John Legend. For the event, ATK Audiotek provided 18 carts, each loaded with four Vertec large-format line array loudspeakers and two Vertec dual 18-

“I feel incredibly proud of what the entire production, cast and crew were able to do. I’m really looking forward to topping the show this time next year!” - Kirk Powell, ATK Audio

with the help of ATK Audio, who backed her up with robust and uncompromising sound reinforcement. Deploying its custom-designed, cart-based audio system, equipped with Harman’s JBL Vertec line array loudspeakers, ATK furnished the halftime show in style, with the addition of pre-game performances of

inch subwoofers. “We rely on JBL for the Super Bowl because it is a tried-and-true solution,” noted Kirk Powell, Engineer in Charge for ATK Audiotek. “Vertec provides very predictable results even when we are in challenging environments and [FOH Engineer] Pat Baltzell is comfortable with the system.”

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„It’s an absolute pleasure to train such a motivated team. PROmontaje is really proud to own this Prolyte XXL roof. Their staff really understands the risks and responsibilities involved in building such a large structure”.

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the stage that Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott were performing on.

SEE US AT TH E P+S SHOW STAND 9.0 E94

Arend Hofstee Project manager sales at Prolyte

WWW.PROLYTE.COM 103

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Super Bowl Halftime Show

Below: This year’s Super Bowl boasted an astonishing 114 million viewers and, as in many of the years preceding it, talk turned to the Super Bowl’s extravagant Halftime Show.

Because of the inclement weather in Glendale in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, the roof on the University of Phoenix Stadium remained closed, which made rehearsals a challenge since the roof on game day was open, leading to different acoustical conditions.

with an AEW-T6100a hypercardioid dynamic handheld microphone / transmitter. “I feel that the audio design more than lived up to the high standard ATK has set on previous Super Bowls,” commented Kirk Powell. “This is an amazing event to be part of. So much happens in such a short period of time that

“I feel incredibly proud of what the entire production, cast and crew were able to do. I’m really looking forward to topping the show this time next year!” - Kirk Powell, ATK Audio

At the end of the day, the reliability of the Vertec loudspeakers enabled ATK Audiotek to provide an unforgettable experience for the live audience of more than 70,000. Lenny Kravitz’s contribution - electric accompaniment to Katy’s performance of I Kissed A Girl - was delivered through an Audio-Technica Artist Elite 5000 Series Wireless 104

when it sounds as good as it did, I feel really proud of what the entire production, cast and crew were able to do. I’m really looking forward to topping the show this time next year!” SPECIAL EFFECTS “The special effects portion of the production was remarkably flexible,” explained Mark Grega

of Strictly FX. “We made changes on Super Bowl Sunday, because of the camera shots. We tried to maximise the best shot that the Director, Hamish Hamilton, was going to take and the best effect at that moment.” From a design standpoint, the camera was a critical player in the halftime performance: “With Perry’s songs, she had a lot of great cues. Normally we take every cue, but in the Super Bowl Halftime Show, we don’t have that luxury. There are certain moments that are dedicated to camera shots, and on those camera shots, there’s no point in doing an effect if it’s not going to be on camera, so we tend to design around those camera shots to maximize the exposure,” said Grega. Grega also had to consider the venue itself, since the field had to be cleared of any smoke approximately six minutes after the finale. “We went into the University of Phoenix Stadium in December and did a full demonstration of what we were proposing to shoot with the roof open and with the roof closed. At that time, we found it was somewhat acceptable amount of smoke, and we decided that we would put more of the resources on the roof to make the show bigger outside,” he added. The team with Grega on the field were also a critical part of the production. “This time, we had a lot of veterans on the show since this is

PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Super Bowl Halftime Show

our third year, but we also had a couple of new guys, and it was a great crew. Everyone stepped up,” he noted. The crew included Programmer / Field Operator Adam Biscow, Rooftop Crew Chief / Resident Cowboy Ron Bleggi, Rooftop Pyro Operator John Lyons and Effects Carpenters Brock Blakely and Dave Gauthier. “Year after year, Mark and his team bring not only their considerable effects expertise to the Super Bowl Halftime, but they also bring a positive attitude,” concluded Production Designer, Bruce Rodgers. “And that is exactly what you need on a high profile, high stress show like this one!” FLYING WITHOUT WINGS A team of three Foy Flying Directors, from the company’s Las Vegas office and led by Joe McGeough, began the load in on 18 January 2015, followed by an extensive rehearsal period up until 31 January. The flying rig was a multi-point Inter-Related Pendulum system using three Pegasus DW-V4 7.5kW winches capable of lifting up to 150 kg at up to 2.5m per second, with 100-metres of lift capability each. The system used synthetic 4.7mm Tech-12 for the system wires and 20 custom fabricated pulleys to divert the

