Jan_Cover:Cover 16/01/2012 08:45 Page 1

January 2012 entertainment, presentation, installation www.lsionline.co.uk City of Lights LSi with Christie in Lyon

Also Inside: PLUS! Sister Act’s Double Act Stadshof, Utrecht Midas & Meyer in Iceland Rosco, face to face PLASA Merger: One Year On Technical Focus Respect La Diva The Saturdays ISE 2012 Preview Chauvet’s Legend 412 A new, high-energy musical LSi profiles the touring show . . . and more!

Download our FREE iPhone & iPad app now at www.lsionline.co.uk/digital OT_Saturdays:On tour.qxd 13/01/2012 13:18 Page 42 tour on

Apart from a visit to see the monumental Take That show last The key, of course, is tight budgeting, and arguably the fact that the summer, I have for the last few years studiously avoided the venues are pleased to see them and discount accordingly. But more ‘pop’ end of the market. There was a time in the early-to- a quick glance at the photos reveals this show looks every inch the mid-90s when this was the only game in town and it served to part. How is that possible? keep many within the service sector afloat during a lean period Sound when raves without rockstars took the teenage concert dollar. Before examining The Saturdays’ sound there is a sub-text to the In truth, pop has never gone away and The Saturdays are a fine audio story: I did consider long and hard whether to mention it, but example of a contemporary pop group seeded from the loins of inevitably rumours will leak out; better the truth be told. Wigwam is TV and media. the system provider and I was tempted to visit this tour by the fact In the next six months we will see the likes of Matt Cardle, Rebecca they are conducting trials with the new Adamson Energia E15 PA Ferguson, McFly, Olly Murs, JLS, Westlife and Diversity all hit the system, “a great system” - with very high output capabilities - Chris road, and of course the devil’s own spawn, the X-Factor tour. This is Hill had informed me, among many other positive comments. business not to be ignored: some of these artists will endure, as indeed McFly and JLS demonstrate; others will fall by the wayside Sadly, the Adamson left the tour the day I arrived - not, it must be as the miniscule attention spans of a more youthful audience base emphasised, due to any failure on its part to continue to excite the flit to new, sparkly horizons. For The Saturdays, that horizon is still likes of Mr Hill, or indeed the audio touring crew headed up by Nick a way off: this is their first venture into the Arena circuit and, having Warren at front-of-house. Wigwam technicians and Adamson completed a sell-out theatre tour just 10 months earlier, the fact that Engineers were concerned about a small HF diaphragm issue: www.lsionline.co.uk they are only putting maybe 6-7,000 bums on seats in these though there was nothing catastrophic to speak of, both parties enormodromes shouldn’t be seen as a failure, but as a success. wanted to dig in and ensure that no major damage occurred. 42 LSi - January 2012 TStrasO orqd1/121 31 ae43 Page 13:18 13/01/2012 tour.qxd OT_Saturdays:On Besides, itdoesn’tmeanwe can’texploreAdamson’s E15. . proper andprofessional responsebyallconcerned parties. make theoccasional productrecall,weshouldacknowledge the a responsibleattitude. Whenevenstodgy, safeToyota isobligedto to besupportedbysomanyinnovative companiesthattakesuch It isalsopertinenttoacknowledge just howfortunatethisindustryis situation.” We allfeltthis wasa‘bettersafethansorry’ a baddebutintheUK. particular casewewantedtoensuretheE15didnotsufferfrom necessary toensurethebestperformancelongterm.Inthis than thelab.Debugginglargeformatsystemsinfieldis improvements alongtheway. Theroadtreatsasystemdifferently very closely. Andasanyonewouldexpect,therearesmall us: “Inthebetaphasewe’rewatchingeveryelementofsystem Jesse Adamson,Adamson’sdirectorofmarketingandsales,told likewise, toensurethattheE15wasnotinacompromisedposition. compromise totheclientortheirreputation.Adamsondid J-Series PA. Theytookdecisiveactionandavoidedany immediately byreplacingtheentiresystemwithacomparabled&b responded There aretwothingsofsignificancetonote:Wigwam Live atSheffieldMotorpointArena:15December2011 Words &picturesbySteveMoles the past, thoughsadlywe don’t gettohear their productsin the UK course, something forwhichtheyhaveearnedagood reputationin Adamson will,ofcourse, befurnishingasubforthe E15 indue servicetheMogadonworldstadiumtournextyear.Wigwam building.” Let’shopethewholeaudience doesn’tdothatwhen question, Itriedaheavymetalrock trackandhadtoleavethe Priddle: “Thesystemruns50Hzto 18kHz; andtoansweryourfirst systemtechRob point fortheE15lowend?’Iasked Wigwam Even forhalf-arenas that’snotsomanysubs.‘What’stheroll-off today I’verestoredthesubstosixpersidegowithJ-Series.” per sidebecausesomuchenergycomesfromthemainsystem; theE15Iwas usingjusttwod&bB2Subs certainly delivers.With music, sowearetestingthepowerendofsystemandit there. However, thereissomebanging‘dance’contenttotheir band andnormallyallyouwantisforthevocalpresencetojustsit to answeryourquestion,”hesaid,quitereasonably. “Thisisapop system wasundiminished.“I’dhavetoheararockbandthroughit Warren begantalkingitwasapparenthisenthusiasmforthe extremely highSPL:howdoesthatwork?From themomentNick So, Iasked-fivegirlssingingthroughasystemthatcandeliver LSi - January 2012

