ROBBIE WILLIAMS: Close Encounters 2006 tour / TPi Magazine

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a close encounter with robbie robbie williams williams

HAVING EVOLVED FROM AN IMPRESSIVE ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW IN BERLIN LAST OCTOBER, ROBBIE WILLIAMS'S CURRENT EUROPEAN TOUR IS A 21st CENTURY PRODUCTION MASTERPIECE. MARK CUNNINGHAM & LOUISE STICKLAND REPORT WITH EXCLUSIVE PHOTOGRAPHY FROM PARIS BY DIANA SCRIMGEOUR...

There is no one of his generation to equal the multifaceted showmanship of Robbie Williams. One cannot deny his ability to seduce an audience with his package of golden pop hits and the kind of cocky, irreverent humour that would earn him a comedy summer season if it all went pear-shaped. Not that it's likely any time soon if EMI has anything to say about it.

On the Close Encounters tour, Williams and his band — now joined by a superb new six-piece

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'gospel' vocal chorus — are tighter than ever. The action-packed highlights are so plentiful that we'll even forgive the mid-set Eric'n'Ernie double act with best pal Jonathan Wilkes that's probably great fun at boisterous parties though a tad questionable in a stadium... but then again, how could anyone argue with such a success story.

One imagines that Williams has reached that "I'm so f**king famous, I can get away with anything" stage, and indeed he has the clout to turn any venue into his

own playground, complete with anything up to 90,000 fans worshipfully singing 'Angels' at him as he stands silent, motionless and grinning in smug satisfaction. You can't help but smile back.

It's the sheer, bolshy spectacle of the European leg of the tour that has to be seen to be believed, and TPi is fortunate to be the only international magazine to have followed its evolution.

We were there when the star launched his Intensive Care album in October 2005 with an

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impressive, one-off, arena-format performance at Berlin's Velodrome, complete with a radical set design whose curved architecture suggested what would follow.

TPi was also present in South Africa and Dubai this spring when the first stages of his tour partially revealed the design concept progression, and yet this 'B version' show on its own beat most other current tours hands down.

But not even those spring dates could have prepared us for the mammoth design that is now touring Europe and will have thrilled up to two million fans before its final load-out. Although a complete departure for Williams, who has delivered cutting-edge shows for almost a decade (tempus fugit!), the production deliberately borrows from classic 'super tours' of the past, possibly in its quest to position itself at the top of today's premier division.

The 'A version' European production came together at LiteStructures Rehearsal Arena in Wakefield, West Yorkshire immediately after RW's Dubai trip, even though it could not fully accommodate the set's unusual 26 metre height.

Wob Roberts, RW's production manager since the dawn of the star's solo career and the man who has mastered the art of juggling politics and technical

challenges, explained: "I booked the biggest rehearsal space available, because I knew this would be Rob's largest production to date, but even the hugeness of LiteStructures couldn't take everything we had!

However, it was absolutely fine as our base for certain aspects of the preparation, including lighting and video programming.

his main crew for the tour because, as he said: "These days, because the industry is so busy, you need to book a long way in advance to get precisely who and what you want."

To give an example of scale, for power, the tour carries four 650 kVA twin-pack generators from Fourth Generation and two 450 kVAs, and a total of 64 trucks are involved, including 31 production trucks. With 30 Stage Miracles people onboard, the touring crew totals 204, with up to 70 additional local crew hired per show.

"Whenever I look at the spec lists, my eyes pop out — it's pretty phenomenal, and at last the UK’s young generation of fans has a 'super tour' act to rival the Stones," said Roberts, adding that Popcorn Catering's provision of 120 raw beetroot per show is equally impressive!

The tour 'leapfrogs' two (A & B) steel systems from venue to venue, with site co-ordinators Tom Armstrong and Steve Iredale presiding over each, along with advance generator cables, catering and safety equipment. The remaining universal production package then loads into each show.

Roberts was full of praise for all of his chosen contractors, but singled out a certain Belgian firm.

"There is no staging company in the world like

“At last, the UK’s current generation of fans has a ‘super tour’ act to rival the Stones...” Wob Roberts "Then we found the Expo in Brussels, next door to the Atomium, which fortunately was big enough to take the whole show, so we finished up doing a full week's production rehearsal there in Hall 5 before loading into Croke Park in Dublin for our first gig... then returning to Brussels for the next one!"

Despite high demand from other production managers, Roberts was delighted to be able to book

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Top Row: Wob Roberts & production co-ordinator Lizzie Adshead; creative director Lee Lodge (centre) with video crew chief Stuart Heaney and video director Ruary Macphie; stage manager Gary Currier; tour manager Jäki Hildisch; site co-ordinator Steve Iredale.

Bottom Row: LD Al Gurdon; lighting programmer Mike Owen; set designer Ray Winkler; head rigger Jez Craddick; follow spot operators await their cues.

