TPi February 2016 - Issue 198

TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL

TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL

WWW.TPiMAGAZINE.COM FEBRUARY 2016

ISSUE 198

LIVE EVENT DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY • FEBRUARY 2016 • ISSUE 198 LIFE IS A MYSTERY, EVERYONE MUST STAND ALONE...

MADONNA

THE QUEEN OF POP’S ARCHITECTURAL ALLURE

IN REMEMBRANCE: LEMMY & BOWIE • MUMFORD & SONS • HOZIER • JOSH GROBAN IN THE SPOTLIGHT: CLAIR GLOBAL • INTERVIEW: FRANK TURNER

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“The LEO Family is the right choice for providing the best quality sound to our clients and their audiences.

The Meyer Sound brand is the perfect match for Wigwam Acoustics, in terms of its reputation for quality.”

Chris Hill, Co-founder and Spencer Beard, Managing Director, Wigwam Acoustics

Read the full interview at meyersound.com/wigwam

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Meyer Sound Laboratories Inc. • 2832 San Pablo Ave. • Berkeley, CA 94702 • 510 486.1166

PUBLISTING TPI

Creative: LEOPARD Launch Ads

Contact: Elania Nanopoulos Phone: 510 486.1166 x115

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PRODUCTION NOTES Keylines do not print INK: 4/c STOCK: magazine

Close Date 11/24/15

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PRELUDE

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#NOTBEYONDUS I’m not going to lie, this is going to get a bit morbid. It’s February 4. It’s just a regular Thursday in a way. Except it’s really not, because it’s World Cancer Day. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of silly days out there: National ‘Hug a Vegetarian Day’ for a start. Am I a vegetarian? Yes. Do I want random people to hug me one day a year because of my dietary habits? Mate, absolutely not! But World Cancer Day is a day that does matter. In one swift login to Facebook, it’s clear that today is resonating with so many of you. Some more than others, but resonating all the same. Some of you from very personal experience. It’s fitting really, that I now have to open this magazine with a heavy heart due to the nature of what the Big (big, stupid, ugly, pointless) C has taken from us in the last few weeks. As humans, as music lovers, as live industry aficionados, we’ve lost some iconic musicians. On December 28 we were left in total shock to hear that Mötorhead legend Lemmy had passed away. A hell-raiser on stage and an English gentlemen off stage, his personality was as loud as his bass thuds.

Then, on January 10 we lost another British “So do me a favour - because megastar in the form of David Bowie. The impact of this news hit generation after generation I’ll only nag you when I see pretty hard. Again, the lack of public knowledge you - no matter how busy you surrounding his illness created a very real are, how gruelling your touring shockwave through both the music industry and his adoring public. And then (I know!) just schedule is, or how positive your four days later, we also lost beloved actor, Alan outlook is on this beautiful life, Rickman. With such talents leaving us so rapidly, please remember to check for it was quite a shocking way to begin 2016. Let’s those lumps, bumps, aches and not just put emphasis on famous people though; a 2015 health report estimated that 14 million pains...” people will learn that they have cancer each year.

That’s tens of thousands per day. Told you this would get morbid. The good news is that more people than ever before are surviving cancer. And if 1 in 3 people (in the UK) are statistically affected by the disease in their lifetime, then the truth is that to live with cancer in any capacity, is to live in a state of normality. And as terrifying as that news may be for both patients and families, the good news is that we work in one of the most globally supportive industries imaginable. The whole reason I started the Clocking Off column in TPi was to give a voice to how charitable and caring you are, and the large majority of stories thus far have revolved around cancer. It’s as unnerving as it is inspiring. And today, I’m thinking of you all. So do me a favour - because I’ll only nag you when I see you - no matter how busy you are, how gruelling your touring schedule is, how positive your outlook is on this beautiful life, please remember to check for those lumps, bumps, aches and pains. Gents, especially you. Pay attention to your bodies and look after yourselves. ‘Our world’ won’t be the same without you. Tributes start on Pg. 8.

Much love, Kelly Murray Editor

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ITINERARY

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Editor Kelly Murray Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7738 154689 e-mail: k.murray@mondiale.co.uk Assistant Editor Ste Durham Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8385 Mobile: +44 (0)7891 679742 e-mail: s.durham@mondiale.co.uk Editorial Assistant Stewart Hume Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7712 607419 e-mail: s.hume@mondiale.co.uk General Manager - Magazine & Awards Hannah Eakins Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7760 485230 e-mail: h.eakins@mondiale.co.uk Advertising Sales - TPi Magazine Charlotte Goodlass Tel: +44 (0)161 476 9126 Mobile: +44 (0)788 0208 226 e-mail: c.goodlass@mondiale.co.uk Event Manager - TPi Awards Mo Naeem Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)775 9272 313 e-mail: m.naeem@mondiale.co.uk Graphic Design & Production Dan Seaton: d.seaton@mondiale.co.uk Zoe Willcox: z.willcox@mondiale.co.uk

IN REMEMBRANCE 08 Two Lost Legends Tributes to Lemmy and David Bowie.

EVENT FOCUS 12 Mötley Crüe

The legendary rock band’s Final Tour.

14 Britannia Row’s New BSc Hons A new live sound production degree.

18 Motown Revue

A talk with distinguished LD, Palle Palmé.

22 Frank Sinatra Celebration

An orchestral tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes.

26 UK Events Group

Fatboy Slim and Basement Jaxx celebrate NYD.

28 Shure’s KSM8

The microphone manufacturer unveils its latest dynamic mic at this year’s NAMM show.

PRODUCTION PROFILE 32 Madonna

A masterpiece set fit for a Queen; the icon returns

with another stellar arena tour.

44 Mumford & Sons

Kelly Murray pays the folk rock band a visit on

their latest UK tour.

Accounts Lynette Levi / Sarah Miller: ar@mondiale.co.uk

58 Hozier

The Irish singer, along with his loyal crew, hit the

Chief Executive Justin Gawne

Mondiale Group Chairman Damian Walsh

66 Josh Groban

The opera-pop artist on his Stages show.

www.tpimagazine.com • www.tpiawards.com Contributors Louise Stickland & Sarah Rushton-Read Cover Photography Madonna by Stufish

UK with a full production package.

COMPANY PROFILE 70 TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley

Ste Durham visits the company’s Yorkshire HQ.

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

74 Production Park

Issue 198 / February 2016

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 2014 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.

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An update from the Wakefield site.

DAY IN THE LIFE OF...

78 FOH Engineer, Rob Sadler talks travelling tech.

INTERVIEW 80 Frank Turner A look back at five years with Nitelites.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT 84 Clair Global’s new Cohesion CO-12 line array.

MOVERS & SHAKERS 88 The latest industry appointments.

PSA

90 Andy Lenthall meets Oluwakemi Eboda, who aims

to improve event safety in her native Nigeria.

VITAL STATS 94 Jim Digby, Founder and Chairman of the board of

the Event Safety Alliance stops by for a chat.

07

IN REMEMBRANCE: Lemmy

IAN ‘LEMMY’ KILMISTER 1945-2015 While Lemmy came to be known as the embodiment of rock ‘n’ roll - Jack Daniels, Marlboro Reds and (in the formative years of his career) amphetamines his favoured poisons - a short conversation with those who knew him reveals a much fuller picture of the man that we so suddenly lost in December 2015.

Aside from losing one of music’s last true hell-raisers, our industry in particular has lost one of its hardest working acts. Over the course of four decades, Motörhead forged a reputation as one of the world’s most uncompromising live rock ‘n’ roll bands - a feat that was driven from the front by Lemmy’s ferocious bass playing and characteristically rasping vocal delivery.

Perhaps given his own time as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, Lemmy had a great deal of respect for his crew - even penning the Motörhead classic (We Are) The Road Crew in their honour.

Steve Sunderland has been part of ‘The Motörhead Family’ since 1979 and, along with his company Audiolease, has been involved in virtually every headline show the band played in Europe during that time. In addition to this, Sunderland was very close with Lemmy himself: “Lemmy was a remarkable, unique man, and one of the nicest, most genuine, honest people I’ve ever met. He was an absolutely fantastic guy. It didn’t matter who you were - if you were a straight talker then 08

Lemmy had time for you.”

He continued: “What people might not realise was that Lemmy was also a very bright, very together guy. He used to read extensively and was incredibly clued-up, particularly on military history from the 20th Century. His depth of knowledge was absolutely fantastic - he could name more or less every single German ship from the Second World War and even tell you what happened to it.”

(WE ARE) THE ROAD CREW Sunderland also told of how, in his later days, Lemmy would often be found away from the noise, in his dressing room either on the fruit machine that the band took on tour, or reading an obscure history book. He continued: “I never heard him raise his voice - he was always an absolute gentleman to everybody on tour. Motörhead became a family on the road, band and crew included, and once you were a member, that was it. It was a pretty special group of people.”

Another member of The Motörhead Family was Ian ‘Eagle’ Dobbie, who also joined on the crest of the wave in 1979. He laughed: “I’ve got so many memories of Lemmy on the road, most of which are probably unprintable! It’s safe to say that I had the time of my life working with Motörhead in its various incarnations, but Lemmy was always the constant. I saw the world with him, had arguments

IN REMEMBRANCE: Lemmy

Opposite: Over the course of four decades, Motörhead forged a reputation as one of the world’s most uncompromising live rock ‘n’ roll bands – a feat that was driven from the front by Lemmy’s ferocious bass playing and characteristically rasping vocal delivery. Below: The bomber and Motörhead

with him, partied with him and even fought alongside him. Once in particular I remember standing with him against a gang of German teddy boys who tried to crash our gig in Hamburg! Luckily, the police let us off because we’d done them a big favour by sorting them out!”

Dobbie continued: “Over the years The Motörhead Family developed, and you never lose that connection. I stopped in 2005 and I’m still part of that family.”

One member of the family that worked on Lemmy’s last show was Lighting Designer Caio Bertti. He remembered his introduction to the team: “Since my first show, I asked everyone for feedback regarding how it was looking.

Everyone was really happy with it; even the

superfans gave me some great compliments… but no word from Lemmy. After a dozen or so shows, when I was focussing the lights on stage in rehearsal, Lemmy walked up to me, looked in my eyes and said: ‘Hey kid, the lights look fucking good!’ What more do you need!?”

Although Lemmy’s unexpected passing cut short Motörhead’s latest tour, the band was still able to premiere its new stage show at a few dates, complete with the return of the legendary truss bomber.

Sunderland remembered: “The last time I saw Lemmy was at the show in Munich, which is where they flew the bomber again. Even after 37 years it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. The band played exceptionally, he sang fantastically, the bomber looked incredible and

the sound was out of this world. It really was the ultimate Motörhead show.”

The final word goes to MD of GLS Lighting, Ian Turner: “Through my work at GLS, I have been privileged to look after Motörhead’s tour lighting for the last 12 years. During that period, we have seen some amazing tours culminating in the bomber tour in November and December 2015, just before Lemmy’s devastating passing.

The band have always been a pleasure to work with and I’ve always been welcomed as one of The Motörhead Family. There was no bullshit or pretence and he was always a proper old school gentleman. He really was one of a kind - a true rock legend who will be sadly missed.”

TPi www.imotorhead.com

09

IN REMEMBRANCE: David Bowie

DAVID BOWIE 1947-2016 THE GENRE-DEFYING AND LEGENDARY MUSICIAN PASSED AWAY PEACEFULLY, SURROUNDED BY CLOSE FRIENDS AND FAMILY, ON 10 JANUARY, AFTER HIS LARGELY UNKNOWN, 18-MONTH BATTLE WITH LIVER CANCER. Born David Robert Jones, Bowie began his life in music at the tender age of 15 when he formed his first band, The Konrads. In June 1964, at the age of 17, he released his first song Liza Jane/Louie Louie Go Home, under the name of Davie Jones with The King Bees. In that same year he began to show his anti-establishment persona by forming the The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men in defense of his unusual hair and style, which would soon become all the rage.

The following year he changed his name from David Jones to David Bowie, to distinguish himself from Jones of The Monkees (a choice that his manager at the time joked about, telling him that “no one will make a monkey out of you”), and slowly his iconic name began to spread across the British music industry.

Starting as David Bowie & The Buzz, he eventually released his first self-titled album at the age of 20. It was around this age that he started to apply his many talents to a myriad of different artist applications, ranging from short films to his own mime troupe Turquoise (which would later be re-named Feathers), alongside his ever growing musical exploits. At 22 he first saw his fame sky rocket as his hit song Space Oddity was used by the BBC to cover the moon landing; a fitting beginning to the budding star’s rise to prominence.

Three years later, at the age of 25, Bowie first displayed his most striking and well-known character; Ziggy Stardust, who appeared alongside his groundbreaking album, The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

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From that point on there was no limit to his influence on popular culture. Along with his ever-shifting music came spectacles on Broadway and the silver screen.

However, as charismatic as he was in front of a camera or before a studio microphone, many argue Bowie’s live presence was beyond words. He left a lasting impression wherever he went, be they for televised appearances, live shows or festivals.

Some of his most historic appearances include his live rendition of Golden Years on Soul Train in 1975, his monumental contribution to Live Aid in 1985 and his headlining show at Glastonbury in 2000. Although it was at his live shows and during his tours where he showed that he was not only a transcendent musician, but a remarkably kind-hearted human being as well, as countless fans have stories of the singer stopping midsong to check if his more amorous fans (those seeking to grab David’s hands only to find his security guards’ arms locked around them) had sustained any injuries in their dash across the barriers.

The singer was publically commemorated in a memorial concert held at London’s Union Chapel, where fans consoled each other while experiencing five hours of music and tributes.

Comedian David Baddiel told the audience: “I assumed Bowie was immortal. I thought he was a space god who had come to live amongst us. And I couldn’t process that he had died. He is, was, the greatest tunesmith we have.”

TPi www.davidbowie.com

FOH – David Gilmore

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EVENT FOCUS: Mötley Crüe

MÖTLEY CRÜE’S FINAL TOUR A LINEUP OF MARTIN PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING FIXTURES ILLUMINATED ACCLAIMED METAL BAND MÖTLEY CRÜE’S FINAL TOUR. LIGHTING DESIGNER MATT MILLS DEPLOYED MAC VIPER AIRFXS, MAC QUANTUM WASHES AND ATOMIC 3000 DMX STROBES IN A LIGHT SHOW INTENDED TO DAZZLE HUGE ARENA CROWDS.

Mötley Crüe’s LD for their final tour, Matt Mills, who has previous worked with Nelly Furtado, 3 Doors Down, Disturbed and Linkin Park, stated that the band wanted to pull out ‘all the stops’ for this latest tour.

“The band wants no ambiguity,” he said.

“After 30 years, Mötley Crüe was going out with a bang and wants to treat audiences to an unforgettable light show.”

The tour began in July 2014 and has covered more than 80 cities across the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. The tour wrapped up with a three-night run at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, culminating in a final show on New Year’s Eve. The stage concept centred around drummer Tommy Lee’s famous ‘Crüecify’ drum kit, which was attached to a platform and fastened to 12

two metal tracks, nicknamed the ‘Tommy Coaster’. The drum kit was welded to plates on the track, with secondary attachments for the individual parts. Lee’s drum solos began from the stage before he and his drum kit moved slowly up the track, rotating 360° during the ascent and going as high as 60ft above the stage before descending. Mills said the Tommy Coaster drew huge applause from audience.

“Tommy wanted a look similar to airport runway lights,” Mills said. “The Crüecifly has two runs of truss, each approximately 200ft long, that support Tommy’s drum kit during his solos as he slowly rides on the tracks, starting on the stage and ending up at a landing platform behind FOH. It’s pretty wild.”

With the goal of creating an extravagant light show, Mills selected 36 Martin

EVENT FOCUS: Mötley Crüe

Opposite: After 30 years of touring, Mötley Crüe wanted to go out in style for their Final Tour with a huge show design complete with a big a light show and plenty of pyrotechnics. Below: LD Matt Mills made use of several Martin Professional lighting fixtures for the shows including 36 MAC Viper AirFXs; the stage concept was centred around Tommy Lee’s death-defying drum solo stunt, nicknamed the Tommy Coaster.

Professional MAC Viper AirFXs, which provided huge aerial looks and rich textures for the stage setup. He also noted the MAC Viper AirFX’s zoom capabilities and gobo package, which he said allowed him to experiment with lots of over-the-top lighting designs.

Mills added 10 Martin Professional MAC Quantum Washes to the trusses to provide adequate front wash for supporting act Alice Cooper. “We wanted a powerful wash light, which is what we got with the MAC Quantum Washes,” he stated. “On top of that, we added 66 Martin Professional Atomic 3000 DMX strobes. It was a true lighting explosion.”

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Mills also said that another key benefit of Martin lighting fixtures is their flexibility when it comes to placement. In this case, the fixtures worked alongside a huge pyrotechnic show.

“We actually had to make sure the fixtures wouldn’t get engulfed in flames, which meant figuring out how to fit them into tight spaces,” he said. “We knew no matter what the stage setup was, we could get the Martin fixtures situated in the right spots.” Mills cited the reliability of Martin fixtures as the primary reason he has used them for more than a decade. “First and foremost, the rig has to work and, with Martin, it always does. Plus, our

LIVE EVENTS SHOWREEL

vendor, Christie Lites, is a large Martin rental house that keeps the gear in great condition, so reliability is never a concern for me. The feature sets are great, but the confidence I have in the fixtures working night after night is why I’m still a Martin customer after all these years.”

TPi

www.motley.com www.martin.com www.christielites.com

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EVENT FOCUS: Britannia Row

BRITANNIA ROW: TECHNICAL TRAINING BRITANNIA ROW PRODUCTIONS TRAINING ANNOUNCES THE CREATION OF ITS THREE YEAR BSC HONS DEGREE IN LIVE SOUND PRODUCTION TOGETHER WITH OTHER COURSES SCHEDULED FOR 2016. THIS UNIQUE DEGREE WILL GIVE STUDENTS AN INTENSE AND COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO EVERYTHING NEEDED TO PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR A CAREER IN LIVE SOUND PRODUCTION. The programme has been developed after a long period of discussion and planning between Britannia Row Productions Training and South Thames College. The course will be run by South Thames College with Britannia Row Production Training industry professionals delivering lectures throughout the course.

The degree will be validated by the University of Northampton. Validation is scheduled for the end of March 2016. Student loans of up to £9,000 per year are available to meet course fees. Students can apply now for places on 14

the course which will commence in September 2016 through UCAS or directly to South Thames College.

Places are available, subject to course validation, but if the UCAS deadline is missed, would-be students will be able to apply directly to the college.

The first two years of the degree course will be based on Britannia Row’s intensive Live Sound Technology Course at Level 5, which has been expanded. The third year will move the students onto the newly developed Level 6.

The course is intended to offer students

the opportunity to not only experience Britannia Row’s programme but to enable them to collate a portfolio of work to make graduates immediately employable within their own network of contacts, not to mention expanding the students own academic disciplines. By combining mainstream higher education with industry training, this course offers students the opportunity to obtain this BSc Hons degree while spending three years with leading sound engineers and specialist technicians giving them the opportunity to establish a network of industry contacts by the end of your course.

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EVENT FOCUS: Britannia Row

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Previous page: Britannia Row Productions Training announces the creation of its three year BSc hons degree giving students an intense and comprehensive guide to everything needed to prepare them for a career in live sound production.

Britannia Row Productions Training’s Managing Director, Mike Lowe explained his feelings on the new course: “We believe that this course is highly unique and relevant to the live sound industry. As employers we have a good insight into what other companies are looking for when they recruit and what they will be looking for in the future. When we launched Britannia Row Productions Training and our first short training courses in the summer of 2013, the thought of us building up to a degree course was a dream that we thought may lie ahead somewhere in the future. It is hard to believe that we have travelled so far, so fast.

South Thames College and the University of Northampton both really got behind our belief that this degree in live sound is needed and long overdue and would be at its best and most relevant by partnering with Britannia Row Productions Training. I believe that this BSc Hons degree course in Live Sound Production will be the most relevant and focused training for anyone wanting to have the best of starts in the live sound industry.”

Britannia Row Productions Training has also announced the first two part time courses for 2016, both starting in March.

The next part time Live Sound Fundamentals course commences on Saturday 5 March 2016 and will run every Saturday thereafter for 16 weeks with a break for the Easter weekend.

The course teaches entry level fundamentals for those wanting to work in live sound as semiprofessionals in a local venue or for a small sound / AV company.

It is taught over 15 one-day Sessions. Each session can be taken as an individual standalone module for those wanting to brush up on a particular subject, but Britannia Row recommends that all semesters are attended in order to make the most of the course.

TPi www.britanniarow.com

A brief summary of what students can expect from the three year course: Semester 1 (year one) Audio Electronics Principles of Sound Studio and Live Multi-Track Tecnology

Semester 2 (year one) Industry Professional Practice Live Sound Systems Digital Audio Systems

Semester 3 (year two) Sound System Design and Rigging Mixing, Remixing and Mastering Synchronisation and Visuals

Semester 4 (year two) Acoustic Prediction and Critical Listening Sound System Networking and Optimisation Client Focused Projects

Semester 5 (year three) Advanced Live Systems Engineering Exhibition and Presentation

Semester 6 (year three) Final Major Project Freelance Business Plan

EVENT FOCUS: Motown Revue

NOTHING BUT GLP FOR SWEDISH MOTOWN REVUE DISTINGUISHED SWEDISH LIGHTING DESIGNER, PALLE PALMÉ, PROVIDED AN IMAGINATIVE LIGHTING DESIGN FOR A PRE-CHRISTMAS SEASON AT STOCKHOLM’S FAMED BERNS SALONGER - EXCLUSIVELY USING LED FIXTURES FROM THE GLP IMPRESSION CATALOGUE.