ontour

43 www.lsionline.co.uk OT_Saturdays:On tour.qxd 13/01/2012 13:19 Page 44 tour on

concert market often enough - something that land,” meaning, “in this four-to-a-dolly format Wigwam looks certain to address. Warren, for it’s easier to deal with than, say, a system like one, wanted to remove a slice of that low K1. The cabinet is a bit wider than J, but is frequency energy out of the air and down to designed to be self-powered (currently the ground, but then he has five permanently ground driven by Lab.gruppen PLM open vocal mics on stage to think about. 10000Qs); it’s 79kg now, and will be 95kg “Either way, at rehearsals I had the PA on all with the amp module added.” (For reference, day and the lack of ear fatigue was notable.” a J8 or J12 weighs 60kg, with two 12” and a 10”, compared with the Adamson’s twin The HF is delivered by a 4” compression 15”s. A better comparison might be the twin driver into a 1.5” throat, “that is just savage,” 15” L’Acoustics K1, at 106kg.) said Warren. “The system low end comes from a pair of 15s in each cabinet; there is no There were other issues regarding the flying CPL [coupling] function in the software like system. Priddle mentioned that if you wanted you get with the d&b J-Series,” he added, “so to open an enclosure in the air, the access the coupling is not compensated on long panels and screens are screwed top and hangs,” again, this is a development issue bottom: “You have to pull the front pins to do that will be addressed shortly. that,” he said - not something you’d wish to contemplate, abseiling down to the second Warren continues: “I’ve only adjusted two EQ top box in a long hang. “The multi-connector points from my system set for the switch from Adamson have created looks military spec’ Adamson to the d&b J.” Add the extra subs and carries Cat-6 data and mains,” Warren he’s used this night and the d&b CPL added. “That’s one of the features that first function, and there’s more adjustment than caught the eye of Chris Hill when they started that statement reveals. Around song five - looking,” though presumably without the a song characterised by big, five-part on-board amplification they’re not running harmonies - the band seemingly retreated mains at the moment. from the mix. Warren turned and said “I’ve lost the band”. Warren quickly restored For today’s J-Series system, Priddle has set things, which shows how even a seemingly the mains just as he would have with the E15: simple girl/band mix is not a steady state “There are no wide J12s at the bottom of the song to song, and the differences between hang. With the thrust stage we keep it tight; to the two PA systems is more nuanced than just the bottom it’s all J8 to keep it off the girls the room EQ. when they go out there to sing. We use Q-Series for front-fill cover.” To keep with the Adamson a moment longer, Crew, from top: I asked Warren and Priddle about the more Besides the girls there is a four-piece band, manual aspects of the system, flying and “drums, bass, guitar and keys,” said Warren, Craig Pryde, monitor engineer with transport. “The system rides in single- or “plus eight channels of HD, but they’re only DiGiCo SD8 console. four-cabinet dollies,” said Priddle, “obviously music tracks - there’s no HD vocals. The L-R: Camera director Stuart Merser designed for the US market where they tend stage is free of back-line, Craig Pryde on and lighting designer Neil Trenell. not to stack in trucks - the top cabinet is monitors has flown C4/C7 side-fills for the L-R: FOH sound engineer Nick Warren curved over so you can’t put anything on dancers but there’s no vocal in them. I’d like and Wigwam system tech’ Rob Priddle with top.” to ‘big-up’ Craig,” Warren adds. “I get nothing the Avid Venue console. down the girls’ mics from him. Vocal mics are Production manger Iain Whitehead “Also, you can’t assemble the whole hang in Sennheiser 935s - all heavily ‘bling’ed - and of Production North. a snake across the floor, you have to hang the girls all have custom in-ear inserts. Craig www.lsionline.co.uk four boxes, lift, hang four more, and so on, so is very organised up at the stage end, it’s run it is a bit slower. But it is clever to fly and like a military operation. He had two weeks in