StageCo; they are the best in their field. They're very good at their jobs, highly efficient and, like their country's Stella Artois, reassuringly expensive!"

As detailed in our side feature on page 48, Roberts is a fervent supporter of quality health and safety management, and has recruited The Event Safety Shop (TESS) to look after these aspects throughout the entire tour. "It's the only way to go on a tour of this size, because otherwise, someone's bound to get bitten sooner or later," he said.

"Because we don't have a roof over our stage, there's the potential for a lot of climbing. If you get something wrong, it won't go unnoticed, and you multiply risk by the amount of crew and punters you have. So getting TESS to come in and manage this side of the production extremely professionally at just £1,000 per show, is a decision I was very happy to make."

With Roberts's previous 'partner-in-crime' Andy Franks currently globetrotting with Coldplay, the tour manager role has fallen to experienced German, Jäki Hildisch, who first met the crew in 2003.

Hildisch, formerly the TM for the notorious 'industrial' experimentalists Einstürzende Neubauten, said: "Robbie's manager, David Enthoven, invited me to take over from Fransky and I feel very lucky to be part of the set-up. It's been very challenging but a great pleasure to work with Wob and the management."

21ST CENTURY BOY Many elements combine to catapult a tour to the genuinely awesome altitudes of production values, and Close Encounters has them all. But while this is as ambitious as almost any UK-originated project that preceded it, it's been achieved in a genuinely friendly atmosphere — the sort of vibe that comes with confidence and modest acceptance.

Some truly mind-blowing visuals, from abstraction to violent impression and everything in between, capture and colour the spirit of every emotion. Vulnerability, love, hate, anger, confusion, despair, elation... it's all there in a hair-raising show that could keep an analyst busy for years.

The sheer height, elegance and industrial format of the set radiates immense magnetism. Its iconic towering yellow 'scorpion tail' arches and LED-encrusted bowed 'tusks' could well have been the bastard offspring of the Stones' Voodoo Lounge and U2's PopMart, while the unusual set colour combination — hazard yellow juxtaposed with duck egg blue, black and grey — results in an unquestionably 21st century look, commanding immediate respect and immediately

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adjusting one's visual perspective into portrait format.

As creative director Lee Lodge elucidated: "I want this show to become the start of the next generation of great stadium shows. Part of our inspiration was the kind of electric impact and sense of expectation you'd get when you walked into a stadium at one of those big shows by the Stones or U2, and we're trying to extend a tradition that, for budgetary reasons I suppose, hasn't been accessible to most of today's touring artists. Fortunately, Rob's management have allowed us that freedom."

Lodge has a wide visual panorama encompassing a plethora of media. It’s hard to keep pace in conversation with him as he flips from one to another with great fluency and articulation. It’s obvious that the creative journey has involved a megamix of thought to reach the final article.

It’s no surprise to learn that architecture and form were powerful influences, or that everything on the tour is customised and bespoke — there’s absolutely nothing off-the-shelf about it at all. “Certain buildings are memorable for their amazing shapes,” said Lodge, “and I think the shape of a stage should create a sense of excitement and drama whereby people remember the show."

The detail goes far deeper than the surface aesthetics. Although unique, it’s been designed and built for touring, and for the functionality of achievable get-in/out deadlines.

The Close Encounters tag and its loose creative brief originated from Williams's discussion with Lodge about his interest in accounts of alien visitations, crop circles and other sci-fi related themes. Lodge always wanted Close Encounters to be an integrated visual collaboration and a fusion of creative energies from a dynamic design team who sparked off each other.

As he hoped, once the main creative team was established, the production grew almost organically in terms of visuals. Set, lighting and video were the obvious ones, but sound and backline were also involved. “Any stage set needed to integrate the PA and ensure it was hanging in its optimum position,” he explained.

He also wanted to make the space dynamic and intimate in a stadium context, feeling that many shows of this scale end up with performers lost amidst the sense of occasion and dwarfed on huge, detached stages.

Commented Lodge: "We live in a world of 16:9 widescreen, whereas in fact it's height that has the most impact on us, and that was our conceptual benchmark for the set. Our set is high, but everything points inwards towards Robbie, who has to be the centre of attention, and the band are in a kind of circle, so the energy

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Above: FOH engineer Dave Bracey pilots with DiGiCo D5 while system technician Sherif El Barbari (right) keeps an eye on the audio network. Below: John ‘JJ’ James in monitor world; special platinum and gold Shure mics for Williams and guest Jonathan Wilkes. radiates out to the crowd. One of the most interesting things for me is that those yellow towers create a theatrical pros arch, which isn't something you see on stadium shows because the emphasis is usually on width."

MELTING POT Ray Winkler from Mark Fisher Studio came onboard as set designer, and while Lodge was developing the show in terms of signatures and shapes, Winkler started working on how to make a practical construction out of their evolving ideas.