The Motown Featuring Afro-Dite revue is one of the Dröse & Norberg entertainment productions that Palmé has been working on for the past four years.

“We presented the Motown show in the north of Sweden last year, but without AfroDite, and when Robert Dröse told me that they planned to stage the show at Berns Salonger it felt like time to expose it to a big audience.”

As Technical Manager at Berns Salonger from 1989 to 1992 Palmé knew the venue well, and helped relaunch it after a four-year refurbishment. He commented: “The room is absolutely fabulous and gives the designer plenty of possibilities.”

The Motown show was all about the music, voices and lighting, which was made up entirely from 72 GLP heads. ”We do not have any set at 18

all - the visual look of the show is entirely in my hands. Because it is a 90-minute show without intermission we have to keep the audience engaged, both with the choice of songs and the lighting states,” Palmé added.

He admitted to being an old hand at using GLP’s technology: “Like many of my colleagues, I am a long-time user of the impression 120 RZ, which was among the first LED washes that I connected with.”

GLP’s new representative for the Nordics, Daniel Rüdén, was eager to bring Palmé up to date with a new portfolio including X4’s, X4XLs, X1’s, X4Ls, X4 Bar 10’s and Spot Ones.

“I had seen the X4 and Spot One at LDI last year and on some TV specials, but the others were new to me,” he said. “My lighting colleague Calle Grimaldi told me that Daniel

was starting GLP Sweden, and once I had seen a demo I thought it would be wonderful to try a large number on a single rig.”

Palmé said he was immediately inspired: “The colour temperatures are amazing and the skin colours really smooth - in fact I didn’t need any tungsten for this purpose as I expected.

Normally it is not the easiest thing to mix a colour from an LED unit that lights the skin well but here it was really simple. I love the colours and try to use looks that people can relate to - I also like the huge zoom in the lamps.”

The different effects that the GLP units can generate are slowly introduced after the first 20 minutes of the show. “It is a very musicallydesigned show and we run everything on timecode,” Palmé said.

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EVENT FOCUS: Motown Revue

Opposite: The 1,200 capacity Berns Salonger is one of Stockholm’s most famous venues. Below: The Motown show was all about the music, voices and lighting, which was made up entirely from 72 GLP heads; Lighting Designer Palle Palmé; The small X1, X4 Bar 10 and X4Ls were all mounted on towers, with the different units detailed for different effects.

at the MA Lighting grandMA2 desk, the new roster of X4, XL, X1, X4L, X4 Bar 10 and Spot One fixtures received an immediate thumbs-up from both Palmé and his Head of Lighting, GianCarlo ‘Calle’ Grimaldi.

He explained: “Up until recently, I only had a limited amount of experience with GLP fixtures, other than using them on a handful of festivals around the country. Even these times I mostly came across the older impression fixtures such as the 120 RZ. My friend Daniel Rüdén became Sales Manager for the company in Sweden and he opened my eyes to their newer fixtures.”

As for the deployment of the fixtures for the revue, the small X1, X4 Bar 10 and X4Ls were all mounted on towers, with the different units detailed for different effects. “The X1 and X4 Bar 10 are used for effects only,” Calle added. ”The bigger units such as the X4, X4XL and X4L are used for front, side and backlight. I also have Spot Ones on the floor behind the artists.”

Calle was the person that originally put Palmé in touch with GLP by facilitating a meeting / demonstration with Rüdén, which ultimately led to Palmé choosing the company’s fixtures for 20

the entire design.

“GLP has always been connected with quality products for me, as they were pioneers in LED fixtures with the early impression series,” commented Calle.

“Both Palle and myself loved the colour mixing in the new fixtures and having all fixtures from GLP made the show really slick, with the same colour temperatures all over the rig. The colour and brightness of the fixtures is probably their most impressive aspect, from my point of view. The X4´s that we used for front lighting were great for illuminating the faces of the artists in an effective way.”

Calle also cited the light weight of the GLP fixtures as a major selling point when it came to choosing the rig for Motown Featuring Afro-Dite. As well as making load-in and out less of a struggle, it compensated for the weight restrictions imposed by what he called Berns Salonger’s “ancient” roof.

He concluded: “The show turned out really well. Palle did a great job with the design and programming, as usual. Even if we had a really tight schedule for build up, programming and

rehearsals, having only GLP fixtures made the programming go really smoothly. As the show doesn´t have any stage set, screens or big props, the visual part of the show is all based on lighting. The GLP fixtures turned out to be great for the show as they are extremely versatile, allowing a wide variety of patterns.

“I will definitely continue my relationship with GLP. We did something unique with this production and I know the production company is already looking at investing in some X4Ls, after already buying X-bars and X1´s since before.” It is clear that, in addition to his appreciation of the GLP fixtures, Palmé also has an affinity for the venue itself.

“Las Vegas cannot compete with this - I am always so proud when I work at Berns because in my opinion it is one of the few real fantastic showrooms in the world,” he enthused. ”When we have the opportunity to do a proper show with all those lights, other producers should come along and look at the potential.”

TPi www.glp.de

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EVENT FOCUS: Frank Sinatra

DPA MICROPHONES CELEBRATES THE MAN AND HIS MUSIC DPA MICROPHONES’ D:VOTE INSTRUMENT MICROPHONES WERE USED BY ALL OF THE MUSICIANS TAKING PART IN THE RECENT CELEBRATION OF FRANK SINATRA’S LIFE AND BACK CATALOGUE PERFORMANCE HELD AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM. DPA Microphones recently played a key role in a highly unusual theatre project that marked the centenary of Frank Sinatra’s birth by bringing him back to the stage of the London Palladium.

Entitled Sinatra - The Man and His Music, this multimedia show took footage of Sinatra’s performances over his entire career and mixed them with a live 24-piece orchestra and a live cast of dancers. The result, which was described by reviewers as a cross between a tribute and a musical, was well received by audiences who packed the theatre for the show’s limited threemonth run.

DPA’s role in this project was to provide amplification for all of the instruments in the orchestra and band. Sound Designer Dan 22

Samson chose DPA’s d:vote 4099 instrument microphones because they offered the “exceptional audio quality” required and could also be used by every musician, regardless of the instrument they played.

“The musicians were one of the only live human elements in the show so it was important that they were not static,” Samson explained. “We were trying to make it feel like a real concert, where the band was backing the real Frank Sinatra, so we wanted the musicians to move around and be part of the performance. We had them standing up for solos, standing on a pallet that formed part of the bandstand, performing shout choruses and generally being very visible to the audience.”

The 4099 instrument microphones were

used across the entire range of instruments, from percussion, drums and bass to piano, strings, woodwind and trumpets.

“They were undoubtedly the stars of the show,” Samson said. “They are so versatile and come with such a great range of clips and mounts that we could use them on everything.

Some of the microphones were connected wirelessly to our Shure radio system and they delivered a consistent signal regardless of their location, which meant that the musicians had complete freedom of movement. They also offered great isolation and, thanks to their tiny size, we were able to position them really close to the sound source without interfering with playability.”

As an experienced sound designer who

EVENT FOCUS: Frank Sinatra

Opposite: The show took footage of Sinatra’s performances over his entire career and mixed them with a live 24-piece orchestra. Below: Sound Designer Dan Samson chose d:vote 4099 instrument microphones because they offered the “exceptional audio quality” required and could also be used by every musician, regardless of the instrument they played.

has worked on numerous shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Glenn Miller Story, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Blood Brothers and The Sound of Music, Samson was very familiar with DPA’s product range and uses them on all of his shows.

He said: “The d:vote 4099 instrument microphones are great for most instruments but I particularly like them on acoustic guitar because they sound so natural and warm. They

to handle very high SPL and consistently sound great across a range of different instruments as the main reasons for his choice.

“If I need a miniature microphone, I use d:screet 4061 mics or d:fine 4066 headset mics,” he said. “The 4066 is better for rock ‘n’ roll shows because of how consistently close to the source you can position them without compromising the sound quality. This allows for high levels of vocal foldback.

“We were trying to make it feel like a real concert, where the band was backing the real Frank Sinatra, so we wanted the musicians to move around and be part of the performance.”

Sound Designer, Dan Samson

are versatile enough to mount on a range of different guitars and I have used them on steel acoustics, nylons and 12 strings, all with great success. The players love the way the guitars sound in their monitoring and are always pleased to see them.”

Samson also uses d:dicate 2011c cardioid microphones for percussion, stating their ability 24

“The microphone are also popular with performers because they are very comfortable to wear, even while the performers are dancing.

They do a great impression of a rock vocal microphone but without the constraints of a handheld. The d:screet 4061, on the other hand, is much more suited to traditional shows because they deliver a really natural and detailed

sound. They are also really easy to hide on a performer.”

The 40-plus d:vote 4099 instrument microphones required for the Sinatra show were supplied by Cardiff-based Stage Sound Services, which has been a DPA advocate for over 10 years.

Managing Director of the company, Phil Hurley, commented: “From a rental point of view they are incredibly popular and are often specified by sound designers for a wide range of live sound and theatre projects. We have been supplying them since they were first introduced and we are really happy with their audio quality.

As the range has developed they have become even more versatile because they can be used on so many different instruments.”

Hurley added that Stage Sound Services has over 200 DPA microphones in its rental stock, including over 70 d:vote 4099 instrument microphones, over 50 d:fine headset microphones and a number of d:screet miniature and d:dicate recording microphones.

“They are theatre staples,” he said. “And frankly they are a very good rental earner so I am happy to invest in them.”

TPi www.dpamicrophones.com www.stagesoundservices.co.uk

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16/12/15 10:23

EVENT FOCUS: UK Events Group

EAT, SLEEP, RAVE, REPEAT SPECIALLY SELECTED BY UK EVENTS GROUP, ADJ’S VERSATILE MOVING HEADS AND A COLOSSAL AV6 VIDEO WALL BROUGHT PRODUCTION VALUE TO THE PARTY AS FATBOY SLIM AND BASEMENT JAXX WOWED NEW YEAR CROWDS IN MANCHESTER, UK. On 1 January 2016, Sankeys Warehouse secured a stellar line-up - including Fatboy Slim and Basement Jaxx - for a New Year’s Day party at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, seeking a stunning production to match. It was Liverpool-based production company UK Events Group that was tasked with bringing the performances of two legendary dance acts to life, supplying everything from pyrotechnics and effects to a lightshow that was exclusively made up of ADJ / Elation fixtures.

The four-room venue - which usually brings in separate companies to provide the audio, lighting, video and effects - took the unusual step of asking UK Events Group to deliver full production for the show.

“The venue had worked with a couple of other suppliers and was looking for a team who could come in and offer the full package,” explained Tory Harper, Co-Director of UK Events Group (with James McMahon). “We have built our business on being able to supply from one 26

source and the venue liked the fact that by calling us it saves time and money, as we can supply all their production needs.”

This all-in-one package included everything from audio to special effects, with CO2 and pyrotechnics used to achieve Harper and McMahon’s vision of a display inspired by rave and club culture, offering the wow factor for the thousands of dance fans in attendance.

Wanting to add to this with a big, bold, over-the-top lightshow, McMahon, Harper and the team opted for a setup that included powerful moving heads and incorporated an unprecedented number of AV6 modular LED panels to form one mammoth video screen.

“We have used ADJ products for the past five years and believe that the quality of product, value for money, and service and support from all of the team from sales through to maintenance - can’t be beaten,” Harper added.

“ADJ products have enabled us to grow our business, in accordance with market trends, at an affordable price, and the company has been

first to market with products including the Vizi Beam 5RX moving head.”

Lighting Designer Oliver Suckling had 40 hugely versatile ADJ Vizi Beam 5RXs to play with, while 38 ADJ Inno Color Beam Quad7’s were also provided, allowing them to produce a stunning array of active beams. The 5RX’s Philips Platinum 5R source, motorised zoom, prism effects and range of 14 colours (including cool-white and UV) ensured a mesmeric display of concise beams in a series of distinct hues; while the Color Beam Quad7’s, powered by 70W CREE LEDs, offered hard-edge beams and plenty of room for creativity thanks to eightzone LED chasing. During Fatboy Slim, these super-tight, multi-faceted beams shot upwards to accompany the blistering bursts of flame at front of stage, adding an energy and intensity to his performance.

Another hugely important element of the visual production was the video screen, which was used to project striking visuals and artist logos during the performances. Forming this

EVENT FOCUS: UK Events Group

Opposite: UK Events Group’s all-in-one package included everything from audio to special effects, with CO2 and pyro used to achieve Harper and McMahon’s vision. Below: The AV6 video wall displayed a huge screen-wide logo for Basement Jaxx and a smiley face design for Fatboy Slim’s set.

massive solid split wall (measuring 11.6 metres by 4.6 metres) were 140 ADJ AV6 video panels - the largest screen created using the AV6 since its release in 2015.

Allowing huge-scale production value, the AV6 video wall provided an incredible backdrop for Fatboy Slim, displaying smiley face visuals and flashing the words Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat in huge letters as he treated fans to one of his biggest hits to date. At another point during the event, a huge screen-wide Basement Jaxx logo left crowds in no doubt about who they were there to see. The AV6 also displayed a range of visuals in vivid colour, working with the ADJ moving heads to create a highenergy, colourful atmosphere for the vast 7000-strong crowd below.

“It was exciting to see a company like UK Events Group showing the industry what the revolutionary AV6 - along with our range of powerful moving heads - is really capable of,” commented Kris Dawber, Sales Manager for ADJ Europe. “Because they offer exceptional brightness and clarity while being easy to link together, the team at UK Events Group had no problems using 140 panels to form a gigantic video screen that was the perfect back-drop for the legendary dance acts performing at the New Year’s event. It just goes to show that you don’t have to spend big to think big and get creative!”

Of course, this is exactly what Sankeys wanted; a budgetconscious but big-impact visual display that could be used to enhance the performance of each artist and give fans a memorable night of dance music in an atmospheric, visually stimulating environment.

Harper said: “The crowd went wild! Lighting and vision tells a story, and our technicians know not only how to work the crowd but also how to read the DJ and take the crowd on a journey. Social media comments after the event talked about the production of the show - that’s when you know you have done a good job!” And the post-event response was equally as positive from the client, which claimed UK Events Group had “thrown the kitchen sink at the wall with this one.”

“As always, ADJ didn’t let us down - we had one fixture lamp off, which out of a show with 122 fixtures wasn’t too bad and was rectified in less than a minute,” said McMahon. “If anything, they have done us proud by showing doubters that you can put on a show of this scale using ADJ products - with a reaction that has got people in the industry talking and asking the venue who did the production!”

Having been booked on the spot for the next show at the venue, UK Events Group brought its all-in-one production package

back for a bill featuring Nicky Romero, Sander Van Doorn and Laidback Luke, with ADJ’s products playing a vital role.

TPi

Photos: Kyle Mcloughlin www.fatboyslim.net www.basementjaxx.com www.ukeventsgroup.com www.adj.com

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EVENT FOCUS: Shure KSM8

SHURE’S KSM8 MICROPHONE AT THE 2016 WINTER NAMM SHOW IN ANAHEIM, SHURE UNVEILED THE KSM8 DUALDYNE CARDIOID DYNAMIC VOCAL MICROPHONE DURING AND INTIMATE BRIEFING FOR PRESS AND ENGINEERS...

The KSM8 is the world’s first dualdiaphragm dynamic handheld microphone for revolutionary vocal reproduction and accurate soundreinforcement and control. The KSM8 extends the company’s wired microphone line, which includes numerous products of significance and enduring legacy such as the Unidyne 55 and the SM58 microphone.

Designed for live sound performances where vocal clarity and sound quality are absolutely critical, the KSM8 not only meets the most discerning quality and reliability standards, it also has the versatility to adapt to changing environments without impacting performance. The KSM8 will revolutionise dynamic microphones in the live sound industry by providing sound engineers with a dynamic microphone that has virtually no proximity effect, a mastery of off-axis rejection and an output accuracy that requires none of the presence peaks or roll-offs that are typical of other dynamic microphones.

“It’s a hit!” stated Chris Pollard, FOH 28

Engineer for Mumford & Sons. “Marcus really enjoyed the KSM8 on his first gig with it last night at Rock in Roma. As did I. Really clean, flat response, smooth HF and the reduction in spill is quite amazing! He’d like to change the mic out mid tour, Marcus also commented on how good the mic looked, and wanted to use it immediately.”

Meticulously crafted for exceptional vocal reproduction and sound-reinforcement control for world-class live performance in professional venues, the KSM8 features the purest cardioid polar pattern that Shure has developed to-date, providing the most consistent on-axis performance regardless of the performer’s microphone technique.

“Being part of the dynamic microphone resurgence has been extremely exciting for me, because our customers were always asking us what’s next in dynamic microphones,” said Scott Sullivan, Senior Director of Global Product Management at Shure. “When it comes to microphone technology and development, Shure has, what I consider to be, the ‘secret formula’. In my opinion, no other company, through our

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EVENT FOCUS: Shure KSM8

exceptional engineering department, could have achieved what we did with the KSM8.”

“In order to make the Dualdyne concept a reality, we had to reinvent the way we make dynamic microphones,” added John Born, Shure’s Product Manager. “We knew the only way to bring the concept to life was to set all pre-existing parts and template designs aside and start from scratch. Since then, we’ve put over seven years of engineering and development into creating something we knew the industry needed, but had never seen. As a result, the introduction of the KSM8 brings an entirely new dynamic microphone element to

30

the world.”

The ability to virtually eliminate proximity effect and master off-axis rejection is powered by the patented Dualdyne cartridge of the KSM8, which features two ultra-thin diaphragms - one active and one passive - and a groundbreaking inverted airflow system.

As is the case with all Shure products, the world-class design and durability of the KSM8 is present in every aspect of the microphone.

A dent-resistant, hardened carbon-steel grille design lined with hydrophobic woven fabric provides exceptional plosive and wind protection, while offering virtually waterproof

protection. The aluminium handle - which is available in a brushed nickel or black finish completes the KSM8’s clean and sophisticated design aesthetic that is a seamless addition to any stage.

The black-finished KSM8 is also available as handheld transmitter option for use with Axient, UHF-R, ULX-D and QLX-D wireless systems.

For ULX-D and UHF-R, KSM8 transmitters are additionally offered in a brushed nickel finish.

Wireless capsules are available in both brushed nickel and black.

TPi www.shure.co.uk

Alike for ease. Distinct to suit.

www.dbaudio.com

Both the D20 and D80 are controlled by intuitive user interfaces and incorporate four truly independent channels. Each provides extensive DSP capabilities for comprehensive loudspeaker management, switchable filter functions, two 16-band equalizers and up to 10 seconds of delay. Two amplifiers, alike in form and functionality but distinct in power output: D20 for small to mid sized applications, D80 for up to large scale needs.

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Madonna

MADONNA - REBEL HEART AFTER A SUCCESSFUL FIRST LEG IN NORTH AMERICA, MADONNA BROUGHT HER REBEL HEART TOUR TO EUROPE WITH THE GOAL OF MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE BOARD. TPi HEADED DOWN TO ONE OF THE POP ICON’S LONDON DATES TO MEET THE CREW AND DISCOVER THE INTRICACIES INVOLVED IN SUCH A MAMMOTH PRODUCTION. With today’s highest-charting artists locked in seemingly perpetual battle to concoct the most elaborate and breathtaking stage shows imaginable, gig-goers can be forgiven for setting the bar particularly high when it comes to production values. One artist that continues to push the envelope, driven by her famously exacting standards, is Madonna. After all, nobody becomes the ‘Queen of Pop’ by working in half measures.

The Rebel Heart tour saw Production Manager Jason Danter working with Madonna for the first time, taking over from road veteran Jake Berry. He explained: “We met in September 32

2014 when they invited me to do the tour.

We kicked off in January with the Rebel Heart promo, which went to the Grammys first and then to the Brit Awards. However, it was really mid-February by the time we started working on rehearsals and sales for the tour.”

In something of a break from the norm, Danter was personally interviewed by Madonna for the job: “This is the first time I’ve been interviewed by the artist. I’ve had telephone conversations and I met Beyonce once when I did some work for her, but most of my work comes via word of mouth and is agreed with management.”

Conveniently, Danter was on a short break

from another tour at the time. He continued: “Madonna’s management invited me to New York for the interview. There were three of us in the room; myself, Sara from her management office, and Madonna. We chatted for around 45 minutes during which she asked what other stuff I’d done, who I’d worked with, my work ethic, and how I keep people motivated.

“We seemed to hit it off. We joked and laughed a little bit and I asked her a few questions. Two days later I was back on tour, so I didn’t really give it much thought after that.

About three weeks later I got the call saying Madonna was happy for me to do it, if I was still available - and the rest is history!”

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Madonna Opposite: Madonna’s large elevated stage was complete with an extending catwalk with a circular stage half way down and heart-shaped stage at the end. Below: Madonna had a great deal of invlovement in the entire creative process; Content for the huge video wall was created by Montreal-based Moment Factory; When ‘The Machine’ was flat, it was flush with the main A-Stage but could be raised 2.5 metres and danced upon.

each element in the show to allow rehearsals to begin while the touring version of the show was being fabricated. The challenge was making a lot of decisions about size and scale for the mock props which would force us to match those constraints for the touring versions.”