44 LSi - January 2012 TStrasO orqd1/121 32 ae45 Page 13:20 13/01/2012 tour.qxd OT_Saturdays:On in 2012aspossible. I willendeavourtohearthissystemasearly “I wanttheAdamsonback.” after theshowfirstthinghesaidwas, and likesthesystemverymuch”.Evenso, years, andbyhisownadmission,“knows has beenusingd&bJsystemsforseveral mentioned certainlyrockedtheroom.Warren and those‘banging’dancesongshe vocal contentwaswelldefinedandsweet, band heneverlostthemagain,thesung competent job:afterthatearlyscarewiththe Overall, IhavetosayWarren does avery chatter. a FOHsoundengineercandoaboutsuch nervousness -besides,there’snotalot first tourinarenaswemightexcusealittle understanding halfthattheysay.” Beingtheir between songssoyouendupnot fact thattheytendtoalltalkatthesametime Probably thebiggestissuevocal-wiseis faders andyou’dhardlyknowitwasworking. a 2dBpushandpullontheirindividual useful whenthegirlsshout,savesme works likealook-ahead compressor. Very He singledoutaWave Plug-in:“Vocal Rider- Warren hasanAvid Venue formixduties. I’m freetofollowthevocals.” the HDstuff-it’slikeaCDleftandright,so rehearsals withthebandandbalancedall professional band-we’ve done something studio filestothe live band.Thisisavery spend thetimein rehearsalsmatchingthe the originalstudio filesandwewereableto the band’sMDMarcusByrnehadaccess to mainly extrapercussionandkeyboard parts, girl asweprogressed.TheHDmaterial is the girls,andthenrefinedspecifically toeach began bybuildingagenericstereo mixforall with 10daysofjustbandrehearsal and Pryde worksfromaDiGiCoSD8.“Istarted no doubttheyareabigbenefittothegirls” yesterday andtheysoundincredible-there’s a setandtriedthemforthefirsttime custom JHAudioear-pieces. Igotmyself to keeppeopleoncue.Thegirlsallhave low enddownthere,sothewedgesarealso stage alongsidethefivelifts.There’salotof side-fills, thereared&bM4wedgesbelow Besides themusicmixfordancersfrom The techmixesareallstereoaswell. the girlsonradio,musicianshard-wired. of-house mix.It’sallSennheiserG2system, putting togetherisnodifferentfromafront- monitors ismainlystereoin-ears,whatI’m “For abandlikeTheSaturdayswhere of-choice forpreviousoutings. astheyhavebeenPryde’ssupplier-for SSE the roadin2012andnodoubtgoodnews beginning aroundApril.”Yet anotherbandon began, “andhe’llbetouringagainnextyear, “I regularlymixfront-of-house forMika,”he who enjoysworkingbothendsofthesnake. Craig Prydeisoneofthosesoundengineers Monitors Pryde hadyettoavailhimselfofthat. capacity throughasoftwareupgrade,but capability byunleashingextraprocessing And they’vejustsignificantlyboosted suit anyoperation.” be specificanymore,buttheyhavedesksto as amonitormanyoucan’talwaysaffordto and 7-theydohaveafullproductrange you caneasilyjumpbetweenthe10,8 this tourwork.Andthefactis,withDiGiCo throughout theproductionandwhatmakes suits thebudgetandthat’sconsideration the SD8.Yes