flying wires from the winches to Perry’s flying location. A 3D flight path was generated by Aereographer prior to rehearsals. Aereographer is Foy Flying’s first 3D design tool to help map out and show all the dynamic moves beforehand, which was particularly useful for showing Perry and the creative team exactly what’s going to happen during the routine, whilst allowing McGeough and his team to make any changes quickly, which was particularly useful considering the show’s tight rehearsal schedules. STAGING All Access Staging Productions were tasked with designing the large oval projection screen, which was laid out over the field and all around the stage. Given the scale of the show’s lighting design, this also entailed the production of a series of custom lighting carts to facilitate the large 100ft by 150ft staging area. “The mainstay of the production was a complete LED video floor, which included all the surrounding stairways,” explained All Access President, Erik Eastland. “These were a challenge to put together as we had to go up and down a 60ft ramp from the concrete

to the portable field. The low clearance was unavoidable because we had to make sure there were no imaging gaps from the projection to the video stage and it was very delicate to work with.” “For the runway and the Missy Elliott stage, standard carts were used, but the drop-downangled facias were all hinge activated. We inflated the VER Blades into the Missy stage edge.” All Access also supplied the turf tire system for the Lion puppet. TPi

Photos: Rob Carr, Getty Images, Brad Duns www.katyperry.com www.nfl.com www.lightborne.com www.d3technologies.com www.silent-house.com www.atkaudiotek.com www.fullflood.com www.strictlyfx.com www.allaccessinc.com www.flyingbyfoy.co.uk

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CLOCKING OFF: Teeing Off For Charity Below: L-R: Dave Phillips, Shure Distribution UK, Ian Staddon of DiGiCo, Nick Duncan, Starlight Design and Gianni Abruzzese of d&b audiotechnik.

TEEING OFF FOR CHARITY SINCE THE LAUNCH OF BEHIND THE SCENES UK - A NEW CHARITY SERVING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY - AT THE PLASA SHOW IN 2014, THERE HAS BEEN A HUGE OUT-POURING OF SUPPORT FROM INDIVIDUALS, ORGANISATIONS AND COMPANIES. AFTER A GREAT START THE CHARITY PUT THE F-U-N IN FUNDRAISING BY ORGANISING AN INDUSTRY GOLF OUTING. LEE DENNISON, HEAD OF AUDIO AT WHITE LIGHT, EXPLAINS THE CHARITY’S UK SUCCESS SO FAR... The industry has a way of connecting people with vastly different experiences and bringing them together for a common vision and purpose. For many, the entertainment industry is more than just a job - it’s a passion, a way of life, and a family unlike any other, a family that understands and takes care of each other, especially in times of need. That’s exactly what Behind The Scenes UK aims to show. As a logo, Behind The Scenes uses the well known symbol of a ghost light. It’s a perfect reminder that, in this business, we are never left in the dark. We are never alone. It is this spirit - and the success of Behind the Scenes in the US - that propelled a group of us to start Behind the Scenes in the UK last year. Unlike any other charity in the UK, Behind the Scenes was created for our industry, by our industry, and grants are open to all disciplines and job roles within the broad range of entertainment technology. Our goal is help our colleagues by providing financial assistance grants to those in 106

need due to illness or injury. Listening to the conversations surrounding the Behind The Scenes stand at the PLASA show, it seems clear that professionals across the industry can all relate to the cause. We invited anyone who would listen to come and participate in an industry golf outing for a good cause! We signed up 18 teams for the day with teams representing a variety of manufacturers, suppliers, and end users. There’s nothing quite like a little friendly competition to bring out the crowds! In the first ever Behind the Scenes Golf Day we were able to raise £5,500. To date, we have raised more than £40,000 - but we aren’t stopping there. If you haven’t yet, it’s your turn to get involved! The two upcoming events we’re hosting are a Golf Day on 8 April and a GoKarting Day on 17 June. Both events are a great opportunity to have a little fun and give back to this vibrant backstage community! TPi www.behindthescenescharity.org