Tait didn’t provide any staff for the tour, aside from those who were involved during the long rehearsal period. This meant that the elements were created with a variety of venues in mind, as the kit would remain the same throughout the world tour.

and finishes. During this time, we share our progress through photos and many shop visits.”

Tait also designed and fabricated the preceding MDNA tour [TPi Sept 2012], which Levine said has given the company a good understanding of the demands and challenges that come with working for an artist of such magnitude.

He said: “Madonna is very specific about what she wants and is a creative genius. She is incredibly astute and can identify whether something is built an inch off from the mock

It is clear from talking to Danter and his touring colleagues that Madonna is a perfectionist, and he was keen to point out that it didn’t bother him in the slightest.

He explained: “She puts in a lot of time, more than a lot of other artists. She’s toured for long enough to know how she wants things to go. She sound checks and rehearses every day just to get used to the room, we have to be ready to go by midday. To achieve that, we do 30% of the work the day before show day and the remaining 70% on the day. There have been times where we haven’t been able to do that and we’ve had a couple of buildings where we’ve started at 2am and worked through until 5am - something I wouldn’t recommend!”

The gruelling schedule requires 90 touring crew, as well as 45 vehicles comprising 13 buses and 32 trucks, making 135 people all together with drivers, and other local crew being brought on at each venue.

“Madonna is very specific about what she wants and is a creative genius. She is incredibly astute and can identify whether something is built an inch off from the mock version or whether the materials have changed. That is exactly why we enjoy working with her.”

Brian Levine, Head of Project management, Tait Towers

TRIED AND TESTED Set design specialists Tait Towers fabricated all of the staging and automated rigging elements for the show, as well as all of the props. The stage design was in three components - the main A-stage, which was backed by a huge modular video screen, the runway, which was in the shape of a cross, and the heart shaped C-stage that had another large lift. In the centre of the catwalk was a circular B-stage with a scissor lift that could rise above the stage.

Brian Levine, Head of Project Management at Tait, commented: “Because of the tight schedule and the long rehearsal period, we built two of everything, which meant building a ‘mock’ of

Although Tait were charged with fabricating the pieces alone, the company drafted in longtime collaborators, Stufish - who were brought into the fold again by Madonna personally, following the success of the MDNA tour - to design the stage and prop scenic elements.

The company then provides Tait with the specifications and aesthetic design intent it has to follow.

Levine continued: “Tait has a very long and successful relationship with Stufish. Throughout the process of creation and prototyping, we are in constant communication confirming details

version or whether the materials have changed.

That is exactly why we enjoy working with her, as our business demands great precision, accuracy and reliability.

“This show was a visual spectacular. Each song is accompanied by a different theme, prop and use of stage set, and it is clear to the audience how hard she and the crew worked to perfect the show.“ THE ART OF COLLABORATION Stufish Entertainment Architects’ Project Architecht, Ric Lipson, commented: “We have 33

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Madonna

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Below: The A-stage and C-stage were linked by a runway that included a circular B-stage in the middle, flanked by two mini runways, giving the appearance of a cross.

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a long-standing relationship with Live Nation who promote the show and Madonna. Having worked on many Live Nation shows over the years, such as U2, Lady Gaga, Britney and Madonna. We also did the Madonna show in 2012 (MDNA) where we designed the whole show and the custom made roof that allowed the show to happen in stadiums. This was a new construction for Stageco, which has since gone on to be used widely.”

In 2012, Stufish created the set and stage design for MDNA, which included the 36 Matrix video cube lifts as well as many bespoke scenic props that were used throughout the show also built by Tait.

Around 60% of the shows Stufish designed in 2015 ended up being built by Tait. Lipson continued: “At Stufish, we work from initial sketches and concept design in house and with the client to create the concept and the major design statement. We then do the more detailed schematic design and with our in house design and visualisation department we create a full 3D CAD package and render illustration storyboard for most of the shows including any kinetic movement with animations developed in house.

“We then work with Tait to take our design and creative information and turn it into modules that either fit into the Tait rental stock or, where a new solution is needed, we work closely together to get a system that can be

engineered by Tait to fit into trucks and be built quickly.”

Stufish tends to come up with the original staging concepts, then consults with a company like Tait to iron out practicalities like weight, size and ease of transport. The Madonna tour in particular also saw a great deal of collaboration from the artist herself when it came to concepts and design. Lipson said: “On a show like this, Madonna is very involved. We take all the conceptual ideas from Madonna and her Director, Jamie King, and work with them to decide how this will manifest in the physical shape of the stage, the areas for video, what kind of kinetic props and staging will be required and what the smaller, more delicate handprops might be.”

Lipson explained that some of these ideas develop from the content of the music before being fused together with the overarching narrative journey of the show. This allows the choreographers, director and other creative departments to have flexibility in the stage space, giving options for how it can be used in different ways throughout the show.

“We develop our designs alongside the lighting and video designer to make sure there is a holistic approach to the design where the lighting, set and video elements can all work together to complement the design and form of the visual spectacle,” Lipson said.

Despite the team having more time and

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Madonna

Below: Colour temperatures were carefully metered and matched for every show, while the uniformity of key light colour and intensity was a vital part of the job.

money to play with than they do on the majority of other tours, the complexity and meticulous attention to detail required on a Madonna show meant that everything took longer to finalise and integrate.

Lipson concluded: “The thorough process of rehearsal is unprecedented in the pop / rock show circuit and the design elements have to be created along with the vision on the show

lifting columns, linked together by large beams, that allow The Machine to rise out of the stage.

There are also four major rams that allow us to counter-rake the upstage quarter of the stage when we need to. It’s a 55,000lb machine so it’s very heavy.

“It comes apart into four big lifting columns, then it all gets linked together with massive pins, and the whole video screen top is modular.

“The thorough process of rehearsal is unprecedented in the pop/rock show circuit and the design elements have to be created along with the vision on the show at a fast pace and at the highest quality.”

Stufish Project Architecht, Ric Lipson

at a fast pace and at the highest quality. The combination of years of experience working with Tait and other members of the production and creative team allow the process to happen as well as it could in the time allowed.”

One of the most striking pieces of engineering on the show was the 8.5 metre by 4.8 metre video screen, supplied by Tait, which when flat was flush with the main A-Stage and also danced upon. It could be raised by hydraulics up 2.5 metres, pivoting from flat to 90° vertically in 30 seconds, and was affectionately known as ‘The Machine’.

Lipson elaborated: “We have four massive 36

To say this is a hard show to do would be an understatement. It’s physically hard, mentally hard, everyone’s exhausted, but it’s one of the biggest and most ambitious shows we’ll ever do. The sense of achievement afterwards is mind-blowing.”

HIGH-STAKES LIGHTING The penetrating stage design set a number of challenges for Lighting Designer Al Gurdon and his PRG-supplied rig - including the need to light performers much further into the audience than is usual. “We’re lighting large groups of performers but want to avoid washing into

the audience,” he explained. “To that end, the GLP X Bars became a significant part of the design and were used to delineate the stage and uplight the performers.” Used to connect the stages, the X Bars gave Gurdon a number of options for shaping and defining specific areas.

In total, 39 GLP impression X4’s, 38 impression X4 Bar 10’s and 84 impression X4 Bar 20’s were used to complete his successful design.

Overhead, the lighting is rigged in arrays in a number of pods around the stage. Gurdon used the fixtures individually and in conjunction with one another to giving the effect of one very large source. Balancing the lighting is a big part of the process on Rebel Heart. Gurdon added: “I am used to lighting for camera. We have two IMAG screens and although they’re not particularly big we have a fair few close-ups, so Madonna has to be lit in an appropriate way. I work closely with Video Director Bert Paré, who decides on the shots.”

Followspots were used for face light on Madonna, which was precision work. No matter where the crew were in the world, the spots were always in the same place on stage and at the same level. Colour temperatures were carefully metered and matched for every show, while the uniformity of key light colour and intensity was a vital part of the job.

“A couple of the spots are used for selective pick-ups for other performers but mostly, they’re used for Madonna - not all are used at the same time and the plan for pick ups is

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Madonna

Below: The look and feel of the show was intended to be theatrical as opposed to a big ‘pop’ show.

precisely choreographed,” Gurdon explained.

“Essentially Madonna needs to be perfectly lit everywhere she goes. The challenge is she is surrounded by people who also need to be lit in a different way. This makes the actual keying process extremely complex. Probably more so than any show of this type. Every show is like producing a DVD!” Gurdon stressed that every fixture on the show has been carefully chosen. Clay Paky Mythos’ dominate the overhead rig, serving as the main workhorse of the show. “This is primarily because they give a very punchy beam from a relatively compact fixture, the colour mixing is a great development and they go wider than their predecessors, the Sharpys,” Gurdon chose the Ayrton Magic Panels for their versatility, which were arrayed in pods and used in a number of different ways. He said: “I also wanted to use a group of Clay Paky Stormys to simulate a big flash. There’s great advantages to that. With the pods you can use them individually, or in single rows or collectively for really big moments, as well as being able to change the output colour!”

Touring Lighting Director Josh Hutchings had the task of recreating Gurdon’s design in each and every venue on his two PRG V676 consoles: “It’s been a real pleasure. There are hundreds of focus positions and each one has to be spot on.

It’s certainly not your typical 20 focus position show and run.”

Hutchings explained that the look and feel of the show is theatrical as opposed to a big pop show. “We’ve had our challenges. Every venue is different and that has given us some trim-height issues during the tour. My task is to 38

protect the show from change and yet maintain the integrity of the design. Madonna notices just about everything. You won’t meet anybody who works harder than her. I meet with her everyday just before sound check, just to make sure that she’s comfortable with any changes we’ve had to make. We walk her through all of her followspot locations so there are no surprises during her performance.”

Given the tightly-scripted nature of the show, the team used time coding, with the exception of one section of the show, where Madonna

stage.

“There’s a small team of people who just look at the camera output to ensure Madonna is lit correctly each night,” said Lipson.

“Al knows how to make artists look great at any scale, both in the live environment, but in particular through the eye of the camera.”

Lipson had worked with Gurdon before on MDNA so they already had a good working relationship. “From early concept we knew we wanted to delineate the edge of the stage with light,” he continued.

“Essentially Madonna needs to be perfectly lit everywhere she goes.

The challenge is she is surrounded by people who also need to be lit in a different way. This makes the actual keying process extremely complex.”

Lighting Designer, Al Gurdon can pick from a number of songs based on how she’s feeling and how she reads the audience.

Prior to this tour Hutchings and Gurdon worked together on a handful of TV shows.

Hutchings added: “It’s been a unique challenge for me because I don’t do a lot of touring. This is my first tour, certainly of this calibre, and it’s been great fun.”

A WELL-OILED MACHINE A crucial consideration was the angle that the team lit Madonna from. The camera beauty shots for the IMAGs needed to be consistent and without glare wherever she was on the

“We knew Madonna required plenty of spots to keep the IMAG content balanced, regardless of where she was on the stage. We also needed a substantial overhead rig - there’s a lot of catwalk to cover with this show!”

Originally the rig was going to be dynamic.

“We wanted it to transition from overhead to form a wall of light upstage but for various reasons we had to compromise and instead went for the finger trusses,” explained Lipson.

“So, to create the wall of light Al came up with the pod system and that worked really well.”

Video content also absorbs a major part of

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Madonna

the budget and with an eclectic set list that included 25 back catalogue hits plus the new album highlights, most are backed by one of 22 different video sequences created by Montrealbased media studio Moment Factory, Veneno Inc, Danny Tull and a host of additional video directors.

AUDIO CONSISTENCY As with the stage set and lighting rig, the audio crew and equipment on the tour were roughly the same in the US and Europe. The audio supplier, Eighth Day Sound Systems, duplicated the US rider out of its UK office and the production flew over the core control equipment with the stage. The touring crew worldwide is also the same, mainly as most of them have specific cues and one of Madonna’s highest priorities is maintaining consistency throughout the tour.

The company has worked with Madonna since 2006, initially due to the fact that the music director and FOH engineer at the time were in search of a certain type of console and speaker.

The exclusively d&b audiotechnik PA system was made up of 68 J8 loudspeakers, eight J12 loudspeakers, 16 J-SUBs, 12 B22-SUBs, 24 V12 loudspeakers, eight J-INFRA subwoofers, 12

Y10P louspeakers, and 65 D80 amplifiers with ArrayProcessing. The Rebel Heart tour also had two DiGiCo SD7 consoles and an EX-007 fader expansion unit for control, which was specified

by FOH Engineer Andy Meyer, who we last met on Justin Timberlake’s tour.

Project Manager for Eighth Day US, Jason Kirschnik, explained: “The choice of equipment stems from Madonna’s need for consistency.

This basically means giving her the best sound available to her on the market. ArrayProcessing

positive, with the shows sounding great - from our point of view, that’s all you can ask for. We have a great relationship with both d&b and DiGiCo so they are more than happy to help with any servicing or equipment that we need.

We also do extensive training with DiGiCo and d&b so our techs are pretty high level when it comes to the products themselves. This means we’re quite self-contained.”

The crew used Sennheiser ME 5005 e condenser microphone heads and MD 5235

“The choice of equipment stems from Madonna’s need for consistency.

This basically means giving her the best sound available to her on the market. ArrayProcessing has to do with consistent energy coverage on all plains, anywhere in the arena or stadium.”

Jason Kirschnik, Eighth Day Sound Systems US has to do with consistent energy coverage on all plains, anywhere in the arena or stadium. There have been small configuration changes over the years as technology has improved, the last tour had d&b with D12 amps, but the core has remained DiGiCo and d&b.”

“All of the feedback from the road has been

dynamic microphone capsules on six SKM 5000 Series systems. Drums were mainly mic’d with Audio-Technica instrument microphones, along with a Shure Beta 91A in the kick drum.

Sennheiser’s 2000 Series was used for guitars and an accordion, along with Radial DI Boxes.

To capture the energy of the live show, the

39

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Madonna

Below: Tait Towers was charged with fabricating all of the staging and scenic elements, under the creative direction of Stufish and the Madonna team.

chosen audience microphones comprised Sennheiser MKH 8070 Long Gun condensers and Neumann KS184’s.

The touring audio crew was completed by FOH Tech, Mark Brnich; Monitor Tech, Wayne Hall; Audio Tech, Demetrius Moore; RF Tech, Clinton Reynolds; Intercom Tech, Mike ‘Stacker’ Hackman; PA Techs, Rachel Lawrence and Greg Horning; Monitor Engineers, Matt Napier and Sean Spuehler; and Music Programmer, Dan Roe.

For all 25 European tour dates, Mojo supplied nearly 200 items of kit, including vario corner sections, snake gates and flex corner sections. This included a variety of barrier products for the front of stage and FOH production areas. Mojo’s wide range of special curves and corners in black aluminium made it an ideal choice, as the cross design and heartshaped B-stage were complex structures.

A Mojo Barriers crew was not required as the carpenter crew installed the barriers at every

“Although this wasn’t a challenging install, the shape of the stage did make this slightly more complicated. Madonna wanted the barriers to be very close to her stage in order to increase intimacy and have close contact with her audience.”

Project Manager at Mojo Barriers, Stanley Jilesen

BLACK IS THE NEW ALUMINIUM Mojo Barriers has worked with Madonna on previous tours, with her becoming the first artist to use its new lighter touring barrier on the MDNA tour.

Project Manager at Mojo Barriers, Stanley Jilesen, met Danter while he was in Holland working on a Lady Gaga tour. This resulted in the company being contracted to supply all Madonna’s European tour dates, as well as two further dates of the tour, in Taipei and Macau.

40

show, though it did supply a supervisor at the first tour date to instruct the crew on installing the barriers safely.

Jilesen said: “Although this wasn’t a challenging install, the shape of the stage did make this slightly more complicated. Madonna’s large elevated stage was complete with an extending catwalk with a circular stage half way down and heart-shaped stage at the end.

Madonna wanted the barriers to be very close to her stage in order to increase intimacy and

have close contact with her audience.”

The shape of the stage meant it was slightly more difficult to get the barriers as close as was requested, so the Mojo team used specialist stock, including corner sections, to ensure the shape was spot-on.

Jilsen continued: “Madonna always prefers black barriers to blend into the show, rather than the more commonly used silver aluminium.”

In Europe, the standing shows meant the barriers needed to be able to withstand increased crowd pressure. Jilesen stated that Mojo Barriers worked closely with Danter to design a barrier layout that suited the show and enabled Madonna to be as close as possible to her audience.

Away from the main arena, Beat The Street provided bussing for the European leg of the Rebel Heart tour, while Fly By Nite supplied trucking and Eat Your Heart Out took care of catering.

TPi Photos: Sarah Rushton-Read and Stufish www.madonna.com www.taittowers.com www.mojobarriers.com www.8thdaysound.com www.beatthestreet.net www.flybynite.co.uk www.stufish.com www.prg.com www.venenoinc.com www.momentfactory.com

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

MUMFORD & SONS WHEN MUMFORD & SONS’ WILDER MIND TOUR HIT THE UK IN THE WINTER OF 2015, THE PRODUCTION MARKED A SPECTACULAR RETURN FOR THE ‘KINGS OF FOLK’, A BAND THAT BROUGHT A NEW GENRE TO THE MAINSTREAM WITH EASE AND PROFESSIONAL DEDICATION. THEIR TOURING CREW AND TECHNICAL TEAM BROUGHT THEIR LATEST LIVE INCARNATION INTO ARENAS, WHILST STILL MAINTAINING THE INTIMACY OF THEIR ACOUSTIC ROOTS THANKS TO LD ED WARREN’S CLEVER PRODUCTION DESIGN. TPi’S KELLY MURRAY VISITED THE TOUR IN MANCHESTER. It had been a long time since I’d seen Mumford & Sons play live. So long in fact that when I wrote what was to be their first live gig review in NME Magazine, we were in a basement venue and the only production value in sight was the presence of excitable crowd sweat.

Upon arrival at Manchester Arena - almost eight years later - the band has gone on to established themselves as folk rock champions, bestowing banjos upon the world the way we never imagined; with a good portion of identifiable youth culture and indie integrity, leaving city kids yearning for that hoedown charm. As LD Ed Warren greets me, he takes me to meet the band, who all promptly get up from watching a wildlife documentary to shake my hand and express an interest in the fact that 44

this time, their crew are the subject matter of interest, giving their ‘gentlemen of the road’ title a worthy place.

PRODUCTION TPi first met the band’s new Production Manager, Steve Gordon on a Florence + the Machine tour in 2012, and four years later, the American Production Manager is once again looking after an internationally acclaimed British act, managing the technical feats behind their biggest arena shows to date. Taking over from Jamie Howieson who was juggling both System Tech and PM duties, Gordon was asked to take the reins and enable the crew to have a full time PM. Sat in his office at Manchester Arena, Gordon explained: “He was pulling double duty

and as the tours got more in depth, it was just too much work for one person.

“The crew already had pre-existing relationships with some suppliers from previous tour cycles and I pretty much stayed with and respected the people we had in place, but I did make a couple of changes when I came in. After we did all of the promotional gigs, we geared up for the tour itself and did a week at Rock Lititz, which is the US’s first purpose-built production facility. It was always a challenge in the US to find a space to do full scale production rehearsals but Rock Lititz is a great facility; it can hold an ungodly amount of weight! The staff are really nice as well, they made us feel very welcome. We were actually their first non-Clair Brothers / Tait Towers clients

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Opposite: Mumford & Sons recent UK tour took on arena shows with ease, filling the stage with a vintage rock look. Below: Ed Warren’s show design incorporated special effects for the first time, allowing audiences to see the band in a different production environment with gags such as a white confetti stream from Quantum Special Effects.

that they’d had in the building.

“Initially we decided to do an understated tour in small clubs where the band could play their new album; we did the Oslo club in London, another small club in Berlin and then we came to the US and played in LA at the Roxy.

At the same time, we had people working on the design of the fullscale tour. It’s been pretty full-on ever since,” he added.

“There was a B-stage on the last arena tour and it’s a similar set-up this time. For the B-stage performance it’s really quite simple; they do their bluegrass, one mic thing. From a technical standpoint, it makes it a little more efficient but for the audience it’s a pretty intimate move, which makes a difference I think. It gets the band closer to the people who are on the other side of the arena and gives them something special at the back. The only challenge is getting people to be quiet sometimes! Especially when they’ve had a pint or two!”

As for the band, they are,

by Gordon’s own admission, “incredibly nice people.” He furthered: “In the tour programme, Marcus [Mumford, singer] wrote this passage about the crew and it’s really quite heartfelt. They do consider everyone a family and are really excited about meeting everyone on the tour and knowing them by name. They say hello, ask how you’re doing and genuinely appreciate how hard we work which makes them great people to work for.” Indeed, when TPi posted this on social media, almost 30,000 of you viewed the passage.

The tour vendors are PRG XL Video, Britannia Row Productions, Neg Earth, All Access Staging &

Productions, Quantum Special Effects, ER Productions, Hangman, Popcorn, Phoenix Bussing which have supplied five tour busses; three for the crew and two for the band and Fly By Nite provided 10 mega cube trailers for production logistics. The lead driver was Alex Case, assisted by Keith Blair. Fly By Nite’s Matt Jackson commented: “The UK tour was very straightforward, we have worked with Tour Manager Colin Davies and Steve Gordon for many years now with various artists, and it’s always an absolute pleasure.

Mumford & Sons are a band that had been on our radar for some time so it was great to finally get the chance to work with them.”

