The strains of Abba's 'Arrival' fill the Brixton Academy as 4,500 pairs of waving arms signal impatience to get on with the show. A virile figure appears in silhouette behind the curtain clutching a guitar, the neck protruding phallically from his torso. Pyros explode either side of the stage as a kabuki drop reveals a wall of dazzling lights, and four long-haired rock gods leap into action. Yes, the Darkness have rocked into town for their pre-Christmas shows!
And what a show it is. Following on from their October tour, hard on the heels of the summer festivals which brought them to public attention, The Darkness are playing nine further dates, and each night the rock show gets bigger, brighter, louder and dirtier. By now these venues could sell out many times over and audiences will have the satisfaction of knowing they saw The Darkness before next year's rumoured arena tour takes them to the next level.
Production manager on the tour is Chris Fitch from Skan Productions, a sub company of Skan PA Hire. Fitch was brought in to handle pre-production for the October dates by tour manager Andrew 'Tosh' Mackintosh. "As the band are very much in demand, the press and promo stuff is taking up more of Tosh's time so I'm doing more in the way of production," explained Fitch. "As well as this I'm also helping V-DOSC technician Mark Ballard with the PA as required."
The main difference between the October and December tours are the sizes of venue. "Last time, the theatre gigs were the big ones, this time they're the small ones," said Fitch. "We're set up to cater for capacities of up to 5,000, and all the systems are very modular and flexible. We've got two small gigs at the start and finish of this tour - Great Yarmouth (1,000) and Liverpool (2,000) - which are pretty much the size of the last tour. From a sound point of view we can go into small or large venues and the show will work, and lighting company Neg Earth can also put on the same show in different sized venues. "Obviously the whole production has got bigger, especially where lighting is concerned. Last time we got the entire production into one artic; this time there are two artics - one of which is just for lights - plus an additional bus trailer."
Apart from Neg Earth, Fitch has drafted in Fly By Night trucking, B&M buses and Flying Saucers catering for this tour. The choice of contractors was primarily decided on the basis of using existing suppliers to The Darkness. "It's essential to have a team of suppliers and crew used to working with each other," commented Fitch. "On a tour of this size there's simply no room for a 'them and us' mentality between different departments. The easiest way to achieve this is by reassembling a team which has worked together well on a previous tour."
Fitch has worked with Neg Earth, Flying Saucers and Fly By Nite for many years, and as he puts it, "They're the gold standard suppliers in their respective fields and a band at this level shouldn't have to put up with anything less than the best available suppliers."
As was the case in October, Skan PA Hire was supplying the audio requirements for the tour and using an L-Acoustics dV-DOSC system. The company recently became a partner of the V-DOSC network, and with its dV-DOSC and V-DOSC systems committed to arena tours with Muse and Feeder, Skan was able to reap the benefits of the partnership, sourcing supplementary cabinets for The Darkness via the network.
"The dV-DOSC is very flexible for the venues we're doing," said Ballard. "In a lot of them we wouldn't be able to get enough V-DOSC cabinets in the air because of the weight loadings, so it gives us the same amount of quality in a smaller, more flexible package, with the SPL we need for a band like this; typically 118dB(A) at FOH. We've got 18 per side here at Brixton Academy, and the whole thing including motors is under 700kg. That's a lot of level for not a lot of flown weight."
The speakers are driven by XTA 226s, and a PRAM remote wireless link to a laptop which allows the system to be adjusted from anywhere in the venue. "This is a pretty simple system, but Chris Fitch has set it up to be very flexible," continued Ballard. "There's nothing special in terms of processing - we're talking raw rock. There's a distresser compressor on the snare, then a couple of DCL 200A valve compressors for guitars. The rest are standard Drawmer gates and dbx compressors."
Front of house desk is a 48-channel Midas Heritage 2000, and the man behind it is Pedro Ferreira who has worked with the band since virtually day one, both in a studio and a live capacity. The band's meteoric rise to fame has meant an exponential increase in the standard of the equipment he's using. "It's great to be working with a desk like the Heritage," he said. "I definitely didn't want to go for a digital desk, as it wouldn't suit the band's sound; I wanted to keep it traditional and 'rock'. I also really like working with dV-DOSC, and I imagine that next year we'll be using V-DOSC."
Andy Shillito has worked as the band's monitor engineer since they supported Deep Purple at Wembley Arena earlier in the year, although he is better known as at FOH. The monitor system consists of a Midas XL3 console and Turbosound TFM 450 wedges with two Logic LS 215 subs, two Turbosound Floodlights and two Funktion One Festival subs per side for side fill, supplemented by the ubiquitous stacks of Marshall amps on stage.
