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glastonbury2004
TPi relives the technical highlights of this Summer's edition of Europe's biggest and most prestigious festival...
As the sound of 112,000 revellers singing their hearts out to 'Hey Jude' resonated throughout the Vale of Avalon, many believed this to be the defining moment in the 34-year history of the Glastonbury Festival.
Sir Paul McCartney's nostalgia-dripping 2.5 hour set - the climax to the Saturday night, and indeed his recent European stadium tour - won over the audience in spectacular style, and joined a host of highlights from top artists including Muse, Morrissey, Scissor Sisters, James Brown, Keane, Orbital, Joss Stone and... lo and behold... the English National Opera. By contrast, the biggest disappointment of the weekend was the re-emergence of Oasis who, despite the inclusion of ace drummer Zak Starkey (fathered by Ringo, encouraged by Keith Moon), gave a half-hearted performance.
Glasto '04 threatened to be another of those famous mudbath years. The unpredictable June weather resulted not only in many people donning wellies in the torrential Saturday rain, but it also made load-in on the previous Wednesday a nightmare! Fortunately, the skies were clearer on the Sunday, and spirits remained high. On a positive note, crime figures were down by nearly 50% compared with last year.
With a wide range of performance stages to equip, Europe's most popular summer festival is traditionally the most prestigious in terms of production supplier contracts, and following on from last year, SSE Hire was proud to be retained as the main audio source. The Birmingham rental firm fielded a Nexo Geo T rig with CD18 subs on the main Pyramid Stage and a Nexo Alpha system on the Radio 1 Stage. Diarmid MacLennan of Perfect Beat replaced an injured Adam Scott as main system technician, with assistance from Chris Beale, while Chris Trimby and 'Kevo' managed the monitor system.
Y10 IN JAZZ WORLD
Sunderland commented: "We were really against the elements. The bad weather put us 24 hours behind, and on top of that we discovered the rigging points were wrong! Once that was sorted out, the Y10 rig was up in minutes and sounded awesome. None of the engineers using the stage had any negatives, they were all blown away - and I'm not referring to the wind!"
MARTIN PRO OMNIPRESENCE
In the Acoustic Tent, Fineline's Rob Sangwell handled a MAC rig managed by Martin's Maxxyz controller with Playback Wing. Sangwell, who has been handling various lighting duties at Glastonbury for several years, took on lighting design and crew chief duties in the Acoustic Tent, as well as acting as Fineline's on-site representative. "The Acoustic Tent is more about the music then a spectacular light show," he commented. "Nonetheless, this year's rig included twice as many automated luminaires as in previous years."
Sangwell incorporated animation effects from four MAC 2000 Performances, located along the front of the 40' x 20' standard truss ground support system, to texture the entire tent area including the stage to "make it look a little less flat," he stated. "We had some gauzes on the back truss and we used the framing system on the MAC 2000 Performance for doing effects on to those."
On the rear truss where the four gauze strips hung down, he placed a MAC 550 on the top of each strip. "We created some nice effects from the animation wheel on those, subtle moving effects. We also had four MAC 2000 Profile Es hanging on drop bars on the rear truss to make beam shapes and focal positions.
"Across the front truss we had four MAC 250 Entours. There was a lot of dŽcor in the tent with white inflatables so we put a lot of projection on to those so that the whole tent got dragged in as part of the show rather than having everyone standing there looking at it. The tent is a large 6-7,000 capacity Kayam tent with blue canvas, so it was fairly dark and the ambient light level was low. All the dŽcor was white silk and the Entours worked on that from a distance of about 80 feet. They did the job."
Sangwell also used four MAC 2000 Washes for simple colour wash looks on the stage, and employed a Maxxyz console for control. He said: "It was my first time using Maxxyz and I was quite impressed. To be honest with you, I expected it to crash a lot. It's a historical thing, being a rental company, we've seen it all before. You normally can't touch a console for the first year but the Maxxyz didn't crash once all weekend. It ran from the Wednesday to Monday, 24 hours a day, continuously for five days without falling over. I was pleased. It's a good versatile board. I like the fact that it has a Visualizer on it and I like the instant access via the touch panel which lets you get to your pallets and everything quickly."
Programming was completed with help from Martin UK personnel as the Fineline crew had little time to familiarise themselves with the Maxxyz before the event. Sangwell and Fineline's Gary Churchill, Chris Drake and Steve Russell took care of operation on a shift system.
A new Maxxyz Playback Wing was to the console for increased flexibility. Said Sangwell: "One reason we got the Wing is because we don't get a lot of time to preprogram. We can pre-program looks for the stage but because it was a festival situation you never know what you're going to get. There are 12 hours worth of bands each day and only a few bring their own LD in. We often don't know what we'll end up with so sometimes we busk it, operating on the fly. That's why we had the extra wing so we had some looks we could whack up."
Chris Rock of Utopium Lighting was the lighting designer and main board operator in the Dance Tent for the three days. Basically a portable arena with a large stage and dance podium, the Dance Tent can hold thousands of people. Rock created a club-like environment in the large space using 12 MAC 500s to cover the dancefloor and front of stage, with six MAC 600s across the back of the stage. Two Jem ZR33 Hi-Mass foggers working with two DMX controllable Jem AF-1 fans helped keep the atmosphere thick.