Gordon said of his suppliers: “All of these guys are doing such a great job. When you’re working with a company like Brit Row, you know they’ve been around for a long time and that they do what they do so well. And real credit is due to Neg Earth, especially with the horrible accident [a warehouse fire] because they didn’t miss a beat. I can only imagine how tirelessly they must have worked just to make sure their clients kept going. It is certainly testament to their dedication in the industry.”

LIGHTING AND SHOW DESIGN Production and Lighting Designer Ed Warren has been with the band since their very first lighting requirements took hold: “I was on tour with Florence + The Machine - about six years into my lighting adventure - and I met the guys through friends and got to know them naturally. When it came down to needing an LD for their first big London shows, they asked me to do it. That was in April 2009 45

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Below: Light Initiative worked with Ed Warren to create a new product which re-vamped the look of the traditional PAR can: the Halo 64; Bassist, Ted Dwane; Video Director, Steve Price cuts the show in a classic rock mode, picking out the details of the musicianship.

and I’ve been with them ever since.”

He has therefore witnessed the substantial rise in Mumford & Sons’ career path, as it simultaneously grew with his. “It was that summer in 2009 that we played Reading & Leeds festivals. We were third or fourth from the top of the bill and I couldn’t even get to my lighting desk because there were so many people wanting to see them. I couldn’t even get into the tent. Those kinds of moments happened over and over again that summer and I felt like something cool was about to happen.

It’s been kind of building from there.

“With this new album, it’s a bigger step than the last two records because the first two were more acoustic-based, whereas this is the first one with electric guitars and synths. So that gave me a bit more scope to experiment with my design and I could branch out. Like with any band, if they’ have kept doing the same thing then we’d have struggled to develop the live show. For example, I’ve been able to introduce lasers this time.”

The lasers in question are low level 1K beams refracted into an RGB burst. “There’s one beam 46

we’ve got to focus out of audience sight lines but when they burst / refract the beams can skim the crowd, plus I can operate them from my desk as if they were regular lights in the rig,” he added. ER Productions supplied 10 ER RGB Beamburst lasers, which were used across the globe thanks to an audience scanning variance.

The on tour laser tech is Seth Griffiths.

“A lot of the chats I had with the band originally were about driving through the city in the dark and that’s something that we used in some of the videos. A few of my original designs had streetlights elements on the stage until I moved my thoughts towards a kind of ‘80s rock rig. So it’s like an ‘80s rock rig driving down the street at night! They pretty much trust me with everything. It’s great; not many people get that kind of trust with artists and when you do, it gives you full creative freedom, which makes it even more fun. I first showed them my ideas for this album in a presentation, and I expected them to knock a few ideas back; but they were up for the lot. I certainly didn’t expect them to go for the lasers or the pyro!” Following the band’s approval, Warren took a slightly unusual

approach to the pre-vis process. “When the design was finalised I went to Iceland for a week and locked myself away in a cabin in the wilderness with a pre-vis suite which I hired locally in Iceland,” he said. After a week of programming on Capture Argo, Warren and the crew were able to prep for a week at Rock Lititz in the US. Prior to the UK leg they did four days at LS-Live.

To bring his design to life, Warren utilised over 200 PAR cans from vendor Neg Earth.

“They’re awesome, I love them. Neg bought a load of new ones because due to circumstance I’m sure we’re all aware of, they didn’t have any.

It’s a vintage part of the classic rock look. These lights are brand new, they’re punchy, and I can pixel map a whole grid of them on the desk so I can turn it into a giant low res video screen.

“I wanted something that would reflect the slightly edgier sound of the band’s new material,” said Warren. “I was keen to evolve my tungsten-based design and introduce some new dynamic elements around colour and strobing.”

Warren said he had an idea to ‘pimp’ the classic PAR can fixture, which he’d planned to use as

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Below: For the first time ever, Mumford & Sons enjoyed pyrotechnics as part of their show. Below is the glitter rain as seen during Dustbowl Dance.

the workhorse of his rig. “I was concerned that the PAR can look alone might get a bit tired if I used it throughout the show. I felt that the extra element had to offer some kind of colour changing capability.”

Warren explained his ideas to Light Initiative’s Founder and Creative Director, Bryn Williams and after a number of conversations they came up with the Halo 64. Light Initiative then sent Warren some videos of the prototype and he in turn showed the band: “They loved it and Halo 64 was a go!”

“We were delighted when Ed came along and told us his idea,” said Williams. “We’d had a similar idea ourselves a few years before but it hadn’t gone anywhere. It was great to dust it off and give it new lease of life. Working with Ed was fantastic. His clear vision helped us take a working concept through to a polished product, which exactly suited his needs and which we have since developed further.”

It wasn’t long until the Halo 64 evolved into the HaloPix and the HaloStrobe and as that happened the Halo 64 were replaced throughout the rig. “The Halo 64 was pretty basic, but once we saw what Ed was doing with it that sparked a flurry of ideas,” explained Williams.

The Halo range has been specifically designed to work with Light Initiative’s IntelliFLEX control system, which offers increased versatility. The result is stunning as a standalone effect but when the PAR can is on, both at a glow and at full, it is uniquely attractive. Each individual Halo Pix ring offers 48

colour changing, pixelated effects and chases inside, it’s extremely versatile: “I can control the speed of the effects and the fade time,” said Warren. “I can also change the colour of the effect and the colour of the ring so I can have two colours playing out at the same time on each ring. I’ve pixel mapped the whole back wall - in total 120 rings - so I can now run animations across it as well. Basically it’s unlimited what we can do - I love them.”

Overhead Warren also has a healthy smattering of the new Halo Strobes. The product is robust, it’s weatherproof and built to tour. For Mumford & Sons the Halos travel prerigged.

In total Warren’s rig utilises 46 Ayrton MagicPanel-Rs, 45 Robe Robin BMFL Spots, 17 Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20’s, 12 Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330’s, 10 ER Productions BurstBox lasers, 15 Generic 4-light strips, 258 generic 500W PAR 64’s, 22 Robe CycFX 8’s, 120 Halo Pix units on the back wall PAR cans, and 38 Halo Strobes in the truss PAR cans. The B-stage showed six Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20’s and six PixelRange QLite LEDS. The floor package comprised more Magic Panel-R’s, B-EYE K20’s, Cyc FC 8’s and Robin BMFL spots. In addition, Martin Professional VDO Sceptron - traditionally a video product - is used as LED strips, lining the stage and trusses.

“I chose these because the album artwork is lit in neon lights, and it draws upon that.”

When it comes to operation, Warren’s desk of choice is a ChamSys MagicQ MQ200, a powerful 64-universe console that he owns,

alongside a backup of the same model. He explained: “When I started in the world of light, I got some work with GLS Lighting in their warehouse and at the time ChamSys were based there too, as a fledgling company. When I went on my first tour with any kind of production, I took the only desk I really knew. We’re like old friends” he explained.

Some of Warren’s design requires moving set pieces of decorative lighting effects, which fly over the audience. The Orbis Fly System from Audio Visual Network in Germany - is a motorised LED sphere, originally used for architectural and installation set pieces. This is the first time the product has ever been toured.

Warren operates the motors from his desk as a DMX fixture.

The automation for the on stage trusses are operated by Kinesys Tech, Fred Jacques of Solotech, the band’s supplier in North America and the full production design is enabled to fly safely thanks Head Rigger, Bjorn Melchert, who worked with 91 rigging points.

Warren’s right hand man is Adam Morris, AKA Moonunit, Lighting Crew Chief. But first thing’s first - where did that name come from?

“I used to be in a band called Moon Unit. Ed knew me in those days before we were both working full time in the industry. One day he asked if I wanted to come and work on Mumford & Sons but only on the condition that I would be called Moonunit. It often gets shortened to ‘The Unit’, which is great… people see it written on my bunk on the tour bus and expect this huge guy to show up!”

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Below: Production Manager, Steve Gordon; FOH Engineer, Chris Pollard; Band Chef, Dave Pascoe; Lighting Crew Chief, Adam ‘Moonunit’ Morris; Lighting and Show Designer, Ed Warren; Monitor Engineer, Andrew Egerton.

Moonunit was brought onto the tour in 2012, just before the second album came out.

“At that time we had three trusses and a bit of floor stuff. The first tour I did with them was actually just a little floor package, but it got bigger quite fast and I had to learn some things very quickly,” he reminisced. “As Crew Chief these days, I have to know where everything is, so that I can run around and put out any fires.

Everyone else does everything on stage so I just have to make sure all the tools are available and in working order so that they can to do their jobs as best they can.

“I’ve also got to say that Neg Earth have been amazing with what they have done in the last few months - to get everything back up and running has been incredible. All the gear, as always, is second to none, plus we have the team exactly right. The group across the whole tour are all working really well together but the lighting department has clicked instantly. It has been noticed by everybody, including the band, how great the team vibe is in our department.

It makes a big difference to our day,” he said.

The friendship between Warren and Moonunit is certainly obvious: “With Ed, we work so well together because I think sometimes I understand what he’s trying to achieve more than he does - we’re in tune like that, and we trust each other a lot.”

Moonunit’s team is completed by Adam ‘Taf’ Morgan, Neil Johnson, Matt Flood, Chris Wilkes, Dom Martin, Craig ‘Millhouse’ Lewis.

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ROCK ‘N’ ROLL DIRECTION Video Director Steve Price is the newest member of the visual team, and was recommend by word of mouth. “I was on tour with Queen in South America, with Rob Sinclair who knows Ed really well. Rob asked him if knew anyone who would like the chance to work for Mumford & Sons, and put my name forward. Rob thought I would be the right person for the band because of the way I direct, and he thought that I would fit in well because he knew the crew. He was absolutely right - they are lovely people. Joel Stanley, Production Manger for Bastille was also instrumental in putting me forward for this job, so I owe them a lot!”

Price directs and cuts the camera feeds, which go to the side screens. “Usually the show doesn’t have any LED screens on it which in some ways makes my life more enjoyable because this is the first tour I have done for a few years where I have been able to use the full aspect of the 16:9 aspect ratio. My responsibility is to cut a very energised show for the audience.

“Obviously the IMAG is for the people at the back to see more easily but I think that the same way the lighting / set designers does, you can add some flavour to the show and help inject some energy into the experience. We have got five operated cameras and four mini cameras, one of those mini cameras I have put in to get one shot only; at the end of the main set before the encore, Marcus stands up and kicks his drum kit over. So I have a camera underneath it

just for that one shot. All of these little details are really important.”

The live ability of the band is something that Price relishes capturing too: “They are all brilliant musicians and non of it is time coded. It’s live and raw, and so is the cut that I do on screen.

I cut this show in a kind of classic rock style, which is very much in keeping with my style of directing. It’s highly energised and detailed and all the band members get their fair share of screen time. I like to pick out the details of the musicianship that artists are often very proud of. For example, little runs down the bass or drum fills or little bits of guitar work that they think people maybe haven’t noticed, but I will make sure they are. I listen as much as I can to the music to pick out those little details and put them into the video mix.”

Price has a hand held camera on the stage, two on rails in the pit and two long lenses at FOH. He said: “PRG have been very good to me. The mini cameras I’m using, they actually build themselves. They are medical cameras and that’s how much detail you get with them. PRG printed their own cases and added their own lens attachments. One has a super wide angle in the middle of the drum kit and it’s been working out really well.

“The guys in the pit and the guys on the stage are professional camera operators, which is a luxury. You don’t always get that on tour!

We have then got carpenters at the back using those long lenses and the ball camera on the

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Below: Singer, Marcus Mumford uses a Shure Beta 58A microphone for vocals.

piano I operate remotely. We also have a mini cam on the drum kit.”

For operation, Price is using a Ross Carbonite switcher from supplier PRG XL Video. Continued Price: “My video engineer on the tour is Jerome Myway, I’ve never worked with him before but he’s amazing! He has been touring for 25 years and nothing phases him.

“I have personally only been touring for nine years, but I used to make music videos. I still find it very exciting. With this band, I really feel like I am living the dream, really living in the moment.”

SPECIAL EFFECTS Adding some sparkle into the visual equation, Quantum Special Effects supplied special effects for the band’s 13-date journey.

During the two-hour, high-energy set - which saw the performance move seamlessly across all three of their acclaimed albums, blending electric, acoustic, rock and folk the pyrotechnic elements brought

some fireworks into the musical fusion.

Quantum’s kit treated audiences to a 50ft wide and 20ft tall pyrotechnic waterfall that provided 20 seconds of cascading gold rain as a backdrop to the sounds of Dustbowl Dance. After illuminating the stage at that point, Quantum’s skills were put to use for the set closer, The Wolf. For this, a fitting finale ensured a snowstorm of white confetti brought that muchloved audience interaction to life.

With four super shooters stationed at the front of the room and two at the back, 36kg of confetti took to the air and immersed the crowds accordingly. Quantum’s Project Manager, Rob Edwards, was operating on the tour and told TPi: “The band loves the drama of the pyro waterfall. Dustbowl Dance ends on such a good climax, that it’s a perfect accompaniment to the song, and such a crowd pleaser. This is an amazing tour to be a part of; it’s well organised, home to a great bunch of crew.”

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Below: The lighting design, which was controlled by Ed Warren’s own ChamSys MagicQ MQ200 console, emulates the look of an ‘80s rock show, giving further depth to the band’s new electric sound.

TOUR SOUND FOH Engineer Chris Pollard has worked with the band ever since they needed a FOH engineer around eight years ago. He said: “I was working with a few similar bands at that time, there were a lot of folk style acts around, such as Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn.”

Pollard’s choice of desk during this time has varied. “I’ve used a lot of different desks in that time such as Avid Profile and the Midas PRO series. I used a Midas XL4 on the last tour, which was cool; I do really enjoy analogue gear but these days the band has so many inputs and want to record everything live, so I need to use a digital console,” he explained.

For this tour, he’s opted for an SSL L500 console with a Pro Tools HD set up from audio vendor, Britannia Row. “It’s so I can record up to 64 inputs for the band,” he noted. “I had heard about this desk, and when I listened to it, I thought it sounded really good. I’m always keen to use something I never have before and because SSL are so well known for their studio gear and now have all of these live products.

I’m really enjoying using it. SSL has the heritage factor going on, and if it sounds good now, why not use it?” In addition, Pollard’s inserts and effects rack contains a Bricasti M7, Tubetech CLA2B, Smart C2 dual compressor, Waves Soundgrid and a Lake LM 44 loudspeaker management system. “We don’t have any backing tracks, so the audience gets a live band 52

sound, and that’s exactly what it is. Energy and performance is a really important thing in this gig. The band is more interested in putting on a great show so I guess you could say that they play the way they feel each night. In that way, it differs from the album sound. They always want it to sound raw and they like to get interactive with their fans, who can get quite loud!” Pollard noted. The band uses all Shure microphones; a Beta 58A for vocals and the KSM313/NE - a premium bi-directional ribbon microphone designed for performance.

“We are using an L-Acoustics system - a K1 and a K2 set up, which is obviously fit for the purpose of what we’re doing here because the K1 and K2 cover everything from theatres to stadiums - we get a totally seamless transition,” he said.

Britannia Row provided 28 L-Acoustics K1 and 12 L-Acoustics K2 for the main hangs, the main flown sub comprising 16 L-Acoustics K1SB elements (eight per side), side hangs of 32 L-Acoustic K2 elements (16 per side), groundstacked sub cabinets of 30 L-Acoustics SB28 subs, and 12 boxes of KARA for fills. The system is looked after by Jamie Howieson.

Continued Pollard: “We have done some smaller venues on this tour and this summer we did some huge outdoor gigs where we had the same PA, just in a different configuration. The different boxes work so well together and the system works really well for this band. They’re

loud but the system keeps up with them!”

He noted that the choice of vendor was determined by his spec, but in Britannia Row, he gets an added bonus: “We have a good time touring with Brit Row, because we’ve got a great crew out here with us.”

Monitor Engineer Andrew Egerton came into the fold by chance, when he worked for indie heartthrobs, The Maccabees, but it was meant to be. He told TPi: “I think the first ever tour that Mumford & Sons did was supporting The Maccabees. After about four gigs they were having a bit of a nightmare with their monitors, so I offered to do it for free and ended up doing the rest of the tour with them. They did a small tour of Germany and a few other little festivals and I ended up working FOH and tour managing them for that one. I was then offered, although I was unavailable, to work for them as a full time monitor engineer when they started playing academies. I was still working with The Maccabees at that point so my friend ended up filling in for the last two albums. This time around he decided he wanted a change and luckily they asked me again.”

Egerton continued: “The mix certainly had a lot going on but, because we have been doing it a while, we have got it all dialled in and settled down on the in-ears. The only tricky bit was moving from acoustic to electric, sonically it’s very different.”

Mixing on a DiGiCo SD7 console, he uses a

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Below: The show held a tungsten look throughout, allowing the band to take centrestage despite the bigger production values.

Lake LM 44 across bi amped d&b audiotecnik M2 wedges, with d&b’s D80 amplifiers. “The DiGiCo desk was the only console big enough to deal with what was coming at me. The amount of stereo channels you can have as outputs is huge. I have 125 channels coming in and 50 going out, but not all of those are from the stage - some are for talk back systems and tuning DIs for the techs.

The band all use Shure’s PSM 1000 in-ear unit packs with Ultimate Ears UE11’s molds.

Continued Egerton: “The in-ears helped with the dynamic shift between the acoustic and the electric transitions we’ve had to go through on this album cycle. I use my Waves C4 multiband compressor plug-in and channel compressors on the outputs to tighten it up a little bit. Since I have done that, it’s been sounding great.

“Challenges in a venue like today’s is the sound reflection in the arena. Last night in Cardiff was difficult because there was the back wall which the snares where being bounced back from. Manchester Arena is good because it generally sounds quite good but the smaller rooms with low roofs and a lot of metal can be a bit more difficult. That’s the advantage of in-ears, because you can close a lot of that out.

There is a lot of stage sound with the monitors and you have to let them feel it so that they don’t feel to isolated.”

There are also some strategically placed wedges: eight across the stage on four mixes and then there is a mix at Marcus’ drum kit on a single wedge and a mix at the piano on a single wedge. “And then we have a pleasure board - a vibrating board which is about 3ft by 2ft,” said Egerton. “It sits next to the drums so when the bassist walks up the steps, he can still feel the 54

sensation of the bass being in front of him. It’s a comfort thing.

“Then we have two thumpers on each drum stool that take care of the airborne sound. The acoustic songs are the trickiest because you have to ride the guitars, everything follows the acoustic guitar but it’s a lot of fun and I love mixing it. It’s massive and there is so much that could potentially could go wrong, but it never does. Touch wood!”

Egerton works closely with Monitor Tech, Alex Cerrutti: “He is an absolute wonder, he’s honestly amazing. He is not only very good technically, but he has incredible patience! He has been with me from day one and I’m lucky to have him.”

which drop and hang from the audience trusses.

Sam Booker, Director, Hangman & Metalman stated: “It’s always a pleasure to work with Mumford & Sons. Their visual branding and how that reflects on them is very important to the band and we are pleased that we can help them to achieve the look and feel that they are after on tour. We spent quite a bit of time in 2015 working on the Mumford & Sons shows in various guises, and the challenge was to keep a consistent visual identity running through every show, wherever they were. It helped that we’ve now got a pretty good working relationship with the design team including Ross Sterling, Rob Edwards and George Sinclair and LD Ed Warren.”

STAGING & SCENERY All Access Staging & Productions provided the show’s riser package. Having worked with Steve Gordon on previous projects, he returned to All Access to request its Versa stage system for this latest outing. All Access Sales Manager, Matthew Bull commented: “We provided an onstage riser package of decks at different heights, with treads connecting the different levels. At FOH we created a grated deck area for the band and added risers for the cameras positions. All of the system was built from Versa stage products from our extensive stock in the UK. It mirrored a system that the act had used while touring in the US, supported from our US offices.”

To enhance the aesthetics of the staging, Hangman created draping for the main stage area. A 50ft by 30ft kabuki drop with the band’s wings logo on it, some arena branding to go around the façade seating and 20 smaller kabuki

APPRECIATIVE APPETITES Popcorn’s Steffy Head was new to the Mumford camp, but had worked with the band’s personal chef, Dave Pascoe, for many years. Having been asked on board, Popcorn supplied four catering staff, completed by Chris Clarke, Anis Darragi and James Maggiore to ensure the crew were well-nourished during their busy schedule. Head commented: “It was great to work alongside Dave Pascoe again, even though he had to have a completely separate kitchen area, as a member of the band has a serious nut allergy, we worked well together. We decided to make the whole tour a nut and seed free zone, to rule out any possibility of cross contamination.

“It was quite hard to start with, as when we shopped we had to pay special attention to ingredients, making sure that everything we bought was definitely seed and nut free, so multiseed bread was a no go item and any cereals that included nuts were definitely off

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mumford & Sons

Below: Popcorn’s Steffy Head with the band’s favourite tipple - Patron.

our shopping list. When we had our end of tour Christmas dinner, we made a ‘no nut’ nut loaf, for the vegetarians, which became a slightly confusing joke as it was listed in our menu as ‘no nut loaf’, and the crew thought we had none left!” she laughed.

The whole tour has 68 people travelling in total, but for Christmas dinner there were 90 mouths to feed. “We organised a secret Santa for everyone on the tour, and our Video Director Steve Price played Santa - he dressed in full outfit and beard!”