Around the same time, lighting designer Al Gurdon and video programmer Richard Turner joined the imaginative melting pot. Everyone engaged in the process with complete passion, energy and enthusiasm, with the end results speaking for themselves.

After last October's Berlin show presented the first variation of the curved look, Winkler's basic design developed extremely rapidly. He presented around 24 sketches to Lodge from which one was chosen to develop.

Winkler drew up a preliminary CAD image of the selected design while flying to L.A., where he and Lodge met and finalised a very strong conceptual model that was handed over to the tour’s technical director, Jeremy Lloyd.

Lloyd then started co-ordinating all the necessary interaction between staging, lighting, video, audio and backline departments and contractors to ensure that they bonded with the aesthetics, and that the set could become a workable touring object.

The tried and tested interrelated skills of StageCo and Brilliant Stages were responsible for the physical stage and set. StageCo built the subdeck (up to 1.4m off the ground), fabricated the

scorpion tails and all the towers supporting the video screens and lighting. Brilliant constructed the main stage (that sits on the sub-deck), the B-stage with the revolve and all the tusks, which were fabricated before going to XL Video to have the Barco O-Lite panels fitted.

The Hertfordshire-based company also made the large fascia scrims that fit below the scorpion tails and surround the screens. In conjunction with Flying By Foy, Brilliant also built the gondola person lift in which Williams descends during 'Let Me Entertain You', with a winch system operated by Foy. Meanwhile, Brilliant's parent company, Tomcat supplied the scorpions' underbelly trusses and various linked trusses for the tusks. LiteStructures was also involved with the structures as one of several companies sub-contracted by Brilliant.

VIDEO DYNAMISM Lee Lodge, whose background is in TV, was also fully involved in the video content production which runs for 90% of the show. Again, he wanted to work with a team of designers, each contributing to different elements of the show therefore maximising its visual dynamism. Simultaneously, he was also making special content for the 'B' touring show.

Naturally it’s all custom content that serves to enhance the unique RW brand. They were also lucky enough to have access to some fabulous original 35mm archive footage of Williams’s best loved promos, made by such directors as David LaChapelle, Vaughan Arnell and Jonas Åkerlund.

Three teams — from Colonel Blimp, Intro and Hello Charlie — were involved in the playback material production.

Lodge and Richard Turner worked closely in

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editing and manipulating the content to ensure it would look its best on what was emerging as the stage design, complete with the eight Barco O-Lite panels lining the scorpion tails and curved tusks on-stage. The video programming process intensified during the lengthy pre-production 'cooking' period at LiteStructures, and Al Gurdon was also heavily involved all along in discussing how the content would work with lighting.

XL Video is once again supplying the tour's video hardware, complete with a 14-person crew and Stuart Heaney as chief engineer. Specifically for the tour, XL purchased a brand new Mitsubishi OD8 LED screen (the first company to bring this resolution into Europe) which is configured as a nine high by five wide panel screen at centre stage, plus two 11 high by five wide screens at left and right, continuing the 'super portrait' emphasis.

A six-way live camera mix is being directed by Ruary MacPhie from one of XL’s OB trucks sitting backstage, complete with a Sony 7250 mixer/switcher and a DME 3000 for digital video effects.

The cameras are all broadcast-quality Sony E-10s with a variety of lenses.

There’s one at FOH, one ‘reversed’ from the upstage follow spot bridge, one hand held patrolling the line behind the drum kit, two on track and dolly at the sides of the pit, and one on a specially-made curved track that allows vertical tracking following the contours of the thrust and the spherical B-stage at its end.

The live mix feeds into an Encore system that forms the hub of the video output operation. Programmed by Lodge and Turner, this controls the whole

stage/set in terms of video. The ‘windows’ for when the live mix appears on whichever surface are all pre-programmed. Mostly, the camera mix appears on the side screens via TX direct from the truck. When it appears on the centre screen it’s via manual cues, output from a switchable Aux button.

Over 240 square metres of O-Lite panels (6800 tiles in total) form the bellies of the two scorpion tails and the six tusks. They elegantly ascend the set architecture evoking a surface that’s simultaneously broken up yet inextricably connected. These are primarily used for the pre-recorded video playback footage stored on two GV Turbo high definition hard drives (plus ‘hot’ backup).

The playback footage on the Turbos is activated through the Encore system which is being run by Barco Events Manager software. DMX lighting cues, MIDI from selected backline sequencers and manual triggers also go through this, which is overseen for the show by Pieter Laleman. It also sends timecode cues back to the lighting desk synching them for the start of certain songs.

In addition to the show system, XL is also supplying a 48-screen plasma set up throughout the concourse areas in all venues — co-ordinated with David Llewellyn of Blink TV — and complete with two dedicated XL crew. Each station consists of a plug-and-go 42” plasma, DVD player and a Bluetooth box, complete with regionalised custom content for show-related downloads to the audience's mobile phones. XL is also touring an edit suite and DVD burner rack to produce Blink's DVDs of pre-show ad/promo material for each venue.