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Adamson

ADAMSON DELIVERS COMPACT EFFICIENCY WITH ITS S-SERIES LINE-ARRAYS IN 2014 BROCK ADAMSON, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF ADAMSON SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND BEN CABOT, HEAD OF LOUDSPEAKER DEVELOPMENT, PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER, DETERMINED TO DESIGN A SUBCOMPACT TWO-WAY LINE ARRAY ENCLOSURE THAT WAS INCREDIBLY POWERFUL, EASY TO RIG AND MORE EFFICIENT THAN COMPARABLE LINE ARRAYS ON THE MARKET. WE CAUGHT UP WITH CABOT TO DISCUSS THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADAMSON’S S-SERIES LINE-ARRAY IN A TPi EXCLUSIVE. It was no easy task. The sub-compact line array marketplace has exploded in the last few years, with an assortment of viable options. However, true to form, Adamson felt confident able to deliver this compact efficiency and succeed in pushing the product segment to a new level. They were right, the Adamson S-Series, featuring patent-pending Controlled Summation Technology, represents more power, fidelity and efficiency in a sub-compact enclosure than can be found anywhere else. We recently caught up with Cabot to learn more about the S-Series, which is making its official debut at 108

the Prolight+Sound show in Frankfurt, Germany next month. Could you tell us a bit about the S-Series in general and the thought process that inspired it? We had been thinking about designing a new sub compact line array for a while. We thought it was time to re-imagine our sub compact range to complement our flagship E-Series line. Ultimately we’ve created the S10 line array enclosure; the companion S119 subwoofer along with an E-Rack solution ensures high performance and stability.

From the get-go we wanted to make sure that the S10 enclosure was as compact as possible. Size matters in so many applications - site lines, power efficiency, truck space, ease of rigging. So size, fidelity and SPL were our top considerations. Was it difficult to combine all of those elements within one product? The S10 is loaded with two newly designed 10-inch ND10-LM Kevlar Neodymium low-mid frequency drivers and an NH4TA2 1.5-inch exit high frequency compression driver mounted to a wave shaping sound chamber which produces

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Adamson

Opposite: Adamson’s compact and efficient S10 line array will be launched at Prolight+Sound. Below: Ben Cabot, Head of Loudspeaker Development at Adamson; The S10 line array in an installation setting.

a slightly curved wavefront with a nominal dispersion pattern of 110° by 10° (H x V). And it is packaged neatly into a compact enclosure that is very lightweight. In essence we’ve built a 10-inch two-way line array in what normally would be an 8-inch enclosure. How did you achieve this? Controlled Summation Technology (CST) is a new design method we created that brings the LF drivers as close together as possible, while symmetrically outwardly splaying them. Doing this allows for more usable frequency while decreasing summation at the crossover point, reducing interference. The LF drivers are also recessed behind the exit of the HF sound chamber which allows flexibility with the size and shape of the enclosure. Lastly, a small amount of delay aligns the lows to the high frequency energy, with some overlap control in place as well to diminish any remaining noticeable interference. We also had to design a new waveguide as real estate in the enclosure was in high demand. Once all of those components were in place it appeared that we not only accomplished the goal, but exceeded our expectations. The S10 has tremendous output with a max peak SPL of 141.3dB - which is impressive for the size of the enclosure - easily 2dB more than some competitors.

Could you tell us about the design of the subwoofer? Well, once we had the S10 squared away our concentration was turned to the S119 subwoofer. Obviously it needed to provide serious low end to match up with the S10 which we anticipate being used in mid-sized arenas, theatres, churches, dance clubs and outdoor festivals. The E219, which is the Energia subwoofer, features two SD19 Kevlar Neodymium drivers with dual 5-inch voice coils for exceptional power handling. So when it was time to develop the S119, we looked at the SD19 but this time utilised it with a single 5-inch voice coil. The end result was a lightweight enclosure (56.7kg / 125lbs) with ultra-low distortion and a tight, punchy sound. So you started with the goal of creating a powerful, easy to rig system that was extremely efficient - what next? Fortunately, the S10, as a two-way enclosure, is very amplifier efficient. We recently introduced the E-Rack - which is a power and DSP solution combined with versatile I/O and industry standard power connections as well as a 20 port managed Ethernet switch to route dual-redundant Dante and control signal. Lab. gruppen PLM+ Series amplifiers, which are also extremely efficient, drive the racks. Users