I’dlikeanSD7,butthisboard frequently. Asforthedesk,thisshowjustfits me iftheroomdictates-160Hzshowsup from themic;Nickwillpullfrequenciesfor IEMs tooloudandhavethegirlspullaway working balance.I’mcarefulnottotiltthe together before,butwequicklyfoundanice miming. “NickandIhaveneverworked IMAG itwasclearthatthesegirlsarenever the thrusttheywereverygood,andfrom Watching them10minfrontofthePA outon well onthemic.” the roomwillhaveaneffect,andtheystay but thegirlsdounderstandwhatcomesfrom stage, theonlyissueonstageislowend, alltheback-linefor thelastfive.With off like sixshowsandI’dsaywehaven’tspoken Lighting do PixieLott, EdSheeran and theBritFloyd. Iain Whiteheadand ProductionNorth.Ialso came intocontact withproductionmanager the ‘09and‘10TV shows-that’swhereIfirst “I designedforthe a newnametome,whatelsehashe done? to sustaintheillusionofscale.Trenell was populate itcarefullywithlightinginstruments relatively low-costtrussing,andthen a tightbudgetismakeeffectiveuseof lighting designerNeilTrenell hasdonewith extended welloutintotheaudience.What Group upinBlackburn,abovestagethat a sizeablelightingrig,suppliedbyHSL attention wasimmediatelydrawnto When IfirstenteredSheffieldArenamy X-Factor tours following great for the camerasand HSL’skitisin girls. I’mveryhappy withthelights,they’re mainly forthedancers, theSpotsfor for thecameras.The 2500Washes Iuse screen isblacktheygivegoodbackground LED screen,theydoverywell.When the where it’shardforthemtocompete withthe the 300sareeyecandy, butevenonstage surprised. The2500sdoallthehard work, arenas,” hesaid,“butI’vebeenvery “I didwonderifthe300swouldmakeitin Spots, ColorWash 2500Wash andSpots. Robe inventory, Robin300Beamsand light. He’schosenfromtheextensiveHSL and futuristiclooks,gaveTrenell lotsto panels. Thisdidmuchtoenhancetheretro Schnack LEDfixturesbehindthindiffuser all curved,fauxstainlesssteelwithSchnick- Whitehead alsodesignedthestageset- so itwasmyroletomakethelightingsuit.” panels thewaytheyarefromoutset,and video. Iainhadproposedthevideoscreensin suggested weputtheframesbetween Trenell comments:“Thegirlsactually heads. interspersed withhangingframesofmoving hang tallverticalsectionsofLEDvideo trusses inchevronconfigurationfromwhich most significantelement,twoupstage the lengthofcatwalkandarguably back, midandfront,parallelrunsoutover trusses -easytorigandflytheycomprise Despite scale,thisisallsinglestraight take toomuchtruckspace.” that wassimpletoloadinandout,didn’t there arelimits-Ihadtodesignsomething futuristic lookstoend.Intermsofsystem a currenteramid-section,andthensome elements -aretro50sand60slooktobegin, Trenell says:“Theshowissplitintothree Trenell’s application,aswe’llseebelow). ideas.” (Whiteheaddidstronglysupport what theysawasIdidn’thavetopresentany the band’smanagementmusthaveliked Iain askedmetosubmitmyCVforthistour, LSi - January 2012