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Williams braves the soaring height of the Scorpion.

LIGHTING Although LD Al Gurdon's impressive CV includes the BRIT Awards, MTV Europe Awards and a host of other high profile specials, including Williams's Royal Albert Hall and Knebworth DVDs, this is his first full-on rock'n'roll tour, and he's found it rewarding to collaborate with Winkler, Turner and Lodge, who joked: "I told Al at one point that this wasn’t going to be a video heavy show... but I lied!”

“I have definitely ended up with a much more colourful design than if I'd worked in isolation," commented Gurdon. "Working this way has lent a lot more depth to the end result."

Starting with an initial blank canvas and the space/alien themes, creative discussions commenced between Gurdon, Lodge and Winker. The circular arrangement 'imagineered' for Berlin had already developed into something UFO-like and the three engaged in numerous discussions and debates about architecture, urban, corporate and environmental design with names like Dutch architect/author Rem Koolhaas and flamboyant postmodernist Morris Lapidus frequently recurring.

"The lighting design started quite theoretically," explained Gurdon. "It was more about shape and organic development rather than what kit we were going to use — the numbers and logistics followed further down the line. The lighting’s not about technology, it’s about the dynamics of the music and Robbie’s performance."

The choice of gear was also determined to some extent by it being an exposed outdoor show, plus the sheer scale. Instruments had to be robust and bright enough to read in the often near-daylight conditions.

All the lighting fixtures are fully integrated into the set with each having its specific place to slot into or be hung from.

There were certain things that Gurdon knew he wanted to use from the off. The Saco LED units that

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featured so prominently on the B show rig also feature here with over 2,000 of them outlining the set and scorpions. There’s also a lot of highly noticeable light sources like Atomic Strobes and Syncrolite 5kW B52s.

The show was programmed into the Virtuoso desk at LiteStructures by Mike 'Oz' Owen and is being run on the tour by lighting director Richard Gorrod, who has every detail of the impressive PRG Europesupplied kit list etched in his random access memory!

Without wishing to totally degenerate into an avalanche of anorak-like statistics, it’s LARGE! A total of 1,630 fixtures consume 34 DMX universes! These include 16 Syncrolites, two topping each scorpion tail and tusk, neatly rigged via ‘invisible’ motors stationed at the bottom of each set piece. These fixtures are used for potent, high-impact beam effects.

Eight Novalight High Grounds, newly purchased

by PRG from Lightfactor, are located at the bottom of the PA scrims, shooting upwards for beam effects.

Forty-eight Vari*Lite VL3000 spots are hung on the sides of the O-Lite panels on little 'gallows' arms that pin to the O-Lite support brackets. There’s 88 Martin Professional MAC 2000 Washes hung on various vantage points around the rig including 12 a side in a line fitted through holes cut in the top of the scorpions.

The Atomic strobe count hits 132, all with special customised 16-frame scrollers, and six Dominator effects and four Coemar Supercycs a side uplight the side scrims.

A total of 132 ColorKinetics ColorBlasts are used for various uplighting and downlighting roles, while 23 ChromaQ ColorBlock LED fixtures a side downlight the scorpion tails. Another 15 a side illuminate the PA scrims, concealed behind a header piece… and the list goes on!

Also of note are 430 custom 300W linear floods made by Specialz and built into the O-Lite panels. No self-respecting stadium rig would be complete without

a healthy compliment of Molefeys and this one has 23 a side, encased in matching yellow housings attached to the scorpion tails, six 2-lites a side and nine Moles with scrollers a side backlighting the scrim and set pieces.

The 12 PRG crew are directed by lighting crew chief Mark ‘Marky Mark’ England. The lights are run via timecode, which has been really useful for a show this complex. Gurdon and Gorrod calculated that songs like 'Kids' would have entailed over 350 manual button presses, and doing it this way also frees up Gorrod to concentrate on the manual bumps, of which there are still several in the show, and calling the 12 follow spots — six Gladiators out front and six Stark Lites on the upstage spot bridge.

RIGGING Summit Steel supplied all production rigging equipment with a crew led by head rigger Jez Craddick. With no mother grid, everything is flown off the structure involving 105 Lodestar motors, 70 of which were newly purchased by Summit from Lift-Turn-Move.

Each scorpion tail alone involves 25 motors.

The scorpions are built first, complete with the custom trussing holding the row of MACs along their top inside fascia. Their O-Lite bellies are slid into place and then 'deaded off' while construction starts on the eight tusk frames. While these are underway, the Saco frames outlining the scorpions are installed by the riggers in 2.4 metre sections.

The Syncrolite pairs that live at the top of the tusks and scorpions are are then rigged with the two motors at the base of each tower on the floor and the chain going up over pulleys. Another two motors on the floor lift the special truss ladders and then the OLite panels that cover them.