can put eight S10 enclosures on a single Lab. Gruppen PLM12K44 amplifier. Lastly we took a look at the rigging, wanting to make sure that the system was very easy to work with. Fortunately, the Autolock rigging system for E-Series has been extremely well received by everyone who has used it. So in this particular case we wanted to do something similar while not adding to the cost of the system. Users can pick one of nine incremental positions that can be manually locked into place with an efficient and better stacking pin. We also changed up the aesthetics of the enclosures - they still have Adamson’s honeycomb grills, but the box looks a bit sleeker with a recessed Adamson logo. The entire series will make its first official debut at Prolight+Sound, a completely new sub-compact line array along with a companion subwoofer, the E-Rack and Adamson’s Blueprint AV software. It’s a complete package ideal for regional sound companies and for turnkey installed applications. As a matter of fact, we have a number of high profile installations that will feature the S-Series that will really impress people. We set out to create a product that would provide better everything - SPL, fidelity, efficiency, ease-of-use - and we hit those marks and more. TPi www.adamson.com 109

THE BIGGER PICTURE

THE BIGGER PICTURE EVENT SAFTEY AT A GLOBAL CROSSROADS It is often said that until the USA gets on board, things don’t really go global; it’s the holy grail for British bands. So four years ago, when Jim Digby, Production Manager with Linkin Park, announced the formation of the Event Safety Alliance and the beginnings of what is now the U.S’s Event Safety Guide, you could sense something bigger was in the works. Of course, they weren’t starting with a blank sheet of paper, the idea of distilling safety laws in the context of live events is not a new thing, it just takes a big push to get things moving through the complex bureaucracy of state and federal law. The book is published. The word is out. Job done? Well, no, not quite. Fast forward to 2015 and inject the passion of Turkish production specialist, and founder of events trade body TESDER, Firat Kasapoglu. From Firat’s passion came a desire to improve safety standards, not only in his home territory of Turkey, but to take the Event Safety Guide to a global audience. It took a mere suggestion from Jim, and the offer of using their guide as the foundation for a global push, in order to gain the support of the Event Safety Alliance. With this support, the backing of TESDER and a heap of help from venue consultant, Carl AH Martin, the first ever International Live Event Safety Symposium (ILESS) was born. Co-located with the Turkish ACE of M.I.C.E convention, delegates were expertly delivered to ILESS by the Marketing Director of Firat’s company Berna Guller. BIG TALK Down to business. Working from the assumption that gravity works everywhere, the group engaged in weighty discussion on the application of global standards. Of course different countries have different approaches to enforcing safety standards, but some countries seem to have no desire to set a bar. A good approach is to promote a better understanding of the former, whilst raising the bar of the latter. Talk of a ‘Global Community’ was no empty cliché however; with bands touring the globe and international brands staging global launches, 110

the idea of sharing good practice was not lost on the delegates. In fact, the agreement to develop a global guide was accepted unanimously, even coupling up with a series of ‘Safety Passport’ schemes, which share a basis but deliver regional variances to encompass differences such as safety signs. In the classic ‘let’s meet in the bar later’ gathering, we even went through the UK version of the Safety Passport, highlighting the common ground between this and the U.S. version, which will be up and running by the end of 2015. It soon became apparent that this was not an attempt to build a one-stop solution, but to produce guidelines on how to create safe workplaces and event environments. Not a suggestion to deliver safety on paper, but a method of delivering safety on the ground. We were encouraged to remember successes rather than focus on failures, to show positive reinforcement rather than reveling in disaster. Far more people wish to promote event safety, than those that wish to see another stage collapse. BIG WALK All of the above is simple to agree in principle; but it’s a little harder to deliver in practice. The conference ended with an agreed aim to create regional advocates for the global guide, under the umbrella of a new Global Event Safety Alliance. With such an approach, there would need to be a method of promoting localised guidance, regulation and good practice, and to recognise the similarities, whilst ironing out the differences. Of course, some territories feel that their houses are in order and that they understand the regulation. It is exactly these territories that are our most important advocates. The PSA understands the Event Safety Guide, we helped to introduce Safety Passports and we have been involved in all manner of guides and standards.

