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CONCERTS Copyright Lighting&Sound America April 2007 www.lightingandsoundamerica.com Celtic Pr Rod Stewart’s new tour provides both spectacle and an intimate look at the long-lived star

By: David Barbour

April 2007 • Lighting&Sound America They say nothing lasts forever—but then how do you explain the career of Rod Stewart? From swinging to 21st-century America, he has reinvented himself time and again, for a fan base that has remained determinedly loyal through each manifestation of his persona. Consider the many stages of his career: there ide were stints with bands like The Group and Faces, followed by a tumultuous solo run that saw him become, among other things, Rod the , an acclaimed bluesman, hard rocker, arena attraction, diva, and specialist in the . And he’s not done yet. Currently, the 60-ish singer is on the road again, covering the U.S. and Canada before heading off to Europe this summer. (Among his U.S. dates is an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival this month.) In many ways, the tour is a return to basics. This is not the Rod Stewart who has recently topped the charts with renditions of “Embraceable You” and “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.” Instead, it’s the return of Rod the rocker in a greatest-hits survey that takes in such classics as “Tonight’s the Night,” “It’s a Heartache,” and, yes, “Do Ya Think I’m .” (Not one to take himself too seriously, he introduces this number, saying, “Here it is; you’ll either love it you’ll hate it.” At Madison Square Garden, where LSA caught this tour, they loved it.) The current tour manages the nifty trick of supplying plenty of visual kicks while simultaneously maintaining a feeling of intimacy. This is, in many ways, an up-close and personal show, a night of give and take between The set is an trio of interlocking circles. ALL PHOTOS: TODD KAPLAN Stewart and his fans. Even though there On the center stage can be seen the logo of the Celtic Football Club, a favorite of are plenty of driving up-tempo Stewart’s. The perimeters of the circular numbers, and the musical energy is stages are lined with LEDs. high throughout, the prevailing

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • April 2007

atmosphere is easy and relaxed; lost his taste for the sport. As the fans know exactly what they’re arguably ’s greatest gift to getting, and they’re more than —he was born in happy about it. London, but considers himself a That atmosphere extends to Scot—it’s only natural that he backstage, where many of the should be a passionate fan of creative and technical personnel Glasgow’s football team.) have been with Stewart for quite “The set,” says Brogaard, “was some time. Lighting designer Mark done by committee. Ian Knight, the “Pope” Payne has been around for designer, and I went to Rod’s 15 years. Front-of-house mixer and house in London. Typically, Ian production manager Lars Brogaard makes five or six different models. has been on board since 1985. We talk to Rod and then, a week Together, they, and many others, later, bring in more models. When have put together a show that we have an agreement, we bring allows Rod Stewart to be Rod in Mark to find where to place the Stewart, sharing his past and his lighting, video, and sound.” Payne personality to an audience that is adds, “We integrate everything. eager for both. The devil is in the details. For example, the monitors were built The Scottish stage into the set; they’re placed on the This is an in-the-round show; the wireless tower.” Another detail: the set is a trio of interlocking circles. semi-circular ramps feature sleek At center is a raised circular stage, railings which allow for close connected on either side by two audience contact and eliminate the semi-circles, each of which need for security barriers. The set contains an area for audience was built by Tait Towers. seating. Stewart and the musicians The was assembled by can descend from the center stage California-based Sew What? and down to the circular ramps for consists of 1,500 yards of material. plenty of close contact with the “Plaid is a favorite pattern of fans. Adding to the feeling of Stewart’s,” says Payne, “but this is intimacy is a set of four IMAG the first time we have used it in a screens—this is, according to show.” Megan Duckett, of Sew those involved, the first all-HD tour What?, says that the idea of digital (more about this later). printing was discarded in favor of a Before the show, the stage is process that involved custom- hidden behind a circular Austrian milling the fabric and printing on it curtain done in Tartan plaid. The with four 60" ink drums; after that, performance begins with a satirical it was put through a flame- video depicting Stewart as the star retardant process before sewing of The Rodfather, then the curtains began. are raised to reveal the set. (Before Payne’s lighting design adds this, we’ve already seen a fife and plenty of oomph, bathing the set in drum corps pass through the colors and patterns, pulling the auditorium, striking a note of audience into the show with arena- Scottish nationalism even before wide color washes, and isolating the star appears.) Overhead video the star and his musicians, who reveals the logo of the Celtic often fan out across the stage. The Football Club, which covers the designer has done many shows in center stage. (This is, of course, the round and is at ease with the the star’s favorite club: Stewart, format; the key to his design, he who tried out for more than one says, is to keep the focus on football team as a youth, has never Stewart, whom he calls “a great