The video screens are each suspended by three two tonne motors each and there’s another three two tonne hoists underneath the beam trolley on the

productionprofile Key members of the production team step out on to the stage in Paris to observe a pyro test.

upstage spot bridge. The offstage set fascia trusses are also rigged on floor mounted motors to ensure the clean look is maintained, and the PA arrays are hung off large bespoke brackets.

It takes about 2.5 hours to get everything into a position where it can be flown, which is pretty speedy for the size and scale of the rig, of which Craddick nonchalantly commented: “It’s what you make it, isn’t it?”

Devising and installing safety systems was an area of primary importance for the Summit team, who worked in conjunction with The Event Safety Shop to implement standards for all areas of the rigging — see page 48.

For a number of the dates on the continent, German company eps looked after venue infrastructure and supplied the grandstands, as well as providing stage barriers and taking care of the protective flooring of grass surfaces.

As an example, for the Dresden show, eps loaded, transported and constructed more than 240 tons of material, packed on 78 trucks. Beside the grandstands, this included more than 90,000 sq.m. of ground protection (aluminium roadway systems, grass/ground protection systems), 228 specially designed security gates, 860 stage barriers, 899m of demarcation barriers and 12.3km of partially covered mobile fencing.

V-DOSC: GLAD TO BE GREY Britannia Row is once again RW's sound provider with resident engineer Dave Bracey at the FOH controls. Majoring in Lab.gruppenpowered L-Acoustics V-DOSC elements, the formidable PA system sounds as good as it looks, with several new advancements in the way it is configured and driven.

Said Bracey: "We're still using a similar V-DOSC rig but we have the SB218 subs laid out in a completely different way. Before, the subs came from under the main stack and then out into an L-shape on the deck with a clump of subs in the centre. We

can't have centre subs with this show because of the B stage, so instead we have a long ribbon of subs that comes in from both sides as far as they can until they hit a curve, then we have a main vertical sub stack that's moved off underneath the outside stack.

"We're getting really good coverage results from that arrangement, considering we haven't got anything in the absolute centre."

The main centre V-DOSC hangs were painted a special shade of grey

by L-Acoustics in order to match the scenic design. There are four drops of 16 V-DOSC boxes covering the front and sides, three groups of three ARCS at the front edge of the stage, and three under-balcony-firing dVDOSCs at the end of each stage ramp. The delays [on StageCo towers] can vary from two to five stacks according to the venue.

Bracey continues to favour the DiGiCo D5 digital console and uses all of its six effects units, covering reverb for toms, long vocal reverbs and delays, a double track/thickening effect for BVs, and chorus for acoustic guitars. He also employs some choice outboard devices, such as an AMS RMX16 on the snare.

Said Bracey: "The AMS has such a unique sonic character that you can't reproduce it in any other way.

It's only in cases such as that where I would choose to work outside of the D5, except for when I've used up all the internal effects capacity, as I have done here. That's why I'm also using a PCM 91 for all of Rob's short vocal reverbs and half of a t.c. M5000 for string reverbs, all of which I could replicate easily on the D5."

All the outboard matrixing and extra inputs that feed into the D5, such as emergency mics, walk-in music and Blink TV's video feeds, all go into a Yamaha DME-64N matrix mixer with priority overriding capability. "It's like having several Soundwebs in one box," said Bracey.

XTAs are there as crossovers for some L-Acoustics 115XT near-field monitors that come into play to give Bracey a more representative stereo

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productionprofile foldback image if he is forced to mix to the left or right of centre field.

Brand new for this tour are Dolby Lake Processors for system returns with an Optocore return system that runs digitally out to everywhere in the network. System technician Sherif El Barbari manipulates the entire PA EQ and processing via a wireless tablet PC. "The Dolby Lakes sound astonishingly good and it's a big part of why the PA system as a whole is so impressive this time," commented Bracey. "It sounded fine on the last tour, but we just like to push things forward as much as we can every time because we're given the freedom to do so. If anything goes wrong, production understands it's all part of progression.

"The icing on the cake is when it's digital all the way through from the D5 to the Lab.gruppens. Occasionally we've had to put some analogue lines in to break that all up because we're trying to do some pretty complex synchronisation that's akin to a studio set-up, and we haven't quite got it right yet, but we will!"

All together in Amsterdam...

MONITORS & MICS John 'JJ' James is back in the monitoring hot seat, overseeing a 'clean' stage that to the naked eye appears to be wedge-free.

Although, as he explained: "There are some Turbosound TFM-450 wedges that are underneath the stage, firing up through grilles for the few band members who prefer not to wear in-ear systems, as well as fills for drums and piano that are out of view. There are also some wedges for Rob downstage centre and out on the thrust just to help with real-time monitoring when he's a long way out from the PA." All the Sennheiser eW 300 IEMs, Sennheiser eW 500 backing vocal mics (with 935 capsules) and Shure lead vocal mics are wireless. "Even the musicians in fixed positions are on wireless mics, just for safety really, because there's every chance we'll have rain at some point."