"I try to achieve the same results as doing front of house, and I think the band really appreciates the fact it sounds bigger and fatter," said Shillito, echoing a much-repeated sentiment that The Darkness are a great group to work with. "They know what they want but they're not the sort of band that shout and scream and throw things at the monitor engineer. They're very professional and they expect everyone else to be."
CLASSIC ROCK LOOK
The look of the show was created mainly by the band and lighting designer Rod Clay, who worked on The Darkness' Astoria concert in April, filmed by Done And Dusted. "I was sent some '70s source material to base the look on - Queen, AC/DC, that kind of glam rock vibe - but the advent of moving lights since those days means we've been able to create a more upbeat, modern feel," he said. "I've ended up with a combination of standard rock'n'roll six-colour wash Par cans combined with moving lights which mainly follow vocalist/frontman Justin Hawkins, guitarist Dan Hawkins and Frankie Poullain-Patterson, the bass player."
Provided by Neg Earth Lights, the overall lighting system comprises five Martin Professional MAC 2000 Washes, 22 MAC 2000 Profiles divided between the rig and the floor and 20 High End Studio Colors. "The MAC Washes and Profiles really complement the High End stuff, and the combination of systems old and new is proving interesting to operate," said Clay. Six 4-lites and two 8-lites are used for the audience while 20 ETC Source 4s act as key lights for the band members. Sixteen bars of ACLs with four on the floor give that 'rock feel', and there are 12 bars of six Par 64s.
However, the focal point of the show is the dazzling back wall of 60 single circuit Thomas Par 64s which make various shapes and random and pre-programmed patterns. "I made a deliberate decision to avoid video walls as you see them every single day and I wanted to go for something retro," explained Clay. "After all, this is rock; there are only two ballads in an hour and a half, and they are power ballads! I've also put 10 Studio Colors at the bottom of the back wall to give the silver truss housing the Par cans a look of its own when the Pars aren't on, colouring the truss as per the song. As the band progresses I want to make the back wall a lot bigger so we can do more with it."
The system is run by a Vari*Lite Virtuoso DX controlling all moving lights and effects while an Avolites Pearl is used mainly for the support bands, as well as generics and back up for the main show. The lighting desks were again from Neg Earth, which also supplied all distribution cabling and dimming.
"Neg Earth has been very supportive with the crew and the equipment, said Clay. "Our crew chief is Paul 'PK' Kell, who has been solid as ever, with Bill Conte on dimmers and rigger Simon Frost."
PYROMANIA
As befits a rock act of such flamboyancy, pyro also plays a part. First used on the show at the Bournemouth BIC, it went down so well that an immediate decision was taken to increase the amount. This was anticipated to go ahead from the second Brixton show subject to Health & Safety accreditation from the venue and local council.
The pyro was worked out by Steve Belfield, variously a lampie and rigger, who also works with Manic FX. "I've worked with Rod Clay in the past, and he told me in lampie terms what he wanted the fireworks to do, I translated this into pyro speak and it's worked perfectly," he said. "When I hit the first cue on the Bournemouth show, all I heard over my cans was Rod gasping 'Jesus!', and I knew I'd got it right."
Belfield is keen to point out there's more to being a pyro technician than triggering big explosions. "The most important thing is making the decision NOT to press the button if something's not right," he said. "We also have to meet stringent safety requirements and provide local council departments with product safety reports, insurance documents, stage plans and as much other documentation as they require."
Firework safety is a particularly topical subject in light of the recent firework accident at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux ground. "It's important to go for quality," continued Belfield. "I always use Wells Fireworks as their products are of the highest standard, as well as being the most consistent."
Meanwhile, back at the big rock show, Justin Hawkins took his shirt off and wiggled his spandex candy-stripe-clad backside to the audience. Halfway through the night he changed into his second costume of the night: a spangly silver jumpsuit with long flared sleeves and absolutely no frontage to speak of. He kept up a performance of camp mock theatrics which had the crowd eating out of his hand.
"I'm not seeing enough thumbs to continue the fun," he complained at one point. The audience obliges immediately; there is barely an unhoisted thumb in the house, and they go on to happily follow his whimsical hand clap routines and emulate a range of animal noises.
By the final number, the band's Christmas single 'Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)', the stage had been transformed into a twinkly grotto complete with a bare-chested Santa and a 13-piece choir of fresh-faced kiddies wrapped up in hats and scarves, presumably sweltering as more pyros exploded in front of them. Fake snow drifted down on to the crowd, Christmas crackers were tossed from the stage and as a final gesture, Ventura confetti cannons blasted silvery strips of paper through the auditorium.
"Merry Christmas everyone!" beseecheed Justin as he left the stage for the last time. As the house lights came up, the bedazzled crowd appeared to have been subjected to a magical, mythic visitation; indeed they could almost have been said to believe in a thing called Santa.
Christmas shows don't get any better than this.
The Darkness On Tour -
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