Typical menus from Popcorn include choices of meat dishes, a fish dish and a couple of vegetarian dishes. A popular choice was butternut squash stuffed with fragrant pearl barley and sundried tomatoes, served with a tahini dressing and calve Nero. “We also like to make a few choices for dessert. Fresh fruit salads are always popular, but Oreo brownies were a firm favourite! We made some interesting dishes on this tour, such as limoncello and blackberry trifle, deep-filled treacle tart and a self-saucing lemon and lime pudding. The band and crew were all fantastic to work with, and we really enjoyed being on the tour as caterers, they appreciated everything we cooked. We’re really looking forward to continuing working with them in 2016,” she concluded.

BACKSTAGE BEAUTIES Having been more than a little curious about how Mumford & Sons shows would look and feel since those exciting early memories of tiny club filled hysteria, the

good news is that the band have remained as grounded and intelligent with their touring careers as one would hope is possible. They sounded immense, leaving no doubt for the fact that this is a stadium-worthy live act, whether playing full force electric or honing in on their acoustic foundations. The show was truly brought to life by a well thought out show design that for two hours engaged and enchanted an arena full of long time fans, proving that a Mumford & Sons tour is still regarded as something quite special.

Production Manger Steve Gordon played homage to the camp: “I have a fantastic team around me. A lot of the crew have been with the band longer than I have, and they’ve made very solid relationships. It just works. It’s a great time to be touring with them and I think they have a long and happy career ahead of them.”

Gordon is supported by “the fantastic” Marie Beauregard, Production Assistant and Stage Manager, Phil ‘Tico’ Ryder.

The band and crew are currently playing outdoor shows in South Africa.

TPi Photos: Sarah Rushton-Read www.mumfordandsons.com www.britanniarow.com www.q-sfx.com www.negearth.com www.prg.com http://allaccessinc.com www.hangman.co.uk www.er-productions.com www.popcorncatering.com www.flybynite.co.uk www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk 55

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Hozier

HOZIER IRISH SINGER-SONGWRITER ANDREW BYRNE, KNOWN BETTER WORLDWIDE AS HOZIER, HAS HAD AN INCREDIBLE TWO YEARS. AFTER THE SUCCESS OF HIS SEMINAL TRACK TAKE ME TO CHURCH THE ARTIST HAS TRAVELLED THE WORLD AND VERY QUICKLY BUILT A SOLID FAN BASE. TPi’S STEW HUME DROPPED IN TO MEET THE CREW THAT HAVE BEEN ALONG FOR THE RIDE. If you were to make a list of breakout musicians who have emerged over the last few years, it would be safe to say that Irish singer-songwriter Hozier would earn his place. After the incredible success of his track Take Me To Church, followed by the release of his self-titled debut, Andrew Hozier-Byrne has spent the last two years completing a relentless schedule of gigs and promotional activity, garnering both commercial and critical acclaim. It certainly has been an avalanche of success for the artist, selling out shows on both sides of the Atlantic and filling larger and larger venues.

From the beginning of this journey, Hozier has surrounded himself with a dedicated crew of fellow countrymen and women who have been with him every step of the way. Despite the ever-growing pressure that comes with success, this crew has taken the bull by the horns and enjoyed the ride as month after month they play to bigger crowds. Their hard work has not gone unnoticed by the touring industry either, with four of its members 58

being shortlisted for this year’s TPi Awards, (Production Manager Sue ‘Duchess’ Iredale, Tour Manager Jake Ryan Foley, LD Mathew Kilmurry and Monitor Engineer Darren Dunphy).

Clearly they have found a magic formula. By the time TPi caught up with both artist and crew, the Hozier machine was on the home-stretch of its current campaign with only three months left of the current tour. However, rather than slowly winding down, this last UK tour marked the first time that the crew had brought out a complete production package out on the road.

HEAD FIRST At the helm of the rocket ship that is Hozier is Production Manager extraordinaire Sue ‘Duchess’ Iredale along with Tour Manager Jake Ryan Foley. Sitting down with them both backstage at Manchester’s O2 Apollo, they talked through the last two years on the road.

Going from playing 1,000 capacity venues to gigs that exceeded the 20,000 mark is no mean feat, which is only made more impressive when you realise that at no point has the crew had a chance to do a production rehearsal.

The first thing that Duchess knew when she first started with this production was the need for flexibility. She expanded: “In order to campaign an artist’s debut album you have to do as many gigs, festivals and promotional appearances as you can manage. There is no consistency in the size of venues you are playing and you have to be able to handle any situation and be very self-contained. I think that has become the model these days.” Foley backed this up: “Due to time constraints we have never had time to do any sort of production rehearsals and there is often little time to freight over gear.

This means that we have had to keep everything basic. We are lucky though, as Andrew’s music kind of speaks for itself, and we can tour with backline and monitor system and people will still get a great show.”

Since 2014, the core group of Irish crew members had to learn quickly how to deal with a production of this flexibility. Talking about how he entered the production, Foley said: “I first met Andrew while he was supporting another band I was working for. During that tour I became friendly with him and after that

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Hozier

Opposite: Andrew Hozier-Byrne playing at Manchester’s O2 Apollo on his latest UK tour. Below: Jake Ryan Foley, Tour Manager and Production Manager Sue ‘Duchess’ Iredale is at the helm of all the technicalities of the Hozier tour.

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AUDIO Taking a trip out to the main floor of the O2 Apollo, TPi met up with FOH engineer Gavin Muddiman, yet another long-standing member of the Hozier brigade. Muddiman explained: “In every country the live events sector is always a small industry but in Ireland you find that it is especially so. We all know each other.”

Muddiman was brought in as FOH engineer for several showcase shows in September 2013 when Hozier began to attract the interest of record labels.

For his live show Hozier plays alongside six other musicians, all of whom sing during the show. “This show is very much a live event,” Muddiman explained. “Everything that you hear during the gig is happening in the moment with no backing tracks and none of them play to a click. My goal at FOH is to make sure you can hear every element of what is going on during the performances. This is not always the easiest task as there are so many elements to the show.

However, one thing I always try and do is accent the most important parts of each song.” With so many live elements, Muddiman is constantly kept on his toes riding the show through out the performance. “This performance can be tricky especially with seven live vocals at any given time. Although I do have snapshots for each song I still find I ride the faders a lot to get the most out of what is happening on stage.”

Muddiman went on to talk about his working relationship with Hozier: “Andrew has a very solid idea of what he wants to hear in his is head and luckily he communicates his ideas very well.” As stated above, this production over the last few years has had no time to have a traditional production rehearsal, meaning having to work on a lot of things while on the road. This often means that Muddiman records the gigs and then both he and Hozier go through it and make notes on what can be done to better the show.

For the last two years the Hozier tour has never had a complete package but for this UK tour the production has its own audio and lighting rig, all of which is provided by UK supplier Adlib. “Last year we carried our own stage package including, monitor system, IEMs, line system, mics, stands and cable,” said Muddiman. “During a tour in America we started carrying FOH gear along with a moderate lighting package.” Muddiman had already worked with Adlib in the past at festivals and with several opening acts on European and

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tour he asked if I wanted to tag along for his shows. Before anyone knew it he had blown up so rapidly that myself and various crew members had to adapt.” It was not just the crew who had to learn quickly but as Duchess stated: “Andrew had to develop his stagecraft and the way to do that was to build a dedicated crew around him.

“Andrew treats the crew as a close family and that’s what has kept him grounded throughout this whole process.” This was evident at the end of the night when Hozier thanked every single member of the crew by name. Foley joked that this sometimes caused an issue during festivals when they are on a slightly tighter time scale: “I’m sometimes on the side of the stage signaling him to hurry up but he insists on thanking everyone. He really is a great guy to work for.”

For many of the crew, working on Hozier’s tour has given them a chance to experience new countries and venues, for Duchess this whole experience has given her a chance to reaquaint herself with an environment she hasn’t been able to work in for many years. “Since the late 90s I have been concentrating on outdoor events and production managing festivals,” she explained. “This whole touring ‘campaign’ has been great for me as it has given me a chance to go into venues that I haven’t been for years.

I worked as a promoter rep and a Production Manager for MCD between 1999 to 2011 on all outdoor shows, stadiums, and festivals. MCD’s Caroline Downey and Denis Desmond, who manage Andrew, were the ones who asked me to be involved with Hozier Tour. I started in January 2014 and have been the full time Production Manager ever since.”

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Hozier

Below: The FOH team, LD Matthew Kilmurry and FOH Engineer Gavin Muddiman; This was the first tour that Hozier and the rest of the crew used a full production including a complete audio PA package, making use of an L-Acoustics K2 system; Steven Montgomery, representative from PHG on the tour; Monitor Engineer Darren Dunphy standing next to his compact but powerful Yamaha CL1 console.

UK tours. He added that: “I have always found them to be very professional and a pleasure to work with.”

For control, Muddiman opted for an Avid Profile Mixing Console. He stated: “It is an industry standard; extremely flexible and user friendly. Having a show file I can always rely on, whether it will be a fly-in where I have to use local suppliers or our own tour I have never been let down by the Profile.”

He is currently touring an Avid Venue System including FOH Rack and Avid Venue Stage Rack as well as making use of the Waves V9 Plug-In package. The C6, SSL bundle and Vintage Compressor bundle is being used for almost every show. He stated: “I love the flexibility, and when it comes to later doing mixes in Pro Tools it has helped in replicating what we do for the live show.” Throughout the tour Muddiman has tried to recreate some of the sounds from the album as closely as possible. “There are a couple of things we add to the mix in an effort to capture the vibe of the album. For example, the backing vocal bus is routed through rotary effects and vintage style spring reverb for certain sections. They were used a lot on the album so we are trying to emulate those bits and pieces live as best we can.”

For the PA, Adlib provided an L-Acoustics K2 system. Altogether 24 K2’s were flown for the main PA hangs with 16 SB28’s, eight ARCs 60

and four KUDO for lip fill and down fill, as well as centre clusters where needed. Muddiman commented: “Obviously L-Acoustics is an industry standard and it was always going to be a preference to go with.” He went on to explain that for some of the larger European arena shows they are up-scaling to L-Acoustics K1 with K2 used for side hangs.

MICS AND MONITORS For the last few years, Hozier has employed the services of Belfast based PHG for all his backline and monitor needs. The company first started working with the artist in 2013 and have continued to have a relationship with him and his crew. Speaking to Steven Montgomery, System Tech and Senior Audio Systems Engineer for PHG, he explained the history that the company had with Hozier. “We have been working with Andrew since very early on in his career and it certainly has been a great experience. It has been a pleasure to be able to support a rising Irish star in any way we can and work with a talented and friendly crew. The growing size of the shows hasn’t really affected what we supply. No matter what the size of the show or artist we always make sure they get the best quality and service we can provide.” For this tour PHG supplied Hozier’s stage line system and monitor package as well as providing Monitor Engineer Darren Dunphy with his

preferred console, the Yamaha CL1 along with a custom built line system. Montgomery added: “We initially provided the crew with an in-ear monitor package but Darren now carries his own. In the past we have provided Hozier with a full touring audio production package, as well as regularly providing a FOH console for Irish festival shows.”

Dunphy explained how he first came into the Hozier camp. “Before I got brought on to this tour I already had a fair bit of experience as a monitor engineer working at festivals in Ireland on behalf of various PA companies as well as two years when I worked on Sinéad O’Connor’s shows. After doing my last show with her I got a phone call to come on board with Hozier.

That was two years ago. It’s been a great opportunity as it’s fairly rare to have two years of solid work in our industry.”

Dunphy explained his decision on using the Yamaha console. “My whole workspace is really quite small. The reason for this is just ease of accessibility. The fact that I can fit everything into one rack with a console on top means that I can fit into any venue without any issue.”

As well as creating a much smaller footprint, according to Dunphy his smaller set up has been necessary as for the last two years he has not had a tech with him. “Keeping everything condensed for me is also very beneficial for the reason that if anything goes wrong I am

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Hozier

Below: Backline tech and Hozier’s guitar tech Murt Murphy with the arsenal of instruments used throughout the set; Matthew Kilmurry sitting next two the Avolites Sapphire Touch, his work on the tour has earned him a place in this year’s shortlist for TPi’s Lighting Designer of the Year.

able to fix it. My set up has also been great for festivals as I can set up and pack down in no time, which is essential for those type of shows.

I think that having a smaller set up might be the way forward as everyone is trying to save money these days. As technology improves it is becoming much easier to have a much smaller footprint on the stage.” Along with the console Dunphy is making use of a Yahaha Rio 3224 and a 1608 along with a Lake card.

One of the biggest challenges that Dunphy faced as a monitor engineer for this tour was that he was having to produce a rock ‘n’ roll mix that included seven live singers with 48 inputs and 32 outputs. “The whole show is really vocal driven. Andrew has a background in gospel and choir singing and that is the sound that he always wanted to maintain in his live performance. However it’s quite a challenge to mix that many vocals along with all the instrumentation. I made the decision to move everyone onto in-ears back in 2014 because wedges simply weren’t working. Nobody in the band had used them before and it certainly was a bit nerve racking when we took all the speakers away from the stage. But thankfully it all worked out well.” Dunphy’s in-ear of choice is the Ultimate Ears UE 18’s along with the Shure PSM 1000’s for transmission. All seven band members are on along with two members of

the crew and Dunphy himself. “There is nothing that really compares to UE in-ears on the market and it is what Andrew feels most comfortable with. He can tell when we use something else.

Shure have also been incredibly helpful for us over the years.” Also on stage are two d&b audiotechnik Q-Subs for the benefit of Rory Doyle, Hozier’s drummer.

As well as making use of the Shure PSM 1000’s, as an endorsee of the company, all vocal microphones used on the tour are also Shure with all the backing band using Beta 58As. For this run the production have also been testing the new Shure KSM8 dynamic microphone for Hozier’s main vocals. “Shure’s artist relations manager approached us to test run the new microphone,” explained Dunphy.

“I have never been keen on using a condenser microphone on Andrew’s voice as we have so many vocals on stage and it was already hard enough controlling the ambiance in certain venues and there is always a risky of the mix becoming very washy. However Shure came to me and said their new KSM8 dynamic mic was very similar to a condenser but had very little proximity effect; and they were right! The gain structure was exactly the same for what we had been using and it fit perfectly into my files. As we don’t have production rehearsals to change something as major as the lead vocals is

always risk but it has worked out perfectly. The microphone has a lot more presence in the mix and it sits really well in Andrew’s IEMs.” Completing the on stage team are Murt Murphy and Fred Burke. The two split the job of backline techs with Burke taking care of stage left, which includes drums, bass and keyboards with Murphy taking care of stage right, which includes cello, keys and, most importantly, Hozier. Speaking to Murphy while surrounded by his sizeable arsenal of instruments he talked about his expertise within the Hozier camp.

“It certainly is busy. He uses lots of different guitars which he swaps throughout the show. It certainly keeps me from falling asleep.” As well as PHG / Litton Lane offering the majority of the backline gear, the Irish songwriter also has several amp endorsements with both Vox and Fender who supply his live amps. Despite the abundance of in-ears, Hozier’s production have opted out of using wireless packs for his guitars.

“There is really no need for it at the moment and it has the advantage of producing a truer signal,” stated Murphy.

LIGHTING Illuminating Hozier and the rest of the band has been the job of Matthew Kilmurry for just over two years. After taking a brief break from the tour in 2014, he returned at the latter end of

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Hozier

Below: For all European and UK Touring, Beat The Street supplied coaches; Paul Hastings from Bitter Sweet Catering who kept all the band and crew fed on the UK run.

that year and has been with the production ever since. In his words: “I couldn’t miss out on this rocket ship!”

Like many of the crew, Kilmurry started while Hozier was still playing small venues and has had to adapt as the Irish musician began to pull larger audiences. However, he claims that despite the bigger arenas (and lets face it, greater pressure) he is able to still busk the shows. “It’s very much a live show and the band doesn’t play to a click,” explained Kilmurry.

“Because of the nature of the music it can at times be quite mellow and some of the rooms we are playing in quite bright. Cue stacking isn’t really possible, as it would detract from the feel of the show. There are certain bits of the show that are pre-programmed but I more or less busk the whole thing. The other issue is that without a click on stage, certain timings wouldn’t match up so busking is the only real option.” During his time with the band Kilmurry has enjoyed a great deal of creative freedom with his designs. He explained: “Andrew doesn’t give too much input as far as the lighting show is concerned. I think he really enjoyed what I delivered from day one and has put his faith in me that I will do a good job,” and with a TPi shortlist nomination under his belt, clearly this was the right decision.

As well as supplying a complete lighting package, Adlib also provided two Lighting Technicians, Kev Byatt and Jeff Bond, for this UK run to help out Kilmurry. For control the LD opted for and Avolites Sapphire Touch. “I kind of grew up on Avolites,” said Kilmurry.

“I chose the Avolites Sapphire Touch Console for the Hozier tour for a few different reasons.

Firstly I really like what Avolites have done with their new Titan software which gives users so much control. It is very quick to programme and the new key shape effects generator is pretty powerful. I have found it great for cloning and exchanging fixtures at festivals and the numerous different lighting rigs I encountered throughout the past two years.” He went on to explain that the fader control was also very good on the Sapphire Touch. “I’ve struggled 64

getting a smooth movement with other consoles, almost as if there is grit in the faders, but with the Sapphire Touch I felt the faders moved perfectly. I required this attribute for the Hozier show as it is very atmospheric, so I like to ride the faders a lot depending on the room we are in. The console has never failed to provide a nice smooth movement. It is also extremely easy to navigate around. Everything is in front of you when you programming, no need to change pages in most cases. This just adds to the speed of programming if you’re under pressure for time.”

Prior to this tour, Kilmurry had used a combination of house systems and floor packages. His rider for this tour had been loosely based on a rig that he had used while in New Zealand with a few alterations. “Adlib provided me with 12 Clay Paky Mythos’, which were not originally on my spec but they are amazing. I think I will be asking for them in the future. On this tour I have also being using a lot of Martin Professional MAC Viper Profiles (18 in total). I love using them along with 12 Viper Washes.” Also used on the tour were seven Martin Professional Atomic 3000 strobes, six Martin Professional Quantum Washes, four Martin Professional Rush Floor Cans, nine James Thomas Engineering 4 Lite PAR 36’s, four James Thomas Engineering short nose PAR 64’s along with two Reel EFX DF-50 Hazers. The only piece of lighting that was not supplied by Adlib was 12 vintage 60W Squirrel bulbs that Kilmurry had been using on a previous tour. The bulbs decorated the stage and were controlled from front of house.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Keeping all the band and crew fed on this UK run was Bitter Sweet Catering. Last year it supplied catering services for various other tours including Imagine Dragons, Florence + The Machine and Stereophonics and it is fair to say that founder Paul Hastings is rather pleased with how far his company has come. “Last year was really quite good for us,” stated Hastings.

“We did some bigger artists. It is certainly a competitive market and there are many other fantastic companies in the sector.”

For this tour Hastings explained it had been fairly simple as there had been no special dietary requirements. “This particular tour is slightly different because there are so many breaks in between. For this run we have three shows then a week off between so we are driving ourselves rather than traveling with the crew.” Hastings went on to talk about a few shows he has coming up and its safe to say TPi will probably be bumping into Bitter Sweet a few more times this year (and hopefully enjoy a bit more of its cooking).

TRUCKING AND TRANSPORT Hozier and his crew have always had to travel light to ensure that they could fit into any venue that was offered. This time around however, with a whole PA in tow, they required more transport than usual. For all European and UK Touring, Beat The Street supplied coaches while Adlib provided its own trucks to transport audio and lighting equipment. For rigging, Adlib supplied the hardware the production sourced local riggers at each venue.

AMEN With only a few more shows left on his tour, Hozier is planning to take a break from the road to write his eagerly-awaited second album while his crew and band prepare for a well earned break. Hopefully by the end of 2016 this Irish artist will be out again with his fellow hard-working countrymen. TPi looks forward to seeing them all again with some fresh new material.

TPi Photos: Shirlaine Forrest & Dara Munnis Photography http://hozier.com www.adlib.co.uk http://productionhouse.net http://littonlane.com, www.beatthestreet.net www.bittersweetcatering.co.uk

Aerial photograph ©DeSciose 2015

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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Josh Groban

JOSH GROBAN JOSH GROBAN BROUGHT HIS THEMED STAGES SHOW TO THE UK AND EUROPE WITH FOUR HIGH PROFILE GIGS - INCLUDING LONDON’S HAMMERSMITH EVENTIM APOLLO, WHICH IS WHERE LOUISE STICKLAND CAUGHT UP WITH THE ACTION. The Stages concept involved a 22-piece orchestra as well as a four-piece backing band, performing a collection of favourite Broadway and West End musical songs, all bringing a very different ambience and adding a few challenges for the local production teams from Entec and Capital Sound under the production management of Paul Binder for Premier Global Production (PGP) in the US. West London-based Entec has developed a close working relationship with PGP, a full technical production company headquartered in Tennessee, and the two companies have collaborated in a similar fashion with Entec delivering lighting for PGP’s artists in the UK and Europe.

Entec’s Project Manager, Noreen O’Riordan, commented: “Entec and PGP combine forces and knowledge in an extremely efficient way from all the initial communication right through the gigs themselves - there’s a lot of mutual trust. We very much enjoy working with James Volhoffer and the team at PGP, and Production Manager Narci Martinez who is integral to the equation.”

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Martinez served as Production Director for the US leg of Stages, and completed all the prep and advance work on this initial European section, before handing over to Paul Binder to take on the road in Europe.