RW's recent upgrade to Shure's UHF-R (UR4D receiver) wireless mic system has been "working a treat" according to JJ. "He's using his old faithful Shure Beta 58A mic with a platinum finish, while his mate Jonny Wilkes does a guest spot with a gold version. It's a very reliable mic and perfect for Rob's vocal range."

Bracey was just as keen: "Now that I've had Rob running around the stage and sweating into it for a while, I can tell how much of an improvement this is compared to previous Shure radio mics. It's a lot more stable in the RF as well as sounding good."

Since Berlin, the guitar cabinets have been miked with Shure SM7s, with the exception of Gary Nuttall's Vox amp which uses a Neumann TLM 103. Otherwise it's as before, with a Shure SM91 and Beta 52 on kick drum, B57s on snare top/bottom, Sennheiser e914 (hi-hats & ride cymbal), SM98s (rack & floor toms) and a TLM 103 on overheads. There's also an Audio Technica AT4054 as an additional vocal mic for 'Planet' Claire Worrall, and a pair of SM58s also feed

stadium ambience into the IEM mixes.

BSS DI boxes are in evidence for acoustic guitars and double bass.

On stage are two very powerful hemispherical antenna systems — Sennheiser AC3000 Active Transmitter Combiners. The extra boost is required due the expanse of Williams's performance areas. It's proven essential when he's at the front of the B stage and on top of one of the scorpions on 'Let Me Entertain You'.

"I do a walkabout every day to make sure that the mix EQ on every part of the stage is trimmed correctly," commented JJ. "I don't know what it's like for Rob, but when I'm testing his mic up on that scorpion, it's bloody scary!"

In terms of potential feedback risk, what happens when Williams ventures out to the B stage and the main PA hangs become the biggest sidefills in the world? "There's a bunch of presets that Dave presses. Depending on which area Rob is in, Dave can temporarily mute or re-EQ certain cabinets that are directly firing at Rob's mic at that point. So there's very little risk of any howling."

Bracey explained further: "I'm able to route Rob and his effects separately to all the zones, so I can dip his level in, say, a set of the ARCS but not affect the balance anywhere else in the PA." JJ's as happy as ever with his 96-channel DiGiCo D5 digital console, and there is a spare in residence for support acts. He's generating 24 mono and four stereo mixes on stage, including a few effects sends and technician sends. "I tend to use very little processing, and what I do use is all inside the desk. It really is a beautifully designed product and there's a feeling of immense control when you're mixing on it."

The European leg ends with five dates at the 65,000 capacity Milton Keynes Bowl in September, after which the 'B' production (as seen in South Africa and Dubai) travels to South America, China, South-East Asia and India throughout the autumn. The 'A' production then takes over for dates in Australia in December.

American dates are curiously absent from the itinerary, but as Wob Roberts points out, this is an artist who has, so far, not prioritised breaking through into that difficult market. "Rob now lives in L.A. and his peers obviously know who he is, but he loves the fact that he can go to the Beverly Center and buy a pair of jeans without getting mobbed. He's found a place of sanctuary and at the moment he has no real desire to become the kind of star over there that he is back in the UK. He's got the best of both worlds!"

TPi Photography at Parc des Princes, Paris

by Diana Scrimgeour & Mark Cunningham Crew group photograph (above) at Amsterdam ArenA