The thing is, our members work internationally, and we’d like to think that standards everywhere are up to our local expectations. This is why we’re more than happy to help develop a global tool kit. We don’t want to be safer than everyone else; we want everyone to be as safe as possible. Even in Europe, where we are all meant to sing from the same EU hymn sheet, local interpretations of EU safety directives can vary hugely. Some provide frameworks, some provide a set of hard and fast rules, and others don’t really bother at all. That may be seen as a disadvantage, but here in the UK, enforcement is generally ‘outcome based’. If we walk in, build an event, stage an event and leave without incident, the enforcers will be unlikely to darken our door. Following guidance and using a tool kit can help that happen. For a great example of an ‘outcome based’ approach, look at Italy, where a number of indoor collapses have led to an intense focus on structures for events, catching up rapidly with UK and Germany for a tough stance on not killing people (anyone have a problem with that?). Some people may need a little more encouragement than others and discussion around approach led to the agreement that encouragement should come from all sides. From the band rider right down to the local crew who know bad practice when they see it and have a clear line to report it. Band riders may demand a stage that is safe to play on, but that needs a standard to be matched against. Remember the start point, if you jump off the stage, you land at the same time as anyone else, no matter who you are or where you are in the world. BIG TASK, SMALL WORLD Be under no illusion, this symposium was not attended by representatives from every territory, but it was attended by people who knew

www.psa.org.uk Below: Group shot from the International Live Event Safety Symposium; Jim Digby, Founder of the Event Safety Alliance; Founder of events trade body TESDER, Firat Kasapoglu.

someone in every territory who they knew would be on board, when presented with a framework for developing a global approach. The task was enormous, so an immediate start on breaking it down into manageable targets is necessary, gathering the support of every region, forming local trade bodies where they don’t exist, collecting and collating information and aggregating it into a useable guide. Then there’s training, from the Safety Passport model to project and production management; one step at a time, maybe.

The most thought provoking statement for me was that standards are usually written in blood, as a result of a tragedy. This is not the place to list those events, it’s a place to report on moves to develop something from a positive standpoint, to create understanding, to share knowledge and to get everyone to buy into a culture of safety, before more blood is shed. It’s a question of taking something big, building it, testing it and taking it around the globe. Now, if there’s one industry that can do that, it’s yours. www.eventsafetyalliance.org

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

PRG, a leading provider of event technology solutions, has announced that it will be combining several business units to create the PRG Music Group, a new division headed up by PRG Music CEO Mickey Curbishley, which will focus on providing integrated video and lighting solutions for tours, festivals and concert events around the world. Curbishley explained: “We are bringing together leading industry veterans, technology experts, and the operational know-how of PRG Concert Touring, PRG Nocturne, and Chaos Visual Productions into a single integrated organisation. We are pairing new equipment with our newly combined team to better serve our clients,” he continued. “We have some of the top talent in the business and by combining these three teams into one group we are now stronger than the sum of our parts.” President of PRG Nocturne Bob Brigham agreed: “We have made major investments in brand new, state-ofthe-art video technologies, including HD flypacks and cameras that integrate the latest technology from Grass Valley, Ross Video, and Fujinon; additional PRG Nocturne LED video modules and our proprietary LED processing.” Curbishley concluded: “The PRG Music Group is, and will be, the ‘go-to’ production resource for our clients. The goal is simple - we want to make it as easy as possible to do business with PRG.” Nexo has announced the appointment of satis&fy, one of Europe’s leading event production companies, as it’s latest German distribution partner. The two companies began working together last year when satis&fy invested heavily in Nexo STM modular line array systems, and the GEO M6 compact line array. “To be true to ourselves and to the market,” said Martin Ramrath, Head of satis&fy’s Audio Department, “We only sell products which have been tested in our rental business. Nexo tested brilliantly on the rental side and are an excellent 112