RETURN OF THE MAC Stages is the fourth tour with Josh Groban for Lighting Designer Mac Mosier - who needs no introduction to the industry. O’Riordan was delighted to learn that Mosier was on the tour, and during some down time at the Hammersmith show, they reminisced enthusiastically about their first encounters, circa 1991, but possibly a bit before!

“The essence of the industry is that while the tech has moved on massively, it is still a very people and relationship orientated business,” stated O’Riordan.

Mosier created a completely new design for the Stages tour based on a theatrical rig to match the oeuvre style of the show.

The set, designed by Michael Zinman, was originated for a PBS TV special - props like bookcases, picture frames, small trees and chandeliers all conjure up an image of

someone’s home or personal workspace. It brought an intimacy and cosiness through which Groban could deliver his personal selection of songs to the audience that worked well visually in a live context.

This whole vibe was a starting point for how Mosier envisioned the lighting - stylish, elegant, and often understated, with Groban centre stage.

For the first US leg of the tour, which continues in spring 2016, projection ran throughout onto an upstage sharks-tooth gauze. However, this wasn’t possible for these particular European dates, so the lighting had to be adapted to compensate.

Spread over four overhead trusses, the principal moving lights were 13 Philips Vari-lite 3000 Spots, chosen for their finesse and great quality of light, 10 positioned on the overhead trusses and three on the floor, augmented with nine Vari-Lite 3500 Wash FXs. These were joined by 25 Clay Paky Sharpys arranged in groups of three or four for some ‘traditional ACL’ moments and 30 GLP X4 Zoom LED washes, dotted all over for smooth and even stage coverage.

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Josh Groban

Opposite: The Stages concept involves a 22-piece orchestra as well as a four-piece backing band, performing a collection of favourite Broadway and West End musical songs. Below: Groban was originally outlined with a single sharp profile, giving the impression that it was to be a minimalist show; The mid-stage drape suddenly flew out to reveal the orchestra, launching into the first number; FOH Engineer Mickey Beck.

Eight Martin Professional Stage Bar 2 LED pixel bar / wash units on the side torms (legs) were used for colouring, while nine individual PixelRange PixelPARs and 16 PixelLine 1044 battens added to the general lighting of the orchestra, stage set pieces and back-cloth.

For that classic theatrical key and back lighting, 18 ETC Source Four PARs throwing warm washes across the orchestra and eight Source Four Profiles were strategically positioned for special positions.

Four 1K fresnels on the floor provided secondary stage and set washing with 12 four-lite molefays popping up the audience interaction moments, of which there were many, as Groban has a great connection with his fans. Entec also provided two Lycian Stage Lighting follow spots for the short tour.

The show kicked off with a mid-stage black in, stark rear lighting on the piano and Groban outlined with a single sharp profile, giving the immediate impression that it was to be a minimalist show. Then the mid-stage drape suddenly flew out to reveal the orchestra, launching into the first number - a great crowdpleasing theatrical vehicle to start the set!

Although Mosier and O’Riordan have known each other for some 25 years, this was the first time that Mosier has worked first hand with Entec, which he described as “a great experience”.

He arrived from his South Carolina base a few days ahead of the first gig with his MA

Lighting grandMA2 showfile, swapped a few fixtures, and was good to go. “It was a really smooth transition for what were effectively four one offs,” he commented.

Entec prepped everything meticulously so that everyone concerned could hit-theground-running at the first gig at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall.

The most challenging aspect of the lighting supply proved to be sourcing the chandeliers.

Anything too standard or too kitsch was out, as the appearance had to be just right. O’Riordan eventually got a result via a specialist wedding outlet. After a few modifications back at the Entec warehouse they were ready for the road!

Entec’s crew of Jonathan Dawson-Butterworth and Klins Ganger was chiefed by Phil White.

It was straight into Manchester Bridgewater Hall with no rehearsal, followed by Birmingham Symphony Hall on the Sunday, Hammersmith on the Tuesday and Paris Le Zenith on the Wednesday - quite an intense schedule.

CLASSICALLY TRAINED Sound was provided by a Martin Audio MLA system, provided by Capital Sound and mixed

by FOH Engineer Mickey Beck who is based in Baltimore and has worked with Groban since his first tour in 2004. Beck considers it a very lucky break as he landed the job in his first year after working the rock clubs and since then Groban’s international success and stature has been one constant upward trajectory.

This themed nature of the show with orchestra plus the band - piano, guitar, bass and drums - made it interesting and different audio wise, and on this leg of the tour, the orchestras and rhythm sections were sourced locally, with the conductor, guitar player / MD and pianist in the touring party.

Beck said he enjoys the show being more orchestral and classical as it is a genre where he has a great deal of experience.

The orchestra was mic’d using DPA transducers on each instrument, in particular the 4060’s for high strings like violin and viola and 4099’s on the lower end cellos and basses, with 4011’s for the wind instruments, harp and piano. They are designed and built for orchestral applications and, in Beck’s opinion, was the best microphone option for acoustic instruments.

He and Monitor Engineer Chris ‘Cookie’ Hoff both chose DiGiCo SD10 consoles with Waves MultiRack SoundGrid servers. The two control surfaces shared and gain tracked two fully loaded SD racks, all supplied by Capital Sound.

Another reason for going with DiGiCo was its universal popularity and availability most countries, and also for the mix platform’s capacity and scalability - a standard Josh Groban show is 128 channels - and not so many consoles will provide this at 96kHz sample rates, so they feel DiGiCo currently provides the best solution.

In an era when there are many excellent sounding PA systems available, Beck rated 67

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Josh Groban

L-Acoustics, d&b audiotechnik and JBL’s VTX among his favourites. “They can all basically do the same thing, it’s about your preferred flavour,” he commented.

He was also pleased with the performance of the MLA, especially the way it analyses the room and achieves even coverage. In terms of mixing style, he goes for a large sound but without “caning it” on the loudness!

“The sound should wrap itself around everyone in the audience and involve them fully in the journey,” he elucidated Beck described Groban’s voice as “huge and powerful” and his microphone is a Neumann KMS105. He also has a Shure Axient AXT200 with a KK105 capsule fitted via an Ambient Recording HHA II-S for most of his live shows, but for this one, decided to stick to a wired microphone for the classic look and feel of a cable.

The inevitable question about what the artist was like to work with - as you might expect given his public persona - was confirmed as a really likable individual with a great sense of humour.

Groban was also involved in the show, especially the visuals, and had a good idea of how he wanted it to look, sound and feel. From the FOH audio angle, he trusted Beck to achieve a great sound on each show.

Beck stated that he liked the many special

68

‘moments’ in the show where all those performing and involved in the technical production were on the same emotional wavelength. “We are lucky as they happen quite frequently in Josh’s shows. That’s what I love best about the job,” he concluded.

Cookie has been mixing Groban’s monitors for three years and he and Rich Spillberg, who runs the Digital Performer system, also cover all the TV shows and other non-touring live performances.

On this leg of the tour they used 14 d&b audiotechnik M4 wedges - he has a list of three or four preferred brands - and loves the M4’s for their compact physical size.

Groban, the pianist, guitarist / MD, conductor, bass player and drummer were all on Shure PSM1000 IEMs, the guitar tech and Spillberg both had their own mixes and there were also three other technical mixes, plus a guest vocalist and a trumpet player. The orchestra monitored themselves from the stage volume and four wedges spread throughout their area.

The remaining wireless mics were all Shure, networked with an Axient AXT600 Spectrum Manager with 16 channels of Shure ULX-D available if needed, all running efficiently on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

Nearly 90 channels were running into the SD Racks, quite a change from previous Josh

Groban tours where it was just him and a five-piece band, and with the orchestra, the emphasis was on keeping the SPL levels low onstage.

PUTTING IN THE LEGWORK Having worked with the Josh Groban team on many tours previously, TransAm provided three 45ft Megacube trucks for four shows in November and December.

TransAm’s Natasha Flatt said: “We were slightly nervous about the overnight from London to Paris due to the situation at Calais, but we ensured that the trucks had bookings for the both the boats and the Channel Tunnel so that they were able to make the appropriate choice of crossing at the time of travelling, as things can change very quickly down there!

Luckily the trucks travelled via the tunnel with no delays and made it to Paris on time for loadin.”

The Josh Groban tour is continuing in 2016 in the US and Australia, returning to the UK and Europe in May. TPi Photos: Louise Stickland www.joshgroban.com www.entec-soundandlight.com www.premierglobalproduction.com www.capital-sound.co.uk

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IN PROFILE: TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley

TRUCKINGBY BRIAN YEARDLEY DESPITE HAVING ONLY ENTERED THE FRAY IN 2014, TRUCKINBY BRIAN YEARDLEY HAS QUICKLY MADE ITS MARK AS ONE OF THE GO-TO NAMES IN THE LIVE EVENT TRUCKING INDUSTRY. A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL YEAR HAS EVEN SEEN THE COMPANY BEING NOMINATED FOR FAVOURITE TRUCKING COMPANY AT THIS YEAR’S TPi AWARDS. STE DURHAM VISITED YEARDLEY’S WEST YORKSHIRE HQ TO MEET THE TEAM. Established in 1975 by Brian Yeardley and his wife Sandra, who are now retired and live in Portugal, Brian Yeardley Continental has been trading over 40 years and is highly respected as one of the leading UK hauliers operating in the European market.

Until recently, the company’s main area of business was moving general cargo from the UK onto the continent and vice versa, working in both the retail and manufacturing sectors, delivering everything from foodstuffs to automotive parts.

While the business has grown, turning over £13 million in 2015 and massive growth expected this coming year, Brian Yeardley has 70

just taken delivery of a further seven new Euro 6 environmentally-friendly trucks and 10 low ride flat floor Megacube box trailers, increasing its fleet to 53 trucks and 70 trailers.

As well as the company’s head office in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Brian Yeardley also has a modern purpose built office and 15,000 sq ft warehouse in Ashford, Kent close to the port of Dover and the channel tunnel.

According to Managing Director, Kevin Hopper, the company prides itself on its willingness to develop the way in which it operates, unafraid to look at new markets where it could potentially make an impact or carve a niche.

“The secret of success in business is to be flexible and be able to reinvent yourself at short notice to accommodate your clients’ needs.

This advice was given to me over a pint on a ferry while working in a previous life for a Dutch transport company,” he explained. ”The Dutchman in question was the one who supplied Asda in the UK with all of its lettuce - he retired a multi-millionaire so he can’t have been that wrong! I’ve lived by this ethos ever since, and Brian Yeardley can certainly be held up as an example of the philosophy in action.”

Five years ago the company branched into the movement of hazardous and none

IN PROFILE: TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley

Opposite: Below: The main showcase of the company’s 40th anniversary celebrations was 10 of its new Mercedes trucks being displayed during a massive light and pyrotechnics show; Sarah and Kevin Hopper; TRUCKINGBY’s general cargo legacy has gifted it a wealth of experience with which to service live events around Europe.

value cargo that must be secured properly in hazardous chemicals, which has proved transit and delivered to tight deadlines. Our a success with over 15 million kg being drivers are used to working unsociable and long transported at home and abroad each year. hours. As a matter of fact, our drivers are loving In the summer of 2014 Brian Yeardley the work as it is so varied and they are getting Continental moved into the business of to go to new venues and countries they have live event trucking under the banner of not visited before.”

TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley and soon One of the major differences noted by established itself as the new kid on the block.

Hopper on entering the live event industry was Hopper commented: “The transition the level of appreciation that is shown after between 40 years of moving general cargo to a contract has been successfully fulfilled. He the live events business has been interesting and said: “When you do a good job people actually a great learning curve in terms of the cargo we drop you an e-mail or call you to say thank are carrying to the places, venues and people you and that goes a long way. The fact that we are now working with, but a lot of what we PH_Qtr_Strip_Touring:Layout 10:31 seePage 1 clients actually and appreciate what you do do is the same. We are still transporting1high14/05/2013

for them is great and it’s very refreshing to be appreciated in such a way.

“We’ve seen year-on-year growth in our General Cargo Division and now the same is happening regarding the Live Event Trucking Division. The main challenge I foresee for the division is keeping up with demand once clients have used the services of TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley. Once they’ve seen our trucks and trailers, and experienced the service our drivers they will be coming back for more. The start of 2016 looks very promising at the moment,” Hopper added.

TRUCKINGBY alone currently runs 26 Mega flat floor, low ride box trailers with loading

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IN PROFILE:TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley

Below: The company’s trucks are fast becoming a fixture at many of Europe’s most prestigious venues; TRUCKINGBY is soon to leave its Yorkshire HQ in favour of its own patch at Production Park.

ramps, 43 Mega armoured curtain-sided trailers with lifting and sliding roofs, and is already looking at placing orders with its suppliers for more new trucks and trailers early in 2016.

MAJOR MILESTONES On 7 November 2015, Brian Yeardley celebrated its 40th anniversary in business with a black tie dinner for 400 guests at a country hotel near Hull. Guests included clients, suppliers

Hopper laughed: “The fact that we are still in business after 40 years at the sharp end of logistics international haulage is an achievement in itself! We’ve put in the hard work over the years in what must be one of the most competitive sectors there is.”

The company has confirmed it has been contracted to provide trucking for Peter Kay’s Dance for Life arena tour in February 2016 and is also working on a number of other tours

“You don’t invest £1.8 million in kit and not use it. We’re here to stay, and we identify event trucking as a key part of our expansion. We haven’t scratched the surface yet in terms of what we plan to do.”

Managing Director Kevin Hopper and friends of the business, some of whom had travelled from all over Europe to join the Brian Yeardley in celebrating this great achievement. The main showcase of the evening was 10 of the company’s new Mercedes trucks being displayed during a massive light and pyrotechnics show, accompanied by music produced by Stage Management Company.

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and events for the coming year. According to Hopper, the company has projected doubling its turnover in 2016, compared to what it turned over in 2015.

To further cement TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley’s commitment to the industry, the company is scheduled to move into Production Park, which Hopper claimed will put the brand

to the forefront of the live music industry, not to mention anyone that chooses to make use of or visit the site.

He continued: “This coming year TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley will continue to develop and expand the live event trucking arm of the business in the UK and Europe and we will also be rolling out two further divisions to complement our offer. STORAGEBY Brian Yeardley will be a purpose-built secure warehousing facility based on Production Park, offering event clients backline and set storage to the highest standard, while SEA&AIRBY Brian Yeardley will be an extension of Brian Yeardley Continental’s already existing World Wide Deep Sea & Air Freight Division.”

While Hopper addressed the fact that some in the industry may view TRUCKINGBY as something of a phase, he was keen to point out just how seriously this latest venture factors in the company’s plans. He concluded: “You don’t invest £1.8 million in kit and not use it. We’re here to stay, and we identify event trucking as a key part of our expansion. We haven’t scratched the surface yet in terms of what we plan to do.”

TPi www.brianyeardley.com

Photo credit: Sarah Womack

PA L O M

A FA I T H 2015 UK TO U R S TA GE

& SET PROVI D

ED BY PRODU C

THE COMPLETE PRE-PRODUCTION AND LIVE EVENTS CENTRE IN THE UK W W W. P R O D U C T I O N PA R K . C O . U K

TION P ARK R ESIDEN

TS LSLIVE

IN PROFILE: Production Park

PRODUCTION PARK: AN UPDATE IT’S ONLY BEEN A FEW MONTHS SINCE THE LAUNCH OF PRODUCTION PARK BUT THE EVEREXPANDING CLUSTER OF EVENTS BUSINESSES HAS ALREADY WELCOMED SEVERAL NEW ADDITIONS. HERE IS A ROUND UP OF THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE UK EVENTS HUB.

THE MUSIC CONSORTIUM MOVES TO PRODUCTION PARK The Music Consortium is Production Park’s newest tenant, moving its operations from Hull and Leeds to a combined headquarters at Studio 001. Its founder and Managing Director, Spike Beecham, commented: “We don’t just supply technical support services, we are also an event production company so we can put on events from any size up to 70,000 capacity. We supply technical production services to the likes of Leeds Festival, Latitude and Electric Picnic.”

Beecham went on to explain the decision to move to the site: “Being at Production Park opens up a lot of contacts to us that we wouldn’t normally have had access to. For example, Perry Scenic are now just across the park from us - I don’t know anyone in Perry Scenic but I will do by the end of the month!”

One of Beecham’s main goals within the industry is to raise the bar of health and safety. He said: “This was another 74

factor that swung it for us to move to Production Park, as we share the same ethos of wanting to raise standards and perceptions about safety within our industry. When you come to The Music Consortium for technical support services, all the personnel that we supply will have an SPA Event Safety Passport as standard so our clients know whoever we put on site will have a certain amount of nouse in terms of health and safety, not just for themselves but the environment that they’re working in.

“A lot of the companies you could bring in to do our kind of work don’t offer that service. Our aim is to stretch this out further and make sure that people have higher qualifications.

There’s not enough toolbox talks going on across the industry so we want to set the standard here at Production Park.”

TPi www.themusicconsortium.com

IN PROFILE: Production Park

Opposite: The crew from The Music Consortium, the most recent addition to Production Park. Below: The various faces of Brilliant Stages underneath the inspirational neon sign in the foyer of Production Park; James Kempf was brought on as Head of Systems Design for Brilliant Stages in the beginning of January.

BRILLIANT STAGES MOVES TO PRODUCTION PARK Brilliant Stages has begun an exciting new chapter as it moves its headquarters at Production Park. The company has been making bespoke stages and sets since the early ‘80s for the likes of Muse, Take That and the Rolling Stones. Now Brilliant has moved its entire manufacturing operations along with its project and design department from Hitchin in Hertfordshire to new workshops and offices at the Wakefield site.

Aside from the significant investment in new facilities, another advantage to the new location is that it has been built directly adjoining 25,000 sq ft of studio space, which will allow test builds of all sizes to take place right next to its new 15,000 sq ft workshop.

Tony Bowern, Managing Director and co-founder of Brilliant Stages spoke of the move: “It was a mammoth operation moving the entire company to the north. It’s probably the biggest change in the company’s history, but one that is exciting because it spells the beginning of a new era for us.”

Bowern went on to explain the advantage of sharing the park with so many other companies within the industry: “There are definitely advantages to having everything in one

place. One of the great benefits of being on the park is having Advanced Profiling Services on our doorstep. They will be undertaking the majority of our machining so that will greatly improve efficiency for us.”

With Brilliant Stages now settled into its new home, Bowern spoke about the future of the company: “For me it’s about the growth of Production Park, because where some companies can go stagnant, this is a new lease of life for Brilliant. It will spur everyone on and I think it’s a great opportunity for the industry to work together and just produce what is required for the market and the future.”

As well as new office space, Brilliant has also brought on some new staff members. James Kempf was brought on as Head of Systems Design back in the begining of January after three years as the Director of Design for Tait Rigging Group, where he worked on world tours for clients including U2, Taylor Swift, Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Katy Perry, and Cirque du Soleil. Prior to Tait, Kempf spent 15 years as the Director of Design and Senior Engineer for PRG Scenic Technologies.

TPi www.brilliantstages.com

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IN PROFILE: Production Park

Below: Gearing up for its next stage of expansion, Backstage Academy has announced several new appointments to the training scheme.

BACKSTAGE ACADEMY EXPANDS ITS TEAM IN PREPARATION FOR UNIVERSITY BID Backstage Academy has seen several new appointments over the past few months, gearing up for the next phase in its expansion, which includes the application for university title-ship as well as preparing to meet the needs of greater student numbers. What follows is a list of some of the fresh faces at Backstage Academy.

Paul Barton - Managing Director Paul Barton has been working in the events industry since he was 15 in a wide variety of sectors ranging from events structures to production, site management and sponsorship across Europe, the UAE and Southern Africa.

Barton’s last industry post was with GL Events as Site Manager for London’s 2012 Olympic Rowing and Canoeing events at Eton Dorney.

Barton’s career in education started in 2008 at the University of Exeter where he launched the first Events Management module in any Russell Group university, building it from 35 students to 350.

He joins the team as Managing Director with the aim of taking Backstage Academy into its next phase of becoming an autonomous university with degree awarding powers.

Paul Walters - Associate Dean Associate Dean, Paul Walters has 15 years experience in Higher Education with a focus on the event environment and management. Walters, like many of the Backstage Academy team also has a combination of industry and education experience. His industry background is varied ranging from sport event management, festivals, film and TV to exhibitions and theatre production. He has also lectured across the globe from Europe to China and has previously worked at Leeds Beckett and Manchester Metropolitan University.

Walters is also a published author within the subject area of events management. Walters will be heading up academia at Backstage Academy bringing a robust academic structure to the university centre. He will also be focussing on achieving QAA validation, which is a necessary part of the application for university title-ship.

Matthew Bate - Student Services Officer Matthew Bate is one of Backstage Academy’s new Student 76

Services Officers. Bate will be looking at the quality of student and academic experience in and out of the classroom, coordinating student surveys and ensuring Backstage Academy is meeting student’s needs and expectations.

Bate has been brought in from Exeter University where he carried out a one-year sabbatical as Vice President of the Student Union. His proximity to being a student himself means he has a natural understanding of what students are looking for from their time in higher education.

Chris Madden - Student Services Officer Chris Madden is Backstage Academy’s second Student Services Officer recruit. Madden has a background in the music and event industries, including artist promotion for Virgin Records, before re-training as a psychotherapist specialising in educational welfare. His combination of music industry and student welfare experience, within Russell Group universities such as Leeds and Sheffield, means he is perfectly placed for creating and implementing a wellbeing strategy within an events education environment.