by Louise Stickland

ROBBIE WILLIAMS Close Encounters European Tour 2006 — Key Personnel & Suppliers: Management: IE Music/David Enthoven, Tim Clark, Josie Cliff • Creative Director: Lee Lodge • Agent: X-Ray Touring • Production Company: Kingstreet Tours (RW06) Ltd • Production Manager: Wob Roberts • Production Assistant: Lizzie Adshead • Tour Manager: Jäki Hildisch • Assistant Tour Manager: Heike Kraemer • Security: Gary Marshall, David Sylvester, Derek Gamblin, Cary Nightingale, Manfred Meyer • Health & Safety: The Event Safety Shop • Physiotherapist: Anna Barnsley • Accountant: Tom Golseth • Accounts Assistant: Jane Finn • Technical Design Director: Jeremy Lloyd • Site Co-ordinators: Tom Armstrong, Steve Iredale • Steel System Crew Chiefs: Hendrik Verdeyen, James Bartlett, Antonio Duarte Da Cruz, Dean Mulley • Stage Manager: Gary Currier • Assistant Stage Manager: Paddy Fitzpatrick • Stage Crew: Stage Miracles • Rigging: Summit Steel • Head Rigger: Jez Craddick • Riggers: Nick Evans, Johannes Soelter, Brian Wares • Flying Effects: Flying By Foy • Barriers: Eve eps GmbH • Wardrobe & Dressing Rooms: Flo Guenand, Sally O’Mara • Casbah IT: Greg Willmott • Set Design: Ray Winkler/Mark Fisher Studio • Set: Brilliant Stages • Staging: StageCo • Lighting: PRG Europe • Lighting Designer: Al Gurdon • Lighting Programmer: Mike Owen • Lighting Operator: Rich Gorrod • Lighting Crew Chief: Mark England • Lighting Crew: Sean Burke, Aidan McCabe, Phil Sharp, Nick Russell, Gordon Torrington, Dave Prior, John Murray, Mick Stowe, Ray Whelan, Tony Mullings • PA: Britannia Row Productions • FOH Engineer: Dave Bracey • Monitor Engineer: John ‘JJ’ James • Sound Crew Chief: Sherif El Barbari • Sound Crew: Bart Schoonbaert, Chris Morrison, Steph Thompson, Chris Peters, Andy Andreou, Ben Phillips • Backline: Adam Birch, Jules Bowen, Neal Adcocks, Jez Webb, Mick Winder • Video: XL Video/Blink TV • Video Jedi: Richard Turner • Video Director: Ruary Macphie • Video Crew Chief: Stuart Heaney • Racks Engineers: Graham Howill, Jeroen Marain • LED Techs: Pieter Laleman, Patrick van Steelant, Jezz Harmer • Camera Operators: Gary Beirne, Larn Poland, Mark Cruikshank, Darren Montague, Gavin Thompson, Digital Video: Matt Gourd, Gary Twigg • Pyrotechnics: Feuer & Flammen • SFX Techs: Theobald Ruby, Christoph Drinhaus, Lars Hollstein, Skadi Schulz, Nick Thompsett • Radios: SAY Radio Solutions • Wireless Systems: Hand Held Audio • Head Carpenter: Rick Worsfold • Carpenters: George Osborne, Glenn Binley, Andy Russell, Mike Howson • Generators: Fourth Generation • Generator Crew Chief: Andy Morris • Dressing Rooms: GLD/James Jacques, Mark Caldwell • Travel Agent: Rima Travel/Cath Goldby • Aircraft Charter: Chapman Freeborn • Freight: Global Motion • Band Transport: Stars & Cars, CET Chauffeur Service • Buses: Phoenix Bussing • Lead Bus Driver: Mike Birch • Trucking: Stage Truck • Lead Truck Driver: Matt Kenward • Passes: Band Pass • Itineraries: Woblee Itineraries • Catering: Popcorn • Personal Chefs: Graham Morrison, Mairead De Barra • Head Chef: Darren Staats • Insurance: Swinglehurst & Torribles 24 TPi SUMMER 06

productionprofile

the man who likes to say ‘yes’ TIM ROBERTS OF THE EVENT SAFETY SHOP (TESS) EXPLAINS HIS ‘ENABLING’ ROLE ON THE ROBBIE WILLIAMS TOUR...

A common perception of the health and safety officers is that they are clipboard wielding fascists who walk around an event site telling people they can't do certain things. The reality is, we go all out to help production teams to stage their show as it was designed, in such a way that everybody remains healthy and safe. Ours is an enabling role, and Robbie Williams's tour is a perfect example of what we do.

Simon James and I divide the safety officer role between the two 'leapfrogging' touring systems, and we were invited by Wob Roberts, who has a very enlightened approach to health and safety, and wants to continue to be at the forefront of good, efficient, economic, exciting and safe production. I first met Wob when he came to one of our training courses a few years ago, and he's very committed.

It's quite unusual for a tour to have its own safety officer. In most cases, a tour will encounter a safety officer either from the local authority or from the venue, who will inevitably be that classic clipboard wielding 'no' merchant — "I don't like this, you can't have that, your certificates don't comply"... and so on.

But to have a safety officer working on the tour, on behalf of the production, is a useful and effective tool by which we can translate rock'n'roll jargon into health and safety language, and bridge the huge void between the two worlds.

A by-product of this is that we've removed the paperwork burden from Wob and people like Tom Armstrong, Steve Iredale and Gary Currier, who can now spend time on other important areas.

All the contractors on this tour are very sensible people who undertake risk assessments and do method statements, but the rock'n'roll business is not coached in this phraseology. Their vocabulary tends to include phrases like "easy in, easy out", "all-night loadout" and "let's crack on".

So, a lot of what we're doing on this tour, and for other clients, is to translate that good practice into a language that is acceptable to authorities in an enforcement role, who might ignorantly stereotype crews as drug-taking hippies. Whereas, in fact, this is a multi-million pound international business that sustains itself on the road, and that needs to embrace a language that describes what it does so well.

There are very few organisations in the world that could do what this kind of tour does. We are brilliant at arriving at a site where there is nothing, making something phenomenal happen, then disappearing and doing it all again. We possess all the skills that the Army employ to mount a campaign overseas, and we do this profitably, efficiently and entertainingly.