April 2007 • Lighting&Sound America performer.” change a thing. We were able to save work at the desk and look at it in Payne’s lighting rig is dominated ourselves a lot of mucking about. I’m WYG. Also, if there’s a problem with by 60 Vari*Lite VL3000s in both Spot not a fan of programming in the previous show, I put it into and Wash configurations. “For me, WYSIWYG but, for all the other WYSIWYG and fix it. You don’t have it’s the optics on the Vari*Lite units,” details, it’s very good.” to have the whole lighting system he says. “The set is covered in a In addition, he says, WYSIWYG is attached to the desk in order to fix silvery grey, and it takes light integrated into the show’s lighting something.” beautifully. The zoom is also network, which is particularly Indeed, Payne projects an air of important. I can get massive gobo valuable for running an in-the-round imperturbability as he works, a looks, covering the entire audience, show. “Today,” he says, by way of feeling that no doubt comes from his with 30 spots.” Indeed, he’s fond of example, “I’m in a position where the long experience with Stewart. Then spinning gobo patterns on the drum kit is obscured—but I can do again, this tour may go down as audience and deck, a fact the focuses for it in WYSIWYG. I meaningful in more ways than one. established during the opening number, “Tonight I'm Yours.” The VL3000s also create a highly theatrical beam look in “Wear it Well.” Also on hand are 16 Molefays and a set of low-voltage tungsten uplighting units built into the decks. The set is outlined in a series of white LEDs, creating a necklace-of- lighting look onstage. The LEDs can do chases, as in “Lost in You;” combined with VL3000s on the floor, they create a kind of glitter-rock effect. A 4' diameter mirrorball comes in at one point, for that disco- era feeling. Controlling the lighting is the High End Systems Wholehog III, a board that has earned some major respect after a very rocky start. Payne worked on the Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Turin with lighting designer Durham Marenghi, where the Hog III acquitted itself nicely, he says. “We had to reset the system once in three weeks,” he recalls. Working with WYSIWYG to design the Stewart tour, Payne says he “sat at home mapping out the set and seating, the PA, and truss heights,” integrating his lighting into the layout. “We went into rehearsals at The Forum in Los Angeles before Christmas, and I didn’t have to

Payne’s lighting rig is dominated by 60 Vari*Lite VL3000 units in both Spot and Wash configurations. Controlling the lighting is a High End Systems Wholehog III.

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • April 2007 CONCERTS

This page, top: Stewart uses AKG mics. This page, bottom: The tour is one of the first to feature all-HD video. Opposite: The large plaid Austrian curtain was made by Sew What?