Brian Jones - Lecturer Brian Jones has in the region of 15 years Higher Education experience specialising in music production, performance and engineering. Jones comes to Backstage Academy from Barnsley College, joining the academic team with a focus of launching music production courses starting academic year 2017.

Dr Al McNichol - Lecturer Dr Al McNichol also joins the Backstage academy team from Barnsley College where he delivered music courses alongside Brian Jones.

McNichol gained his doctorate in teaching technologies, adding a strong academic backbone to course delivery and will be working with students to help them improve their study skills.

He will be supporting Paul Walters and Brian Jones on the Live Events Production BA Top Up course and also working with Brian Jones on the new Music Production courses for 2017.

TPi www.backstage-academy.co.uk

Sponsored by

11-13 SEPT 2016 GENTING ARENA | NEC BIRMINGHAM UK

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... Rob Sadler

ROB SADLER, FOH ENGINEER While on the road, everything doesn’t always go to plan. TPi Awards 2016 nominee Rob Sadler talks us through a particularly stressful time during last summer’s Lowlands Festival, which may just change 2016’s tour rider...

It’s the start of another year of touring for team James Bay and everyone is looking forward to hitting new territories, and the question keeps coming in from Marc Graham, Production Manager and Monitor Engineer: “Which console do you want this year?”

For previous UK tours, I had used DiGiCo SD9’s, which does everything I need it to and sounds great. Then, for the rest of the world, I’ve been using house consoles which always keeps me on my toes. However, I kept thinking back to our show at Lowlands Festival last year, which could have potentially been a bit of a nightmare, but turned out great.

Most of James’ crew are Newcastle-based, so we caught the last train to London ready to be picked up at Kings Cross by our tour bus. Unfortunately things didn’t go to plan when our train stopped in the middle-of-nowhere for around six hours! Combined with a ferry crossing and traffic, it meant we got on to the festival loading dock just as our changeover started. A quick text to some fellow Nitelites (our rental company) lads that were on site meant that we had some extra hands on deck for the madness that

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only lasted 45 minutes but felt like forever at the time!

Cases were wheeled on to stage and emptied on to risers, as all the hard-working local crew assisted our drummer in building his kit as the line system and monitor world was thrown together. After helping with backline as much as possible, I took the trip down to FOH. Since digital consoles are the norm these days I can usually rock up with my show file and have a pretty good starting point for a festival performance.

However, that day it wasn’t the case. The house console was an analogue Midas XL4, a piece of gear that I’d never even seen before (true story!). I arrived to find all of my channels labelled and the desk reset to zero, ready for me to do everything that I needed to in the 15 mins before show time. A few gates, comps and a reverb were dialled in with a fast line check and it was show time! The next hour flew by and was probably one of the most enjoyable shows of the summer all because of that XL4. Everything was hands on. I had no screen to look at, and James sounded great.

So where does that leave me for this year? Do I stick with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rule and carry on with the DiGiCo SD series or do something different (for someone of my youthful age!) and tour analogue for the first time? It’s a great problem to have, but I’m sure I’ll work it out…

Rob Sadler

Untitled-2 1

23/11/2015 14:16

INTERVIEW: Frank Turner

LET’S KEEP IT FRANK FRANK TURNER HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE HIS EARLY YEARS ON THE ROAD. FROM PRACTICALLY LIVING ON TRAINS WITH JUST A BAG OF CLOTHES AND A GUITAR ON HIS BACK, TO PLAYING ARENA SHOWS TO THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, TURNER HAS SECURED HIMSELF AS A MAINSTAY OF THE UK MUSIC SCENE. NOW WITH HIS SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM, POSITIVE SONGS FOR NEGATIVE PEOPLE, THE SINGER-SONGWRITER IS ONCE AGAIN OUT ON THE ROAD WITH HIS FAITHFUL SUPPLIER NITELITES. TPi CAUGHT UP WITH THE SINGER AND HIS CREW AFTER THEIR MOST RECENT UK TOUR TO TALK THROUGH THE LAST FIVE YEARS WITH THE COMPANY. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the tattooed singer-songwriter, here is a debrief… After the break-up his hardcore outfit, Million Dead, Turner went on to pursue a solo career playing his own brand of folk-punk. He began touring the country on trains and crashed on sofas of people he met at shows. DIY at its best! Gradually, he began to build a reputation as a solid live act and with the addition of his backing band, The Sleeping Souls, his fan base grew larger year on year. Fast-forward several years and Turner now has six studio albums under his belt along with a loyal fan base, which spans a surprisingly wide demographic. Clearly, the English musician has stumbled across a formula that although niche in genre, has had mass appeal.

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Turner has also built and developed a solid crew base as well as developing a strong relationship with his European audio, lighting and rigging supplier, Nitelites.

“I started out very basic,” opened up Turner when asked about the progression of his solo career. “It was just me, an acoustic guitar and a rucksack playing house shows and the like. After a while I graduated to having a van and a sound guy as well as bringing on The Sleeping Souls for shows. Gradually I expanded until we reached a point where we discussed taking a whole production on the road with us.”

The relationship between Frank Turner and Nitelites in many ways can be put down to one man, Graham Kay, Turner’s current FOH Engineer. “I’ve been working with Frank for over 12 years,” explained Kay as he talked how

he first became aquatinted with the musician.

“In early 2004 I was mixing for a band called YourCodeNameIs:Milo. Frank’s band Million Dead took YCNI:M out on tour but there wasn’t enough room available on the bus for both bands to each bring an engineer so I was asked if I would mix Million Dead as well. I guess we hit it off on that tour and they liked the way I mixed as I ended up being Million Dead’s regular engineer. Once Frank started doing his own thing, I got the call to work with him again.”

For several years, Kay pulled double duty, working as FOH Engineer and Tour Manager for Frank Turner’s tours. Once it was time to bring in a bigger production Kay brought Nitelites into the picture. He explained: “My relationship with Nitelites dates back many years to the days when I used to have my own sound hire

INTERVIEW: Frank Turner

Opposite: Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls at Alexandra Palace in support of Turner’s most recent release, Positive Songs For Negative People.

company in the North East of England. After a conversation with Managing Director Jamie Moore I found myself very impressed with the direction he’d taken Nitelites in and his dedication to getting the job right.” Kay went on to state that having Nitelites on board was a huge advantage as it could supply both lighting and audio solutions. “They really are a ‘one stop shop’, which was very beneficial to me as a TM. It’s a great relationship we have with Nitelites, they know exactly what a Frank Turner show entails and how we like to work. Frank has a strong sense of loyalty and he considers them part of the family.”

It is worth noting that Turner was actually the first signing that Nitelites made as the rental house expanded into the live touring market.

Since then, Moore and co have gone on to supply other break out artists including Ben Howard and James Bay, garnering a reputation for working with up-and-coming talent and helping their progression within touring. Moore talked through why he was initially so excited to take Turner on: “Frank is a great artist, not to mention incredibly hard working. I have always had a lot of respect for his music and his work ethic.” Moore explained that taking on Turner was a vital stepping-stone for his company to move to the next level. “For Nitelites, it’s always

about hitting one target and then moving onto the next. We don’t want to stop until we are providing full productions for stadiums. If it wasn’t for signing Frank and all the people around him, we would never be where we are today.”

The admiration seems to be mutual between both artist and supplier; Turner explained why

younger brother and another director at the company, Shaun Moore. “I have been with Frank since January 2010 doing all his UK and European tours,” he stated. Despite Turner’s music often being classed as folk, the lighting show that Moore has created over the last few years is much more in the realms of rock‘n’roll.

“I was originally brought on as a dimmer tech

“I think that personal relationships are very important in the music industry. There is a lot of mutual backscratching that goes on, and that makes the whole machine work a lot better.”

Frank Turner

he has stuck with the same company for over five years. “I think that personal relationships are very important in the music industry. There is a lot of mutual backscratching that goes on, and that makes the whole machine work a lot better.”

Another longstanding member of the Nitelites team who has been directly involved with Frank for several years now is Jamie’s

but during the first rehearsal I was moved to work at FOH.” Turner’s drummer, Nigel Powell, had actually created the first designs that he operated. “Nigel has amazing ideas and we still get together to this day and talk through new songs,” added Moore.

Speaking about his most recent work on the Positive Songs For Negative People tour, Moore commented: “The lighting concept for this tour

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INTERVIEW: Frank Turner

Below: Shaun Moore at FOH using the Avolites Sapphire Touch with the with a Tiger Touch II used as a back up; For the recent tour the production had four custom light boxes created to coincide with the album artwork, which had the effect curving the stage and brought the focal point to the centre; For the tour Nitelites supplied FOH Engineer Graham Kay with a DiGiCo SD9.

is similar to the previous ones I have worked on.

Frank prefers a bit more of a punk rock look and most of the songs are quite bright. However, there are some songs where I try to help tell the story within the song, creating further depth to the stage.

“We have also added in some custom light boxes to coincide with the album artwork, which have allowed us to curve the stage and bring the focal point to the centre. That was a special request from the band.” For this tour Moore controlled the show with an Avolites Sapphire Touch with a Tiger Touch II as back up. He noted: “Avolites consoles are always my first choice and now with the introduction of the V9 software I can easily network so my Tiger Touch II is constantly backing-up that my Sapphire Touch. In the unlikely event of my main going down I can jump straight onto the other console.” Having the extra console out on the road has also saved the support bands on the tour needing to carry their own console. For the current tour Moore made use of 33 Martin Professional MAC Auras, 12 MAC Vipers and 12 Atomic 3000 Strobes along with 30 Clay Paky Mythos, eight Pro-Can 4-Lite molefays, 16 ProCan 2-Lite molefays and 16 PAR Can 64 CP60’s.

Moore summed up his five years touring with Frank: “Everyone on the Frank Turner tour really is a family to me now. Being the operator and designer has pretty much ‘made’ my design career. From travelling through the small venues to festivals and into arenas, it’s allowed me to learn and I’m always picking up new ideas.”

On the audio front, Nitelites provided FOH 82

Engineer Graham Kay with a DiGiCo SD9. Kay originally started using the SD9 for smaller shows and festivals where its smaller footprint was beneficial, although he found that the desk was more than capable of dealing with the larger shows. “DiGiCo’s multiband compressor and dynamic EQ is perfect for mixing Frank, in particular on his voice. He has a large dynamic range, which goes from him singing softly to full-on screaming. His voice will change tonally the louder he sings, usually the 1k - 2k region becomes very hot, but I find that with the tools available on this DiGiCo desk I can keep it nicely controlled.”

Along with consoles, Nitelites also supplied an L-Acoustics KARA system for the tour, which was upgraded to a K2 for the Alexandra Palace gigs, utilising the KARA as delays. “L-Acoustics seems to really work well with Frank’s mix, so it’s my preferred choice for his tours,” said Kay. “One of the things I pay particular attention to is the nearfield coverage. As the band are all on IEMs there is very little spill from the stage so it is vital that the fans down at the front get to hear everything. Frank feeds off them while he is performing, so if they are really getting into the show it helps him. For nearfield coverage we usually use ARCS at the sides as infill and KARA boxes across the stage lip which double up as a step for Frank to stand on now and again!”

With all that said, one question remains; how does Turner, who came from such a fiercely independent background, maintain creative control and retain that sense of intimacy that he sought in the early days of his career?

“That is the million dollar question in a way,” responded Turner: “I have spent a lot of time looking at artists such as Bruce Springsteen who has successfully transitioned to larger forums without losing a sense of connection with their audience.” This is something that Kay has noticed throughout his years of working with Turner. “Our 2012 Wembley Arena gig was a great example of this, the gig genuinely had the feel of a party, and it just so happened that there were 10,000 guests!” As far as creative control goes, Turner still has a very frim grasp on the representation of his music: “I’m very militant about retaining that but we always have to work hard to keep a sense of that personality to the show. I think that we have been successful thus far…”

It would be hard to think of anyone arguing that Turner has not retained his personality in his live shows. In a short documentary that the artist posted to his YouTube channel three years ago, he made a statement on one of his goals: “I wanted to prove that you could make music with an acoustic guitar that wasn’t sappy.”

Several years after he started his DIY tours, Turner has continually produced music that has the same punk-rock angst he started with while smashing the doors open to other acts for the alternative folk spectrum who are just as determined to prove that an acoustic guitar can still insight a riot.

TPi Photo: Alex Alevroyiannis http://frank-turner.com/ www.nitelites.co.uk/

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Clair Global

CLAIR GLOBAL RELEASES COHESION CO-12 LAST YEAR CLAIR GLOBAL ANNOUNCED THE RELEASE OF THE COHESION CO-12, ITS LATEST ADDITION TO THE COHESION RANGE. TPi’S STEW HUME CAUGHT UP WITH THREE MEMBERS FROM THE COHESION DESIGN TEAM DAVID SKAFF, JIM MEYER AND JIM BOWERSOX TO DISCUSS THE NEW PA SYSTEM. Could you talk us through the initial design ideas that led to the development of the Cohesion CO-12 – what did you need it to achieve?

David Skaff (DS)- The core of the Coheison philosophy centres around creating the highest quality, most efficient new speaker designs, targeted as best in class for live show productions and audio mixing professionals alike. Basically, it had to have the “wow factor” on many levels.

Jim Meyer (JM)- Prior to developing the CO-12, we embarked on a large survey of our clients to ask them what they wanted for the next generation touring PA system. Generally, the mixing engineers emphasised the need for lofty sonic qualities while the production managers focused on the need for minimal size and weight 84

[both in the venue and the trucks] and speedy load-in and out. So minimising the packaging and deployment time were overall goals while also using the latest design technology to push beyond the existing limits of sonic clarity, headroom, and coverage consistency. We were thrilled to discover that we were not only able to accomplish all of those goals, but even exceed our own expectations of what was possible.

Jim Bowersox (JB)- The CO-12 system was conceptualised to be our next generation flagship system, so naturally it had to have the best possible sound quality. The unique design allows us to achieve exceptionally smooth horizontal pattern control throughout virtually its entire operating range. The CO-12 is a full range loudspeaker and is capable of considerably higher maximum SPL output than

previous generation systems.

In addition to the sound quality, special emphasis was also put on maximising the efficiency. Trucking, logistics, and labour represent high overhead costs for today’s productions, and the CO-12 was designed from the ground up to minimise all of those.

Safety is of utmost importance when it comes to rigging, so we drew on our decades of experience to create a new generation rigging system that maximises speed and efficiency, while still providing industry-best safety and redundancy.

The Cohesion series was also designed to be a very ‘green’ system. By reducing weight and size, less fuel is used to transport the system.

All Cohesion system amplifiers [including the CP118 and CP218 self-powered subwoofers] are Power Factor Corrected for highly energy

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04/11/2015 15:40

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Clair Global

Opposite: Clair Global’s Cohesion CO-12, a full range loudspeaker and is capable of considerably higher maximum SPL output than previous generation systems and incredibly light weight.

Below: Three members from the Cohesion design team, Jim Bowersox, Jim Meyer and David Skaff.

efficient operation. Both of these aspects allow tours to reduce their carbon footprint and be less wasteful.

Why is now the right time for its release?

DS- As the industry has been evolving, so has the needs of our clients. A theme developed where a significant part of our client base was asking for narrower coverage version of our i3 speaker system, and the technology has finally gotten to a point where that was possible and beyond.

Clair is somewhat of a unique company in terms of its rental house and manufacturing capabilities. How much time did the R&D department put into this product?

JB- The R&D period for the Cohesion CO12 hardware was slightly less than a year, from brainstorming concept through the first rig leaving our shop in Lititz. The use of extensive computer modelling and simulation, rapid prototyping, as well as drawing on our experience with recently developed products (such as the CO-8 and CP Series Subs) allowed us to complete the hardware design faster than previously possible.

JM- Our R&D team is continuously researching and refining new technologies and computerbased design methodologies. So from that standpoint the process of designing the CO-12 has been many years in the making. The computer design and simulation capabilities we now have, combined with our in-house manufacturing, allow us extremely rapid prototyping cycles.

JB- Even though the hardware is complete, on the control side, software is always evolving.

We are constantly improving and adding features to both our Lake control system, as well 86

as our Focus alignment software. Additional accessories are constantly being developed, such as the Clair SmartGrid precision Laser / Inclinometer system.

The year 2015 was the beta testing stage for the Cohesion CO-12, putting it in the hands of various audio professionals. What was the initial reaction from the end users and key decision makers?

DS- Judging by how our manufacturing schedules increased to five times our original forecasts, the initial reaction was overwhelming, with many asking: “When can we have them?”

The system has already been successfully used on the road by some heavyweight acts and their high profile engineers, what are the main advantages that allow the CO-12 to find a home in the loudspeaker market place?

JB- The CO-12 combines the best possible sound quality, and the highest maximum SPL capability and the smoothest coverage into one small package. We have managed to reduce the weight and size of the PA considerably, while at the same time improving all aspects of its acoustic behaviour relative to competitive systems.

There has been a lot of excitement for the new system - we’re heard it directly from production managers and system techs! Has Clair been able to keep up with the demand?

Were will we see it next?

DS- I can tell you it has kept our management and manufacturing side on their toes! January will see CO-12 systems out with Carrie Underwood, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Black Sabbath, to name just a few.

JB- We are manufacturing the Cohesion series

at the fastest pace possible that lets us maintain our extremely high standards of quality control.

We manufacture all of our loudspeakers right here in Lititz, Pennsylvania, rather than relying on subcontractors and imported or mass produced parts.

JM- Other loudspeaker systems are generally made by one company who then sells it to a separate audio vendor. Being one of the last audio vendors who make their own loudspeakers, the products we manufacture will remain in our custody for the duration, so we have a vested interest in the durability, serviceability, and quality of our designs, which we believe gives us a significant advantage over other vendors.

In 2016, we plan on seeing the CO-12 system being deployed in a steady stream to both our existing and new clients as they hit the road.

How does Clair emphasise training for its products? Does it run training days often?

JB- Training is an ongoing activity at Clair. In addition to our general comprehensive road staff training programme, we hold special training classes for the Cohesion system to ensure that all of our road staff stays current with the new technology. We also have regular field training with our staff at events to ensure the utmost quality control, consistency, and safety of all systems in addition to the new CO12 series.

What is next for the Cohesion range?

DS - Our full-time R&D staff has a neverending list of ideas on how to advance the entertainment experience. There are a number of projects in the works, but we are not at liberty to reveal them at this time. Stay tuned!

TPi http://clairglobal.com

Tender for the Provision of Rigging Services at Manchester Central Tender Code: Rigging-005-2015 Expressions of interest are invited for the above tender.

Further information about the Venue can be found at www.manchestercentral.co.uk If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please state the tender code in the email subject, and email procurement@manchestercentral.co.uk to request documentation concerning the opportunity.

The last date to request documentation for the tender will be 12:00 noon on Friday 26th February 2016.

A site visit will be held at Manchester Central on Monday 22nd February 2015 for any interested parties (date may be subject to change). Please state in your expression of interest whether you would like to attend the site visit.

Invitations to Tender (ITT)’s will be sent out on Monday 29th February 2016 to all organisations expressing an interest in response to this notice.

The closing date for receipt of completed documentation will be 12:00 noon on Friday 25th March 2016.

Completed ITT documents must be emailed to procurement@manchestercentral.co.uk no later than 12:00 noon on Friday 25th March 2016. The tender code must be stated in the email subject.

Manchester Central may request bidders to provide short presentations following the submission of ITT documents. All necessary information will be provided nearer the time.

It is anticipated for the contract to be awarded in April 2016 with a targeted start date of June 2016.

Manchester Central does not undertake to bind itself to accept the lowest price or any individual Tender. Manchester Central will not be liable for any costs incurred in tendering for this contract.

If you have any queries relating to this notice please contact the procurement team via email procurement@manchestercentral.co.uk. Please state the tender code in the email subject.

Sales Representative / Account Manager (M/F) Adam Hall Ltd. Area: UK IRL market German group with strong global growth, manufacturer and distributor of the brands Cameo lighting, LD Systems, Palmer, Defender and Gravity and a catalogue of over 6,000 products extending over the Professional lighting and sound markets, recruits a Sales Representative / Account Manager for the UK IRL. Primarily to concentrate on the professional lighting hire/rental and installation market but also able to represent our other product categories including audio and hardware into retail and other market areas.

You should have a successful track record in a sales role working with professional lighting technology in the systems integration market and must be able to organize and manage product demonstrations, discuss installation projects and product applications with your customers, which will include installers, integrators, resellers and consultants.

Mission: Retain and grow existing customers with a consistent and lasting relationship based on listening and quality of service Collaborate and be a good relay of information from our product managers and sales directors to achieve the sales and marketing objectives of our business You are responsible for your Customers and have a mission to develop the turnover of brands distributed by Adam Hall Want to be a part of a successful team supplying the pro audio and lighting market

Profile:

About Us:

A solid knowledge of the UK professional lighting market covering hire/rental, installation and retail

Adam Hall is an international key player in the pro audio and lighting installation, hire and event industry as well as supplying the MI and DJ retail market. Many industry A basic knowledge of audio insiders know Adam Hall as the and related products leading manufacturer of flight case fittings and components for Technical training and strong the production of safe, flexible sales affinity, with a minimum transport containers for events of 5 years’ experience in a technology and industrial use. similar position While this still remains a core part of Adam Halls business it is only one Ambitioned, driven and of many. Adam Hall develops and energetic produces professional, innovative audio and LED lighting solutions Full UK driving license and for stages, studios, radio, fixed ability to travel large distances installation and even live sound and with regular overnight stays all with growing success: it is today regarded as one of the world’s top The position will be working 25 manufacturers in the field of from a home office professional events technology.