ontour

45 www.lsionline.co.uk OT_Saturdays:On tour.qxd 13/01/2012 13:21 Page 46 tour on

Above: the lighting plot shows a Robe-dominated rig.

good condition - I haven’t seen any failures Whitehead picked him out. “For this I have Merser has just one professional during a show.” eight Universes: I drive all the LED in the set. cameraman, “the other two are the screen The content on the LED is all custom made tech and a driver - neither of whom have Trenell runs a tidy show, a Hippotizer media by Helena Spencer at The Field. There is no operated before and actually both have done server feeds the Schnick-Schnacks and he IMAG on the LED, just the side screens; if incredibly well, even if it has meant I’ve had keeps them nicely coloured in sequence with there had been a song where it would work to be a bit more directive than usual.” Merser his main rig - sepias, pastels and saturated on the LED we would do it, but generally has a detailed cue sheet, each song word for for the first two sequences. He says: “I resort I find IMAG on stage screens a nightmare. word with stage positions. “The thrust is to pencil beams and strobes for the more The desk for me is rock-steady; it’s running used a lot, they might go out for a verse, or futuristic feel. There’s also a turntable on the the latest release of software and it’s fine. It’s one or two songs at a time. The turntable is thrust as well as the lifts on stage. And you easy to program, even switching from Avo’ - a help in that I can catch them front-on from can’t neglect the band - they’re on stage and you just need to think German, and it’s easy the pit cameras as they carousel around. The they need to be seen. In that respect it’s to modify on the fly. It’s great in that respect: material I feed to the screens is all clean - a massive show.” I often see something in the camera view, no effects. I’m using a little Panasonic eight- maybe a shadow on one of the girls, and can channel SD video and it’s just right for the That need for scale is further enhanced by easily knock a focus to rectify that.” He job. Danny Sheldon, CT’s camera guy, is a bunch of Robin 300 Beams downstage left particularly liked the ability to map a GUI of feeling the heat because he’s taken it on for and right, out from the main stage on deck his design plot on a desk’s touchscreen for me and is always searching for something extensions that Whitehead added in his the fast, intuitive grab of a light for just such I can use. That’s a great help. Having started design; plus Trenell has placed two Nova a mid-show correction; “Just being able to as a cameraman myself with XL back in 2000 Flowers each side of stage, off to the rear for grab a light, or run your finger over a group, I know how hard that is. All the guys are those big shine-through-the-set looks that, if is just great.” brilliant, as is the CT kit - this is the first time used sparingly, can be so punchy. “I also I’ve seen the Flyer 18 and it looks great to have five Robert Juliat Lancelot 4kWs in the Video house for spots - there are just three songs Camera director Stuart Merser is another the eye and through the camera.” where I don’t use them. They’re well name I’d not come across before; he too was balanced - they help me a lot.” someone Whitehead had had his eye on from With limited scope, this was very much about an earlier tour. “The kit is all from Creative providing enhanced views for the more Control is from an MA Lighting GrandMA2. Technology; the LED is Flyer 18, the projectors distant members of the audience. Visiting the “I’ve been using one since the moment they for the IMAG screens are Barco R12 SLMs and top rows and looking back into the crowd, first came out,” says Trenell. “Actually, the cameras are Sony D55s - just two in the pit sudden turns of the head indicated that I wasn’t a massive user of the MA1, I was on short tracks either side of the thrust, and viewers tended to snack on the IMAG more an Avolites user, but I’ve been doing one FOH with a J72 lens.” Would he like screens, concentrating more on the stage, a lot of video and found an increasing a camera on stage? “Actually, I could do with needing just the occasional IMAG glance as demand for Universes.” Trenell has his own another FOH, with five girls and because of the a top-up. The show ran for one hour and 25 company, Fix8 Group, and holds quite an limitations when the girls go onto the thrust, minutes and, though he might not