manufacturer of high-end technology. Because of this, the next logical step was to begin distributing their product range.” Reinhard Steger Nexo’s Sales Manager for Germany extended a cordial welcome to satis&fy, saying: “In addition to joining our distributor family, satis&fy’s role will also include working with Nexo as one of our development partners, providing valuable input into new product designs, from a wide range of possible audio applications.” Ramrath enthused: “The people at Nexo are very open minded and always listen to their customers. It has been a real pleasure to work with them!” Stage Electrics has appointed Rob Collett to the position of Audio Hire Manager. Collett’s diverse background spans the concert touring and corporate event sectors. Beginning his career as a Systems Technician with bands like Boyzone, Westlife and Coldplay, he quickly progressed to the role of Monitor Engineer for high-profile acts such as The Australian Pink Floyd Show and English post-punk rockers White Lies. Discussing his recent appointment at Stage Electrics, Collett explained: “Like most people that visit Stage Electrics headquarters, when I walked through the door I thought ‘wow!’ This is a lot bigger than I realised. It’s only when you see the sheer scale of the hire warehouse and the range of equipment, that you really appreciate how sophisticated the whole operation is. My current focus is on developing new hire opportunities,” he continued. “I have already begun the process of introducing myself to existing clients and developing business by introducing new clients to Stage Electrics. The audio hire offering is truly impressive and I am excited by the challenge of developing it further.” Harman’s Studer has announced that Dale Pro Audio, one of the most successful professional audio dealers in the United States, has expanded its product offerings to include Studer’s Vista 1 digital console as a new customer solutions

option. The addition of the Vista 1 consoles to Dale Pro Audio’s inventory is a part of a new relationship between the two companies that aims to better serve the audio community, and which also underscores Dale Pro Audio’s longterm commitment to the broadcast market. “The worldwide adoption of Studer Vista consoles has been growing rapidly and Dale Pro Audio’s addition of the Vista 1 to its inventory is a major step forward in the United States,” said US Sales Director for Studer Rob Lewis. “Dale Pro Audio’s heritage and reputation for excellence is well-known throughout the professional audio industry,” he continued, “and we are looking forward to a very successful working relationship!” Elation Professional has announced that SF Marketing has been appointed the exclusive distributor for Elation Professional products in Canada. SFM has been providing professionalquality products and services to the audio visual and live entertainment industries in Canada since 1978. “As they say, timing is everything,” said Eric Loader, Director of Sales for Elation Professional. “Elation’s product range has expanded more into the pro-specification lighting professional market and now is the right time for us to find the perfect partners and sales team to push to the next level,” stated Loader. “We’re delighted to have been chosen as Elation’s new partner in Canada,” said SFM President Randal Tucker. “Elation’s cutting-edge products, combined with SFM’s reputation for unparalleled service and support, presents the opportunity to take the Elation brand to the next level and beyond in the Canadian market.” Based in Montreal, SFM will serve as Elation’s sales, marketing, distribution, and service arm for the Canadian marketplace. Star Events rounded off a successful re-brand launch at the Event Production Show by signing a service partner contract with sports specialist Footwise UK, under its Brazilian Minds in Fusion

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Opposite: Rob Collett has been named Audio Hire Manager for Stage Electrics; Star Events has signed a service partner contract with Footwise UK; Dale Pro Audio has included Harman Studer’s Vista 1 console in its latest product offering. Below: AED Distribution has appointed Starpoint and Leisuretec as QSC Pro Audio sub-distribution partners in Germany and the UK respectively.

banner. The deal provides Star Events with a high-level of visibility in Brazil and gives Minds in Fusion access to Star’s acclaimed technical abilities and equipment, ahead of the Rio Olympics in 2016. Dominic BarrettEvans, Founding Partner at Minds in Fusion commented: “The partnership means we can provide a unique platform of our Brazilian World Cup expertise and Star Events’ acclaimed input to London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Glasgow 2014, ahead of the Rio Games next year.” Events production supplier White Light has announced the appointment of Alicia Earls as its new Business Development Manager for Events. Earls joins White Light after more than seven years working as Communications Manager for the Science Museum Group, where she helped develop the hugely successful #StrictlySW7 event showcase involving the Science Museum and its neighbouring venues, the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. “This is a hugely exciting time to join White Light,” Earls said. “The company is diversifying, investing in cutting-edge new products and winning major clients and

venue accreditations. The team is renowned for their long-standing service and I look forward to being a part of White Light’s future success.” AED Distribution has appointed Leisuretec & Starpoint as QSC Pro Audio sub distribution partners in the UK and Germany. Partnering with selected dealers specialising in QSC’s portfolio of speakers, amplifiers and digital mixers, the company has now officially appointed Leisuretec as its distribution partner in the UK and Starpoint as their distributor in Germany. “Our dealer network allows us to redefine the local QSC Pro Audio market, as well as the presence of the QSC products in both countries,” said Kenneth Bremer, Business Development Manager at AED Distribution. “QSC is a respected brand and it is important for us to partner up with dealers that show great enthusiasm in selling, demoing and using the QSC Pro Audio range, he concluded. Mike Henden, Founder Director of Leisuretec said: “Together with AED Distribution, Leisuretec is committed to working towards a common goal - providing customers with the best possible service when it comes to supplying QSC Pro Audio actus