Take your Chance – Send in your application (letter, CV and salary expectations) to Adam Hall HR Germany: Adam Hall GmbH Sarah Drexel Human Resources Daimlerstr. 9 61267 Neu-Anspach / Germany Phone: +49 6081 9419 227 E-Mail: personal@adamhall.com

MOVERS & SHAKERS Sponsored by www.interfacio.com • +44 208 986 5002

MOVERS & SHAKERS PRG has appointed Ryan Schroeter as its Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, Schroeter will oversee all of the company’s financial affairs and work closely with Chief Asset Officer Scott Hansen and the other members of PRG’s senior leadership team, directing the company’s strategic growth and assisting in its capital market transactions.

Prior to joining PRG, Schroeter was Vice President of Corporate Finance at Intrepid Aviation, a commercial aircraft leasing company, where he was instrumental in the company’s growth and debt origination activities.

PRG XL Video, the UK division of PRG, has hired Nick Knowles as Senior Account Manager, based at the company’s Hemel Hempstead location. Knowles has worked with PRG XL Video on numerous occasions on a freelance basis, having specialised as a Technical Producer and Lead Video Technician on a range of high profile projects including conferences, meetings and brand activations.

Prior to his time as a freelancer, Knowles worked at Spirit Design as a Lighting Designer.

PRG XL Video has stated that his expertise in both lighting and video make him the ideal addition to the newly combined team.

Knowles commented: “After a long productive relationship with XL Video they approached me and asked if I wanted to come on board as part of the team. For me the time was right, and I couldn’t think of a better company to join, especially now as part of PRG.“ Knowles will report to Guy Vellacott, Head of PRG XL Video’s Corporate Events business. Rich Rowley, Sales Director at PRG XL Video added: “We’re delighted to welcome Nick Knowles to the team. We have a real opportunity to expand our services in the corporate market sector in 2016. Nick is very client facing and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. He’s a great fit for the team, and will be an asset in achieving our goal for next year.”

The company’s UAE-based division, PRG Gearhouse, has also made a number of key appointments.

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Matt Cooper has joined as Director of Sales and Marketing, Manuel Meloh has been hired as Sales Manager, and Nicholas St Hilaire has arrived to serve as Venue Services Manager.

Television and entertainment lighting rental specialist Aurora has appointed Ben Taylor as Project Manager at its West London operation.

Taylor has worked as a freelance lighting tech on a wide variety of production types, ranging from pantomime to film.

Following three years with Trafalgar Lighting, he went on to join leading equipment supplier AC Entertainment Technologies, progressing to a Senior Technical Sales position where he was able to further expanded his product knowledge and hone his customer support skills.

As Project Manager at Aurora, Taylor will liaise with Lighting Designers, Gaffers and Production Managers to offer support and advice on all aspects of the production process.

Taylor said: “Aurora has a fantastic reputation for service and equipment along with a great ethos and working attitude. It’s a great team and I am delighted to be a part of it.”

VUE Audiotechnik has chosen Ron Vogel Audio (RVA) as its exclusive dealer for the Netherlands. RVA will facilitate distributorlike services such as sales demonstrations and servicing of VUE Audiotechnik products across the country, as well as specifying VUE products for various permanent installation projects.

The relationship will help reinforce VUE’s presence across Europe, working closely with VUE Europa in Germany and augmenting existing distributor offices in Italy and Norway.

“Being familiar with the people at VUE Audiotechnik, hearing about the technology and hearing the VUE loudspeakers made it an easy decision to represent VUE when the opportunity arose,” said Owner Ron Vogel. “The marriage of VUE’s design concepts and use of innovative materials result in excellent sound quality.”

RVA’s inventory currently includes VUE’s h-Class flagship line of premium loudspeakers, combining VUE’s most advanced materials and

technology to deliver outstanding fidelity and clarity, while maintaining the ability to achieve high SPL. Vogel has already commissioned VUE products in some of his projects, recently completing an installation for the Dutch National Opera and Ballet in Amsterdam, one of the largest cultural organisations in the Netherlands.

Matthew Cotter has joined d3 Technologies as Technical Sales Specialist and will be based on the US West Coast. Cotter has been a Lighting Director and Media Programmer for the past 15 years, primarily working in television and on theme park spectaculars. He shared an Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Series’ with his colleagues for Dancing with the Stars in 2014.

“Matthew is a very strong addition to the team, and we’re excited to welcome him,” said Hans Beijer, Vice President of Sales for d3 Americas. “He came highly recommended by mutual friends in the industry and I fully understand why. He’s bright, quick, committed and very much hands-on. His start with our team has been both impressive and very pleasant. I’m looking forward to a strong kick off for d3 in 2016!”

Cotter added: “I’m excited to join the d3 family as part of the technical sales and special projects teams and be part of growing the d3 community here in the US. “I’ve been a d3 user myself for the past two years when I started using d3 Designer as a previsualisation tool to create media and stage simulations for clients. I’ll continue to work in my freelance capacity with my current clients and am excited to be introducing them to the d3 platform.”

Lifting equipment specialists, Hoist UK and its sister company, Truss UK, have relocated to larger premises - a significant expansion and one which will enable both companies’ respective growth plans.

The new headquarters, comprising offices, specialised workshop areas and warehousing

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Opposite: Aurora Project Manager Ben Taylor; PRG XL Video’s Senior Account Manager, Nick Knowles; and PRG’s new Chief Financial Officer, Ryan Schroeter.

facilities, are situated on the Tarran Way Industrial Estate in Moreton, UK, a location chosen for its accessibility to the country’s motorway network.

The expansion reflects both Hoist UK and Truss UK’s continued success and subsequent growth over the past 12 months; a year which has seen developments in staffing numbers, product range and a number of new contracts being obtained both in the UK and overseas.

Tony Dickson, Director at Hoist UK and Truss UK, expressed his delighted at the expansion: “We have grown as business over the last nine years by keeping to a robust and achievable business plan. The new premises are ideal for our growing sales, design and administration teams, with meeting rooms for training or client project meetings and will provide more space for production and manufacturing.

Chroma-Q has appointed Jessica Allan to a new International Business Development role. Allan will be responsible for overseeing development of the Chroma-Q brand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region international sales territories.

In the role, Allan will work closely with Chroma-Q’s Brand Manager, John Fuller, to promote its fast-growing portfolio of lighting solutions designed for entertainment, film, TV,

architectural and other key market segments.

She has more than 17 years of industry knowledge and experience, gained in various roles spanning sales, business development, and event production. Allan has worked with some of the world’s leading lighting and production designers, production managers, rental companies and manufacturers - giving her strong all-round commercial experience in many industry disciplines.

Allan established her career at Martin Professional, progressing during her 14 years from its UK subsidiary to the company’s Danish headquarters. She initially built her reputation managing a variety of market segments, from concert and theatre to TV and film in the UK. This was followed by a move into an events and production-focussed business development role, working for 14 months at the London offices of internationally renowned staging company, TAIT as Sales Manager Concert Touring Europe.

Allan then invested time in developing her own business, Productionomics - a long-running personal passion to catalogue and record data on event productions, in order to help identify trends in technology and also to keep a historical record of the industry. This was followed by a year’s sabbatical.

Additionally, since 2009 she has supported the industry through joining the voluntary committee for Showlight, the acclaimed international lighting conference by and for lighting professionals that takes place every four years. She will continue her involvement in this.

Robert Juliat has appointed two new distributors at the start of 2016.

ACT CANADA, has become the new exclusive distributor of Robert Juliat products in Canada, following the conclusion of a successful relationship with MDG. The new arrangement with ACT Lighting took effect on 1 January 2016.

The company has also added RM Multimedia as its new distributor for Italy. RM Multimedia will distribute the full range of Robert Juliat lighting equipment and concentrate on promoting the brand in all regions of the Italian market.

RM Multimedia has invested in a stock of Robert Juliat profiles and followspots in readiness for the commencement of its new role, while its team guarantees to deliver Robert Juliat customers with a high level of expertise in its projects, technical training, sales and after sales support. Both arrangements took effect on 1 January 2016.

TPi www.tpimagazine.com/jobs/

Vacancy - Operations Manager Based in Greater Manchester

Audile Ltd - a successful and busy hirer of sound, lighting and video systems to a wide variety of clients within the events industries, and to other hire companies - seeks a full-time Operations Manager to be based at their premises in Heaton Chapel, located between Manchester and Stockport.

The Operations Manager will report to the Directors and will primarily be responsible for the efficient running of warehouse operations, planning and supervising: the preparation and despatch of equipment; the maintenance and testing of equipment; the collection and return of sub-hired equipment.

In addition to managing the full-time warehouse staff and the company transport fleet, the Manager shall further be responsible for organising and managing additional staff and vehicles as needed.

The successful candidate would ideally have job-related experience within the event production industry, but applications from outside of the industry are welcome – the primary quality that the company seeks is expertise in the planning and management of complex logistics, and a proven track record of this in any industry will be valuable. Further essential qualities are strong communication and leadership skills, excellent time keeping and attention to detail, and the ability both to multi-task and to work calmly under pressure.

Additional desirable qualities are an in-depth knowledge of professional sound, lighting and video equipment; expertise with Navigator Systems ‘Hiretrack’ rental management software; understanding of Health & Safety regulations; understanding of Drivers Hours and other transport regulations; and understanding of PAT and LOLER testing requirements.

To apply for this role, please send a CV and covering letter – stating any salary expectations – to rob.ashworth@audile.co.uk. Closing date for applications will be 28th February 2016, and invitations to interview will be made by 14th March, with interviews taking place in the period 14th-28th March.

S P E C I A L I S T S

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ACCREDITATION ARTIST LIAISON GUEST TICKETING PRODUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT SITE MANAGEMENT TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS FOR FESTIVALS, LIVE EVENTS AND TOURS GINGEROWL.CO.UK

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

THE BIGGER PICTURE EVENT RISK AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT...

MY JOURNEY OF NO RETREAT OR SURRENDER Event safety has come a long way, but those that work overseas notice differing approaches, some better, some worse, some non existent. Last November, we met Oluwakemi Eboda, a lady on a mission to improve safety at live events in her native Nigeria. We asked her to write her story: I grew up clumsy and suffered falls incessantly. At one point I thought something was probably wrong with me but into my teenage years, especially after high school, I became more aware of my environment and alas I discovered that I wasn’t awkward after all. Most of those falls could have been prevented but for the unsafe conditions of my immediate environment, which were as a result of the unsafe acts of people. In simpler terms; carelessness.

Unsafe acts on my part such as hopping instead of walking culminated into falls which were enhanced by unsafe conditions that I never thought existed until I became more observant.

Once this reality dawned on me I became more careful by avoiding those hindrances even as I hopped along. Although this reduced my falls significantly, it also struck a chord of concern in me for others who lived in ignorance. My motto then became, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” I advocated this personal philosophy whenever and wherever I could, which birthed a knack for organisation I never knew I possessed.

While I was in the university studying law, I did a bit of catering in order to make the extra income every undergraduate needs. I incorporated my motto into my cooking system so as to avoid accidents for me as I worked. I was very thorough and enforced good housekeeping values though it was tough getting people to comply. I was tagged Mamazilla! I remained undaunted, continued to cater and volunteered my help to coordinate parties whenever I could.

As much as I loved to organise these events I never became so absorbed in the excitement and merriment as I was more engrossed with waging war on encumbrances and ensuring clutter free events.

I eventually registered my company, Event Basics Ltd shortly after I was called to the Nigerian Bar and was very excited for what the future held for me as an event planner. The concept 90

of consulting an event planner for parties was relatively new in Nigeria back then but it was one that gained recognition and acceptance quickly.

The business has in fact grown into a multibillion-naira industry. However, I realised that the more events I planned, the less fulfilled I was. I saw mostly what was wrong with the way our events were executed much more than the ideas behind them. I had no idea how to deal with this knowledge, much more what it entailed.

This quest took me to Event Solutions Idea Factory, Las Vegas, organised by Event Solutions Institute where I earned a certificate in Event and Corporate Planning in 2008. It was at the summit that I read in the training brochure presentations on Introduction to Risk and Safety Management for Events. It dawned on me instantly that risk and safety were the missing aspects in my concept of event planning.

I attended the training sessions, which were organised by the same institute in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

One of the presenters was Julia Rutherford Silvers, a renowned lecturer of Meetings and Event Risk Management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The training set my journey into the sustainable world of Event Risk and Safety Management. I bought her book on Risk Management for Meetings and Events (autographed by her for me) I have read the book repeatedly and also use it as my reference point.

I continued to plan events in Nigeria but carved a niche for myself in Risk and Safety Management, which was quite difficult for clients to accept as part of the planning process for every event regardless of its type or scope.

Nigerians are by nature very religious and as such we would not see any reason to consider either the presence or likely presence of any form of harm in a concept solely for entertainment at a merry-making function. It was just not possible for anyone to anticipate such. Our usual phrase of “God forbid” sufficed as our umbrella plan against any form of mishap. It was tough convincing

clients that just because we plan for accidents does not mean they will happen. Rather, it just meant that we would not be caught unawares and the likely consequences of the accidents would be mitigated because they would have been identified, proper control measures devised and action plans formulated.

I churned out weekly articles on the risks inherent in the different activities that make up an event experience in the Nation Newspaper from 2009 to 2010. A particular article that I wrote was centered on fire hazards and its potential dangers at event sites. Shortly after, a popular ‘marquee’ event centre in Lagos was engulfed by fire and completely burnt down. Though no lives were lost properties worth millions of naira were lost. I was in the UK at the time of the incident but I recall experiencing something short of a shock when I read online the seemingly boastful promise of the owner to rebuild the event centre more beautiful than previous within a couple of weeks and emphasising on using the incident as an opportunity to do so. I was amazed because I had expected a thorough enquiry into the cause of the fire and a detailed incident report.

My shock was reaffirmed when I came back to Nigeria couple of days later to find the event centre completely built up and more dangerously so! The entire front wing had glass walls.

However, I again remained undaunted and sought out better and improved ways to get the message of Event Safety Management across to stakeholders. In June 2011 I organised the first ever Event Risk and Safety seminar in Nigeria. It was a two-day event and we had presentations on diverse aspects of safety as it relates to event management. It was such a herculean task putting the event together since we had no corporate sponsors and had to shoulder the burden of most of the expenses we incurred.

Following the Event Risk and Safety Seminar I proposed the Event Risk and Safety Management System to the Lagos State Safety Commission and registered as a consultant. I also attended

www.psa.org.uk Below: Qualified Legal Practitioner and the Chief Risk Analyst of Event Basics, Oluwakemi Eboda.

the Nigerian Institute of Safety Professionals to become a certified Health, Safety and Environment Practitioner. My company also collaborated with the commission to organise an open house with stakeholders in the event industry. I spoke extensively on the importance of risk management to events. I have written and submitted guidelines on event safety management to the Safety Commission to emphasise my commitment to safety and readiness to serve my beloved state.

I have also had in-house safety talks with employees of companies involved in the hospitality and convergence business. It is my belief that where two or more people are gathered irrespective of purpose, therein lies risks however minimal. As a demonstration of my commitment to venue safety I attended the Academy for Venue Safety and Management Dallas in 2014 where I earned a certificate in Venue Safety and Security. This niche has made me a recipient of a World Bank scholarship programme

for Nigerian female entrepreneurs in collaboration with the Enterprise Development Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.

My journey into Event Safety Management has not been easy but then I didn’t expect it to be. Neither is it paying my bills, which makes huge demands on my resources as I continue to hone my skills.

The quest for a better method of planning event took me to South Africa in 2007. It’s a journey I was destined to take because I am positive that eventually stakeholders will embrace safety. When they do they will understand that it is more cost effective to consider risk assessment as part of event planning right from the conception of the event idea than bear the cost of a preventable accident. I don’t envisage a time when I can be too tired to talk about safety especially in events. This is because events are the very fabric of our being. Take them away and life seems to stop existing. Therefore, the reasonable thing for us all to

do would be to produce events to meet today’s reality, which can only be accomplished by incorporating safety parameters into the entire planning process.

My goal is to see stakeholders in the hospitality industry in Nigeria embrace the integration of risk and safety management for every event. This is the only way forward for sustainable events. The duty is being addressed by governments throughout the world, achieved with legislation that seeks to protect the health and safety of their citizens. This legislation will ensure that a commitment to safety is being made by everyone involved in the planning and execution of event projects.

Event risk and safety management is a duty we owe as event professionals, sponsors, hosts or producers to guests. It must run parallel with the planning process right from inception through to delivery. In the same vein, victims of preventable accidents at events should be more aware of their rights

to compensation for an injury, if it was caused by negligence.

Victims of falls, trips and slips at events in Nigeria don’t consider accident worth the hassle and are usually satisfied by a mere ‘sorry’.

Some have gone back home from events wearing casts, yet our events continue to pursue risks.

TPi www.eventbasicsng.com www.psa.org.uk

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The TPi Production Guide

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VITAL STATS

VITAL STATS 179 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Jim Digby Profession: Producer, production manager, mentor, philanthropist, founder and chairman of the board of the Event Safety Alliance Date & Place of birth: July 1963, San Jose, California, US You’ve worked in the entertainment business for over 30 years, what was your first job in the sector?

While in elementary school I was fortunate enough to be under the tutelage of a wonderful teacher who inspired my passion for entertainment production in a school district with a heavy emphasis on the arts. After a brief stint in college, I completed technical trade schooling in electronics and aged 19 I went on to work as a technician in a 2,500-capacity theatre and nightclub.

You’re now an expert in your field - how did your interest in live event safety begin?

In 1983, on the evening of the press opening at the aforementioned nightclub, a large special effect lighting fixture fell from the ceiling very near to my operators location and took the life of a patron within eyesight at the bar. This moment scarred me forever and created a deep situational awareness of safety, which would later be reignited by the tragic outcome of the Sugarland incident in Indiana. Though not involved with this event, I was struck hard by the news. In the immediate aftermath, the emotion of the 1983 incident came rushing to the surface. I felt compelled to do something about it.

After a few roadblocks and false starts a small group of us began having routine discussions with similarly minded folks in the industry, all of whom helped to keep the fire of change burning and motivated the birth of the non-profit Event Safety Alliance (ESA). Determined to not let the loss of life from 1983 and more recent events be in vain and driven to set a course that prevents unnecessary tragedies in the future we continue to elevate the mission of the ESA and it’s importance for all of us.

What’s been the biggest step forward in recent times for the subject?

We were able to gain permission to use the Purple Guide as an outline for our own version of the Event Safety Guide, thanks in large part to the help of Tim Roberts. We were able to compile the first written collection of good practices relating to events in the North America and beyond.

Since then we have had two successful three-day ‘event safety summits’ on the Rock Lititz campus, bringing experts from around the globe, primarily England, to help us understand the great work and science being done elsewhere that directly correlates to needs we face. We continue to build a tremendous following and have begun outlining the next revision of the guide and learning opportunities in safety.

In early January the ESA gave its first Core Safety Training class to 66 people. The training is similar to that of the Safety Passport programme and we have received indications that the class may quickly become an important barrier to entry in the event production space.

Your role with Collaborative Endeavor Group (CEG) allows you to fully cater for the live events industry. What are your key business strategies that allow CEG to be a success?

Easy: it’s the recognition. As the CEG company name suggests, that the 94

work we do is and always will be a collaborative endeavor.

During the early days of my production-related career, the culture was different and departments rarely recognised or conveyed respect for one another; in-fighting was prevalent.

Though we all worked together in close quarters for long hours on the same project with the same deadlines there was an overwhelming ‘usagainst-them’ culture among the departments. Finding this to be extremely counterproductive and a frustrating environment to work in, it was one of the first changes I cultivated when I began in the role of adult in charge.

The simple truth is that this is not a business where one man or woman will have accomplished a successful live event alone, it will have taken a team from all walks of life and all variety of skills to have been successful.

Admittedly I’ve had to evolve to this mindset. I’ve had my fair share of days behaving badly, but as I grow older I grow fonder and more committed to the philosophy and find that my life and that of everyone we touch is remarkably easier after instilling a culture of collaboration.

You’ve toured internationally as a production manager. What has that job taught you about relationships on the road?

Every bit of it is about the people! If you manage your team respectfully there are very few obstacles that can’t be overcome. Positive leadership is self-perpetuating. Once you set the wheels of positivity in motion and temper the egos of those unable to recognise its value, anything is possible.

You’ve written before about the constant juggling act between family and touring life. What’s the answer?

Sadly there isn’t a one size fits all answer or I suspect we’d have a lot less problems in the world and we’d likely be a great deal more boring. What works for my family is a recognition of who’s in charge - and that’s my wife!

It’s about realising that you’re in a relationship where the other party is holding down the fort - keeping the kids from killing each other, the pets fed, and the household in order.

It’s not that the one who travels can’t have a voice, but the home is a production unto itself and the visitor who comes and goes may want to consider wearing a ‘guest’ sticky pass while there to remind them of their proper place.

This mindset seems to work for many definitions of relationship, but it does require two confident and trusting partners and a full appreciation and respect for each other’s needs.

On your day off, where would we find you?

Hopefully at home with my wife and children. When that’s impossible, I look for the opportunity to wander around the historic districts of the places we are fortunate enough to find ourselves in, getting an opportunity to understand the local traditions and finish the day at the nicest, oldest restaurant we can find, having one of those European-style three or four hour meals with meaningful conversation, laughter, great teammates and good wine.

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