have had www.lsionline.co.uk inventory of desks and media servers - where often I can only get back shots from the greatest variety to offer, Merser never media being another of his skills, for which them, the FOH view becomes crucial.” tired from his task. 46 LSi - January 2012 TStrasO orqd1/121 32 ae47 Page 13:21 13/01/2012 tour.qxd OT_Saturdays:On Production also engagesallthefabricatorsfromwhatwe fraternity, butIwassurprisedtodiscoverhe amongst theproductionmanagement seen himdobefore,andisagrowingskill Whitehead designedtheset,somethingI’ve programming.” because he’snotbeenpartofthebuildand the deskoperatorisnotreally production rehearsals,butwhentheygoout us morethanthebigshowswithlong time: asaprogrammerandoperatorhegives set them.Neilalsoworkswellwithlimited both seethatandbendtheirworktothetask their actistobepresented-NeilandStuart Management haveverysetviewsonhow asset andaveryapproachableperson. the rightfeelforsong.He’savaluable colour ifthevideocontentdidn’thavequite gaps ortailorthefootagetoaparticular was abletotakethecontentandfillin because ofhisskillwiththeHippotizer-he production: Neilwasparticularlyworthwhile It’s alsoimportantwhatelsetheybringtothe Stuart’s caseIknewhe’dgottheexperience. to askyourself, ‘aretheyuptothe job?’.In selecting peoplelikeNeilorStuartyouhave relationships; wedon’ttakechances.With modestly enough.“That’swhywebuild because ofthesuppliersweuse,”hebegan financially. “Mostofourjobsaresuccessful an arenatourtoless-than-fullhouseswork I askedWhiteheadspecificallyaboutmaking Platinum Sponsors: tomorrow’s media andcommunicationsenvironment, you’llfi 750 exhibitors,you’reboundtofi ISE 2012willhavemorenewtechnology ondisplaythananyotherAVindustrytradeshow.Withthousands ofnewproductsfromove there yet, nd somethingyouhavenotseen,heard,ortouchedbefore. Ifit’sgoingtomakeanimpacton rehearsals; thatpre-buildnegatestheneed assembled inourLeedsbasebefore time managingtheprocess.Thesetsare as good,butyoudohavetoputintheextra Practically theycandeliversetscheaperand address issuesofdurabilityontheroad. they didhavetoredothings,mainly we haveusedlearnt:intheearlydays the setdesign,ishe?“Thelocalfabricators and modifyasmalloversightyoumadein a SundayafternoonrehearsalwithhisMigkit basher inLeedsisn’tgoingtoturnupon What abouttheactualfabrication?Ametal much biggerforrelativelysmallinput.” simple additionmakesthewholethinglook an 8ftby92ftwidestripacrossthefront-that promoter-provided 60ftby32ftstageandadd and morerecentlyforthis.We take abasic Schnick-Schnack, firstforthe example -andwehaveinvestedinalotof set piecesnowwhichwere-use-thelifts,for potential? “Notnecessarily. We havemoving surprises.” Doesthatlimitthegee-whizz know thelimitationswellenough,thereareno big set.For us,ifyou’vedesigneditandyou and can’tspendahundredgrandonsome investment, they’reoutforsix-to-eight weeks tour theworldforayearandrecoup McFly. It’sdowntobudget;theseartistsdon’t some timenow-Boyzone,GirlsAloud, been doingitfromourbaseinLeedsfor entertainment industryspecialists.“We’ve might term‘regularindustry’asopposedto nd itatISE 2012. X-Factor See. Hear. Touch. shows, to seetheyrepresentgoodvalueformoney. my somewhatjadedperspectiveit’spossible target audience.Moretothepoint,evenfrom a Saturdaysshow, butthenI’mnottheir Truth is,Iwouldneverwillinglygotosee they’re onourdoorstepthat’saffordable.” trips toseethefabricators,yetbecause to avoidsurprises.We mightmake 20round lost asinglestrip.Thekeytoself-build setis a goodfeelandinallthistimewe’venever and itlooksclean,reallygivestheset great forpopacts,yougetvibrantcolours stock todothat.TheSchnick-Schnack is girls -andHSLhadjusttherightframesin between theLEDscreenscamefrom you don’twantthat.Theideaofthelights image canfalloffhalf-way downthe house; you’ve gottobecareful,uselowres’andthe apopact CT didusagooddeal.With for Boyzoneandthoughtitwasgreat. department; they’dseenwhatwehadbuilt - weweren’tspendingalotofmoneyinany choreographer; weassessedtheguarantees we metwiththemanagement,stylistand then customthedécorelement.For thistour a six-week runwehaveadesigncore,and acts can’taffordtoscrapabigsetafterjust set andflownequipment.Becausethese set overittochecktherelationshipbetween and lightingriggingonthefloorbuild production rehearsals.We plotout thevideo for anovernightorweekendweldingjobin electronic systemsintegration presented by The No.1showforprofessional AV and www.iseurope.org LSi - January 2012 r

ontour

47 www.lsionline.co.uk