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Below: Nexo has announced the appointment of satis&fy, one of Europe’s leading full service companies for event production, as a new distributor in Germany. Martin Ramrath, Head of satis&fy’s Audio Department will be handling Nexo sales; Events production supplier White Light has announced the appointment of Alicia Earls as its new Business Development Manager for Events.; Elation Professional has appointed SF Marketing as its exclusive Canadian distributor.

products. We are really pleased to be able to deliver the ideal solution for UK customers and we look forward to contributing to the further development of the QSC Pro Audio business in the UK. We have always been very careful when it comes to expanding our product portfolio,” explained Lutz Gehrke, Managing Director of Starpoint. “We are confident that in QSC Pro Audio and AED Distribution we have found a partner that can deliver the highest level of quality and support and are looking forward to building upon QSC’s strong brand position here in Germany.” Renkus-Heinz has expanded its sales and marketing team with the appointment of Dan Hughley to the position of Sales and Marketing Assistant. Hughley joins RenkusHeinz after several successful years at Manley Labs, where he held a number of positions including Sales and Marketing Coordinator, and Assistant to company President Eve

Anna Manley, as well as working within the company’s Production and Finance departments. In his new position, Hughley will report to VP Sales & Marketing Rik Kirby, and be involved in all facets of the company’s sales and marketing efforts, including marketing communications collateral, social media, trade show coordination, and other duties. “Dan’s expertise in a wide range of disciplines, as well as his deep industry experience, make him an ideal addition to the Renkus-Heinz Sales and Marketing team,” remarked Rik Kirby, VP Sales & Marketing. “We are delighted to welcome him to our team.” “Renkus-Heinz is one of pro audio’s legendary brands, with a long history of innovation,” added Hughley. “I’m truly proud to be associated with such a respected brand, and am excited to begin this new chapter in my career.” TPi www.tpimagazine.com/jobs

WAREHOUSE LOGISTICS MANAGER

Salary depending on experience Benefits include company phone & private healthcare SE LONDON/KENT A fantastic opening has arisen to join a highly regarded technical laser company specialising in supplying and designing lasers to the live events industry. Working closely with high profile clients they deliver all areas of laser production for world tours, festivals, outdoor shows, conferences, award ceremonies, product launches and exhibitions within the UK and worldwide. Overseeing and mentoring a small but enthusiastic team you will be responsible for ensuring that the warehouse operations run smoothly. The perfect candidate will ideally be an existing warehouse manager within the industry who is looking to take the next step up into a role with more responsibility. Please see our website for full job spec. www.er-productions.com

LASER TECHNICIAN

Salary depending on experience Benefits include company phone & private healthcare SE LONDON/KENT ER Productions is an International Laser display company working in touring, live events and corporate markets. ER Productions is looking for new staff to join its team of laser technicians. Based in SE London/Kent at our head office you will be part of a team that performs laser displays in the UK and all over the world. Laser and lighting industry experience is preferred but not essential. Computing and basic networking experience is also preferred. Please send a CV to georgina@er-productions.com

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15. - 18.04. 2015 Hall 8.0 / Booth A22

X-LINE ADVANCE Forward-thinking line-array design starts here. The result of rigorous R&D, the introduction of the new X-Line Advance family sees Electro-Voice push the parameters of line-array performance to the next level. X-Line Advance utilizes state-of-the-art EVengineered components and incorporates a range of innovative new features, all of which work together to surpass the capabilities of other line arrays, and all in a significantly more compact, flexible, and quickerto-set-up package.

KEY FEATURES: • An unprecedented performance-to-size ratio for installed and concert sound applications. • Advanced audio quality and control via a host of new and exclusive EVengineered technologies, including next-generation Hydra wave-shaping devices, high-output transducers, and proprietary FIR-Drive optimization. • New-look EV industrial design and new Integrated Rigging System combine streamlined appearance with simplified setup.

