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CONCERTS Copyright Lighting&Sound America February 2013 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html 52 • February 2013 • Lighting&Sound America Four-Part Harmony Revealing the many sides of The Who on the Quadrophenia and More Tour By: Sharon Stancavage he Who’s Quadrophenia Byrne, and on a wide variety of TV that look somewhat mod.” There are focuses on a young man who productions in the US and worldwide. three 8mm circular SL-pro 8 LEDs struggles with four personal- Once the Quadrophenia sequence and a 15mm Barae BR15 rectangle ities, each represented in is over, the band gives the audience that is 39'4" wide by 16'4" high, all Tperformance by a member of the some of its favorite songs. “Unlike provided by Montreal-based band. The second rock opera by Pete other bands, The Who always plays Solotech, the tour’s video gear Townshend, it was first performed in their hits, so everyone can enjoy supplier. “We had frames made for 1973. In 2012, for the band’s latest themselves,” the designer notes. the circular LEDs by Tait Towers [of tour, Roger Daltrey re-envisioned it as Kenny says that the production Lititz, Pennsylvania]. We wanted them the story of the band and those who design underwent several stages of to look like headlights, and I decided I have experienced the last half- development. “The shape of the set wanted something with a mirror, century with them. “This show is a went through varying forms, as it because, without it being lit, it would fabulous, intimate look at The Who,” does on every tour. Roger wanted to still be bright,” he says. says the band’s longtime production have the front of a motorbike or a The visuals were created by designer Tom Kenny, who has also moped, but that wasn’t really feasible Daltrey; producer and content worked with the likes of George for the production. The screen shapes director Colin Payne, of The Media Harrison, David Bowie, Jimmy Page, are just something [production Machine; and a team including Dan Photo: Richard Termine Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, David manager] Roy Lamb came up with Hardiker and Neil Hetherington, of www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • February 2013 • 53 CONCERTS Zeroh, as well as Chris Rule and Des for the previous shows but crucially Quadrophenia itself: The pull of youth, Murphy. “Overall, Roger drew two were given total access to the entire growing through difficult periods, conclusions: Firstly, the need to move Who archive,” he says. The archival questioning, fighting, exploring, away from a narrator and guests on footage includes Townshend celebrating, deeply emotive, angry, stage [usually featured in productions smashing guitars during “Helpless and loving—these really came through of Quadrophenia]. Secondly, the Dancer;” The Who in an earlier incar- the films we saw.” desire to focus not just on the person- nation as the High Numbers in “The The sea is also a recurring theme alities of the original band members, Punk and the Godfather;” and a wide within the visual context of the show. but to add a new twist, the dimension range of historic news footage. “The sea has always been crucial in of time—The Who now on stage and Factories appear during “The Dirty Quadrophenia,” Payne says. “Not only The Who then on the screens,” Payne Jobs,” WWII headlines run during the is it reflective of the location of much explains. The mixing of the past and instrumental “Quadrophenia,” and a of the action within the story itself, it present is expressed dually through montage that includes content related represents the universal, the love, the archival footage of the band and to Princess Diana’s death and 9/11 is redemption.” The finale of historic footage. “We referenced all used in “The Rock,” Payne says. “It Quadrophenia, “Love, Reign o’er Me,” the excellent postwar footage put made total sense to use footage that also includes some stunning footage together by [graphic designer and tracks the development of the band, of rain. “The imagery is highly treated music video producer] Aubrey Powell very much along the journey we see in film—not CGI—and we really were inspired by the notion of absolute reality being filtered and highly artistic. The pixels shine like diamonds, and because the basis of the image is natural, it has a highly uplifting effect,” Payne says. While the visuals for Quadrophenia are thematic, the approach to the songs in the hits section is distinctly different. “We view this section as a constantly evolving, live experience— we have banks and banks of cool visuals, which we can adapt and VJ along with the band, depending on song choices, mood, and energy,” Payne says. “We can follow and enhance and, in this way, the video can become as flexible as any of the musicians.” Giani Fabricio, the show’s touring content director, uses an Avolites Sapphire media console working with four Avolites-Immersive Ai media servers. It’s the first time Ai has been out with a major tour. “Overall, the production needed flexibility. They knew that some of it was perhaps going to be preprogrammed with time code, but the band doesn’t like having the rigid structure of having to play with a click track and time code,” Fabricio says. When visuals and vocals of the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle were added (to “Bell Boy” and Photo: Richard Termine Both Daltrey and Townshend requested throwback lighting for the hits section of the show, specifically to 1973, the year Quadrophenia was released. 54 • February 2013 • Lighting&Sound America The three 8mm circular SL-pro 8 LEDs, supplied by Solotech, are framed with mirrors and integrated into the design to look like the headlights on a motorcycle, Daltrey’s original design concept. “5:15”, respectively), it became comes to a situation in which, for the segments—aligned with the music. “I apparent that the show would need sake of everything being perfect and keep tight control over the speed of some sort of time code system. in synch, the artist gives up their live the clips, so that if the band drifts and “Some parts of Quadrophenia are on performance quite a bit, removing any goes a bit faster or slower, I’m ready time code, and that’s something that’s suspense from the show. These guys to adjust the synch,” he says. set up beforehand,” Fabricio notes. “I said, ‘No, we’re not going to do that. While Fabricio is handling the use the system to put it on timelines We’re going to do our thing, and we content at the front of house, there’s and then do the offset to get the right might take a bar out here, another another aspect to the video system synching, and that generally never one there, and I might just go into a backstage, he says: “There’s one changes. But the rest of guitar solo for 20 minutes, and you person doing all the camera cutting; Quadrophenia is mostly operated live. just deal with it.’ One reason they there’s another person who looks at There are never two time-coded bits gave me the job is that Colin wanted colors and calibration, the treatment one after the other, and it generally somebody who had a musical of cameras; another who operates switches from a fully live operated background—not just a programmer, the [Vista] Spyder, channeling the track to a time-coded one.” but also a musician.” different signals to the screens.” The The set “was a challenge to start One of Fabricio’s primary responsi- IMAG system includes four Sony with,” Fabricio admits. “I’ve done bilities is to keep the visuals—even cameras, a Barco FSN-1400 switcher, shows, with other artists, where it those in the non-time-coded and two Christie Roadster S+20K DLP Photo: Richard Termine www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • February 2013 • 55 CONCERTS In an effort to retrace the past of The Who and its audience, the Quadrophenia section of the show includes a wide variety of historic news footage, from World War II to Princess Diana’s untimely death. projectors for the left/ right screens. D visualizer and the live performance- Behind the lights Although there are numerous content/ driven user interface with the corre- Discussing how he worked to blend IMAG configurations, it is less sponding hardware, the Sapphire the lighting with the video, Kenny random than one might expect. “If media console,” Fabricio says. “What I says, “I learned that you have to we’re going to put camera feeds on find most interesting about the system complement whatever color is in the central set screens, it’s going to is that it is built with a node-based there.” During Quadrophenia, Kenny’s cut out content, so it is carefully visual programming language, palette is fairly subdued and includes choreographed,” Fabricio says. Salvation, which means that, besides steel blues, lavenders, and ambers. The signal path between the front having the typical interface with all of That changes somewhat when the of house and video world backstage its options, you can also access the band goes into its hits. “I keep it very is complex, and it includes front-of- background of it all and reconfigure live and very electric, because it’s all house sound. Fabricio explains, the system to fit your needs, which is down to what Pete and the band do “SMPTE time code comes from the not something you can do with your every night,” he adds. ADAT machine on stage to Robert typical software.

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