wide-coverage boxes and nine M’elodie curvilinear array elements. He also makes use of Meyer’s Galileo loudspeaker management system, in addition to the company’s SIM 3 audio analyzer and Windows-based RMS remote monitoring system. “The Galileo has been extremely useful for driving and aligning our system across multiple zones,” Brogaard notes. “It makes it very easy to cut out the frequencies we don’t want and emphasize the ones we do, especially in the bass range. We like a lot of punch at 60 and 80Hz.” Upon hearing the comment that Meyer isn’t the usual choice for touring—in the U.S., one typically sees the company’s products used in theatres, concert halls, and houses of worship— Brogaard says they are are increasingly popular on the worldwide concert circuit, offering Metallica, Avril Lavigne, The White Stripes, and Robert Plant as examples. Brogaard’s console choice is the DiGiCo D5, a no-brainer for him. “I had a lot to do with the development of it,” he says. “I have serial number 001.” Speaking about digital consoles, he adds, “I always try to be ahead, rather than behind, the curve.” One suspects that the use of a digital console has much to do with the tour’s notably uncluttered sound. Speaking to LSA in February, he songs traverse three or more Stewart has long had a happily announced the birth of his decades of musical styles, the star’s relationship with AKG, and that first son, Harry. When asked if the voice floats effortlessly about the company dominates the mic list. son would be awarded his father’s music in each number. Stewart himself sports a PT4000 nickname, he thinks about it for a One wonders how much the gear handheld radio mic with a C-5900 second and announces his solution: chosen has to do with it. Interestingly, capsule on it. The three backup Harry “Popelet” Payne. the tour features a Meyer Sound rig; singers have the same setup; all nine it includes eight hangs of that musicians are also on AKG mics. Of The Stewart sound company’s Milo high-power course, Stewart has one of the more In a world in which aural overkill is curvilinear array loudspeakers, 100 in distinctive voices in rock music—“He the norm, Brogaard’s sound mix all, accompanied by 32 Meyer 700- sings from the throat,” notes stands out for his delicacy and HP high-powered subwoofers. Near Brogaard—but the engineer doesn’t subtlety. Even though Stewart’s fill is provided by UPA-1P compact necessarily treat it differently. The

April 2007 • Lighting&Sound America only outboard processing is through network of dressing rooms, storage, personal—in addition to the spoofy a T. C. Electronic System 6000. and technical gear. Rodfather opening, there’s footage of Otherwise, he says, “Rod’s mic is Stewart’s parents, siblings, and some very powerful.” Stewart in high definition of his children. (During the pre-show, In the monitor world, there are As mentioned earlier, the tour’s video there’s a constant stream of, yes, plaid two DiGiCo D5s, one for Stewart setup is high-definition through and imagery, supporting the tartan idea and the backup singers, mixed by through. One might think that a star established by the curtains.) We see Sven Jorgensen, and another for the of a certain age might balk at the the star kicking around a soccer ball band, which is handled by Toshio revealing qualities of HD, but Stewart and playing with one of his sons, and Kumagai. There are no wedges— seems not to have given it a thought. there’s also footage of a certain football everyone in uses either Given his youthful looks and energy, club, as seen over the years. One AKG SST IEMs or Sennheiser G2 it turns out this is hardly a problem. particularly effective use of video units. The lack of wedges Indeed, the video adds to the comes in “,” in contributes to the clean look intimacy of the tour in more ways which footage of soldiers coming home onstage, which Stewart prefers, says than one. Besides providing many is mixed with a eye-grabbing overhead Payne, adding that, under the stage close-up views of the star, much of shot of Stewart performing as gobo can be found a considerable the additional content is highly patterns spin all over the stage. Video director Charlie Harris is a sort-of newcomer to the tour—but then again, not really. He worked previously for Stewart, running a video camera, then left to tour with U2 and . The video rig, he says, includes five Sony BRC 700 color video cameras (as well as two robotic cameras) to pick up the live action, with content delivered by a set of Doremi HD hard drives to Barco FLM R20+ projectors. The HD process, Harris notes, “delivers a lot more detail,” adding considerably to the impact of the video; this is especially important in a circular configuration, where, at any time, two- thirds of the audience can’t see the star’s face. A For-A video switcher is used to move from live to prepared content. Overall, however, the system is lacking in any unnecessary gear. “Staying simple is the way to go,” Harris says. Then again, a clutter-free simplicity is the key to the current Stewart tour. With nothing left to prove, the star has opted for a presentation that offers spectacle minus glitz. Few concert tours are this seamless and relaxed. These qualities are, no doubt, hard- won; then again, as Stewart enters his fifth decade as an entertainer, he and his associates clearly know the value of making choices and sticking to them. For that reason, Stewart continues to wear his celebrity very well.

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • April 2007