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Designed, engineered, and tested for ultimate reliability by Electro-Voice in the USA. Learn more at: www.electrovoice.com/X-LineAdvance

15. - 18.04. 201 Hall 8.0 / Booth

The TPi Production Guide

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VITAL STATS

VITAL STATS 168 Nick Whiteoak & Dave Whiteoak Profession: Directors, Video Illusions Date & place of birth: December 7 1983 & July 2 1982, Chatham, UK Was it always your intention to work within the live production industry? We started out as audiovisual engineers based in London, involved in the design and installation of video conference suites, lecture theatres and training rooms for large corporate institutions. Live music was always our passion and we started out working with our friends ‘Inside Us All’ at electronic dance events around London, where we would install custom video designs. We began to build up contacts in the industry and before we knew it, our live production gigs outnumbered our installation jobs, which became the forefront of the business that we have today.

“We always aim to ensure that production managers have full trust in our service and we pride ourselves on leaving no stone left unturned in terms of the schedule and kit being 100% reliable...”

Was there a catalyst that prompted you to create the company? It was a natural progression. The knowledge we gained from designing audiovisual systems for the corporate institutions stood us in good stead when it came to starting our production hire company. We’d started collating our own kit, by this point, we were subbing for a video company and this brought us to Reading Festival, where we installed the LED screens and projectors and operated the cameras. It was around this time that we found ourselves heading in the live production direction. We gave our VJ and underground music guise the name Video Illusions, which we registered as a company in 2006. There’s been a huge leap in terms of what has become technologically possible with show design in the last two decades. Has this progress altered how you work with live events? Certainly, having so many new products available and the technological advances in control / mapping systems means the possibilities are continually evolving and setting new challenges and possibilities. The LED solutions we invested in have allowed us to create custom formations. This changed the parameters of what’s possible for us. Though a large amount of our work involves installing large screens on many of the most well-known UK / European events, having the ability to make bespoke show designs with our kit sets our stock apart from many of the other LED products on the events circuit. How critical do you feel relationship building is in the live events and touring industry? It’s absolutely essential. Over the years the relationships that we’ve built with production managers, tour managers and other hire companies has kept us growing and expanding. It’s these relationships that help bring in repeat work and new opportunities. We always aim to ensure that production managers have full trust in our service and we pride ourselves on leaving no stone left unturned in terms of the schedule and kit being 100% reliable. Over the years we have had the pleasure of working with amazing acts such as Frank Turner, Chase & Status, Knife Party, Skrillex and Rebel Sound. A great relationship with the legends that are London Warehouse Events keeps us busy in the electronic dance sector too. We also 118

have a strong relationship with ADI.tv, a specialist in mobile LED services and high-resolution VIP installations which we can help provide, along with our experienced support. Video Illusions supplied video to the TPi Awards, and won ‘Production of the Year’ in 2014 for the Arcadia stage at Glastonbury. There must be a great sense of achievement that comes with being part of such a unique production? It was a huge honour to be part of the Arcadia project and it is certainly our biggest achievement to date. Pip and Bert and their whole team are visionaries. Dave had been proposing ideas to them for a number of years to get video involved on the stage. Eventually they gave us the green light and the result was incorporating SMPTE time code to bring all the elements for the landing show together. Our LED modules were added to their art piece to bring the spider to life using video. VI and Blinkin Lab added the mouth, brain and body section and also created a skin texture for the spider with custom mapped video content. It’s difficult to do to something this unique and original and we’re really proud of it. We’re really busy working on additional ideas for them, exciting times! What have been some of the most challenging and rewarding events you’ve worked on to date? Gravity in Thailand with Arcadia was rewarding - having to make the video design manageable with less crew, we designed and manufactured brackets for quicker installation Alicia Keys at the MTV EMA in Glasgow was very rewarding moment as it was going out on live TV. Another standout event was the Knife Party’s LED Haunted House with Nocturnal Touring last year, across two events in one weekend, we installed 60 sq metre of our LED with a custom built four-metre high, three sided LED rolling DJ booth seated in the centre on the screen to be rolled out without fault in a 20 minute change over - a truly great show to be a part of. Where can we expect to see more of Video Illusions’ work in 2015? The festival season is coming up, so in fields mainly! We’ve secured some great contracts with large IMAG and backdrop screens on many of this year’s leading live events. Our camera and projection systems can be seen with Clean Bandit and the Prodigy. We will also be collaborating with Matt Evans (Nocturnal Touring) on some exciting new projects...

PROLIGHT + SOUND 2015 BOOTH B18 - HALL 8.0

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