AVOIDING PROBLEMS On this show, TESS are primarily interested in production safety — that’s what Wob wanted and Cary Nightingale (Show & Event) is very ably dealing with promoters on front of house issues. We tend to be more concerned with what happens behind the pit barrier in terms of production build, dismantling and making sure that it is safe for the punters to come in and enjoy themselves.

From the outset we've looked ways in which we can avoid problems occurring by getting things right in the first instance. Of course, that's not to say we've designed the set, but we've had input all the way down the line, so that any decisions about the architecture and the build method have gone through our 'filter' to consider the safety of anyone on site. Occasionally we've helped with reinterpreting paperwork and 24 TPi SUMMER 06

hopefully got people to think more about safety aspects than they would have done previously. After all, we all want to go home from a show in one piece.

One of the most rewarding things about this tour for us is that whenever we have made a suggestion, we've been listened to by Wob or Jeremy Lloyd [technical design director], and these ideas are debated.

As an example, on this show we've worked with Summit Steel, StageCo and the tour riggers to ensure that all the large pieces of steelwork have an integral static safety line consisting of a low-stretch climbing rope with shock absorber attachment at the top, builtin by an advance rigger before the production load-in begins. Anyone who climbs that steel uses a Petzl ASAP clip-on device that fixes them to the line and tracks up and down to prevent a fall. Theoretically, there's never any climbing without protection, and the whole system is invisible to the audience without lumpy inertia reels at the top of every tusk.

Things like this, and indeed our services, aren't expensive and they make little difference to the overall budget. It's literally a case of prioritising safety at the earliest stage, and by doing so you are limiting the risk of extra costs at a later date. If you go the other route and design a show without any safety input, and then bring us in on the first show, it’s like asking us to polish a turd!

A few years ago there was a perception that the Glastonbury Festival (now a regular client) was like the Wild West. Everyone seemed to be thrashing about without any consideration to health and safety. You had people spending valuable time on filling out accident reports and sending out for replacement crew. But it's a different festival now — very safe, very professional, with an excellent safety culture spread throughout the organisation from Michael Eavis and Melvin Benn downwards.

We've produced a health and safety policy for this tour, which I believe is a first and will hopefully set a precedent for future tours. All of the contractors have signed up to it, and it's been circulated to every promoter who will have clear detail regarding the quality of local crew and the manner in which they present themselves.

I don't get any personal benefit from seeing a crew member wearing a hard hat. The only person who benefits is the wearer. It doesn't take much thinking to realise that if you're working on a stage during build-up and you don't wear one, you run the risk of sustaining injury (or worse) from even the smallest falling object.

NOISE AT WORK The 2005 Noise at Work regulations now apply and the music industry has a two-year grace period after which it has to comply — we're halfway through that already. To help people with that process, the HSE is drafting guidance documents based on advice from a whole range of professionals throughout the industry, from pubs and clubs, to stadium tours.

So lots of us, including the PSA's Andy Lenthall who has attended every meeting, have had many discussions about the strategies that people can adopt in order to keep them safe and within the law.

At the root of it is getting people to recognise there is a problem. If you instruct rock'n'roll people to wear ear plugs and turn down the volume, because the regulations say so, you'll most likely receive a stream of abuse. The reason a lot of these guys got into rock'n'roll was to avoid conforming to rules, and

L-R: Wob Roberts & Tim Roberts — no, they’re not identical twins. ironically it's the reason I got into it myself!

But if you tell them that if they continue to work without taking care of their most valuable asset, within a few years they'll eventually damage their hearing to the extent that they'll be unemployable as an engineer or technician. The concept of self-preservation starts to make sense.

A certain well-known rental company recently made some informal measurements and found that its staff are 10,000 times over the noise exposure limit.

Under the new regulations, you can probably get your weekly exposure dose by adjusting the mics on a drum kit without any protection, because it's that loud.

This is a huge challenge for our industry and we have a long way to go. But there's no way we're going to get any dispensation just because we're rock'n'rollers. It is industrial noise, it is something that will affect people's long-term health, and it has to be taken seriously. A lot of people will be driven into compliance by the fear of being sued, but that's a very negative and short-sighted way of looking at it.

On this tour, we're piloting our draft by circulating it amongst the Robbie crew because we want the eventual document to be based on their real world feedback and advice, rather than the opinions of a crusty old fuddy-duddy whose last concert experience was watching Bill Haley in the '50s.

So it'll be interesting to see what Dave Bracey and his sound crew make of the draft document, especially when it's about protecting themselves against the very thing they do. But this is already an example of a tour where all sorts of other strategies are already in place to reduce exposures. The stage doesn't have massive amounts of backline noise, blaring wedges or loud sidefills, because the monitoring is virtually all in-ear based. Plus, the careful placement of PA hangs and their radiation angles have reduced the amount of audio spillage backstage.

Ultimately, we seek to promote good practice in an industry that is already very well developed, but simply needs to look a little more closely at the way it operates. Safety legislation is here to stay; we are here to help.

Interview by Mark Cunningham