"It was a rainy festival rig, something that would hold out with the weather," Rock stated, who admits he was also busking it for most bands. "It was lighting by the seat of my pants but it ended up looking quite good."
Martin gear was also a key element of the festival's chief focal point. Neg Earth outfitted the festival's highest profile stage, the Pyramid Stage, with 12 MAC 2000 Profile Es, 15 MAC 2000 Washes and 14 Atomic 3000 strobes. Neg Earth also supplied the 'Other Stage' with 12 MAC 2000 Es and two MAC 550 profile spots. Other areas with Martin gear included the Budweiser Tent with eight MAC 300s, 10 MAC 250s and two Atomic 3000 strobes supplied by Electric Fly Productions; and the Radio 1 Dance Stage with 12 MAC 300s, two Jem ZR33 Hi-Mass and a Jem AF-1 fan supplied by Halo Lighting.
MAD FOR PIXELLINES
On the Other Stage, LD Jonny Gaskell used 55 Pixellines and PixelDrive software for Orbital's incendiary set which were supplied by Bandit. Taking an experimental approach, Gaskell took Orbital's renowned video content and fed it into the PixelDrive computer to see how it would look when applied to the battens, producing some interesting patterns and textures. Gaskell also ran Goldfrapp's lightshow, this time using 27 Pixellines and PixelDrive, with the battens supplied by Neg Earth.
There was also plenty of other Pixel presence around the Glastonbury site. In the Budweiser dance tent, lighting was designed by Nick Jevons of Electric Fly Productions, and featured 12 battens. Colour Sound Experiment, lighting contractor for the Glade Stage, supplied 12 battens and 12 PixelPAR 90 (A) fixtures as part of the general lighting scheme.
THE AVO EFFECT
Crew chief was Stuart Farrell. Lighting fixtures were rigged on to a huge internal scaffolding structure straddling the tent poles and covering the stage, stage wings and dancefloor of the vast interior. The wings featured three dance booths per side for the flamboyant and the exhibitionists to strut their stuff.
As well as the afore-mentioned MACs, the Dance Tent's eclectic collection of over-stage fixtures included eight Clay Paky Golden Scan 3s, 30 Pars, five strings of ACLs and 12 High End Dataflash strobes.
The stage wings were lit with Pulsar Chroma LED fixtures, with two ChromaBank battens illuminating each dance booth, lots of ChromaPars pointing in all directions and six ChromaPanels behind the DJ, on-stage. They also integrated 18 Solar 250 projectors into the design, projecting cosmic patterns and effects on to the back of the dance booths, old skool style - harking back to the legendary raving days of the early 1990s! For a touch of pure disco indulgence, 34 mirror balls of different sizes were rigged over stage and audience for Saturday's extravaganza.
Utopium decided to put the D4 through its paces in this highly demanding environment as a powerful and versatile desk was needed to run the intense lightshow. They also wanted a familiar brand to offer visiting LDs - and Avolites was an obvious choice with its reputation as the hands-on festival desk of choice.
SCALLIES OF AVALON
The 3,000 capacity Cabaret Tent had the largest Adlib audio system, featuring Nexo Alpha speakers and a Soundcraft Series 4 console at FOH, and SM20 on-stage, complete with Adlib monitors. This was looked after by Marc Peers, Tim Dalton and Paul Roberts.
The Circus Tent sounds were co-ordinated by James Coates, Chris Smethurst and Dave McKenzie using an Adlib FD system with Allen & Heath control at both ends of the multicore. The Outdoor Theatre was overseen by the multi-skilled Hassane, Paul Dakin and Graham Smith, who ran another Adlib FD system with Allen & Heath control.
Richie Nicholson and Carl Billington were on the outdoor stage, together with yet another FD/A&H system - proving the great versatility of this combination. In the Theatre Tent, all types of performance - from the experimental to the absurd - were sonically attended by Steve Pattison, Dave Bennett and Charlie JealeÉ with yet another FD system, this time with a Soundcraft MH3 mixer at FOH.
The Albatross stage - a heady mixture of cosmicity and sludge by the end of Saturday - saw Kenny Perrin avoiding any cheap bird-like puns with another FD/A&H combination rig.
The mobile stage was co-ordinated by Danny Castree and Scott Negus, who also looked after the 12 complete Shure radio systems supplied by Adlib for assorted stages at various different times. Keeping tabs on what was needed where and when was one of main logistical challenges of the festival for Adlib. "The lads handled things brilliantly despite the weather," commented crew chief Marc Peers.
Adlib's Dave Kay worked closely with radio frequency regulator JFMG in advance to ensure all the Adlib systems were on clean frequencies, which proved well worth the ground work.
Additionally, Kay and Ben Booker mixed FOH and monitors for the Scissor Sisters. The band played both the Main Stage and the Dance Tent on the same day in their usual style. The band 'most tipped for greatness in 2004' were one of the highlights of the whole event. Other Adlib engineers in action included Steve Pattison and James Neale, who mixed FOH and monitors for Amy Winehouse on the Other Stage.
MIC SUPPORT
The New Tent Stage is operated uniquely within the Glastonbury festival in that one company, Reality Check, provides the complete turnkey production package, handling all of the planning and management of the stage for the entire event, including sound design and specification. Julian Spear and Jonathan Badger, co-directors of Reality Check, commented: "This is a very busy time for us over the summer festival season, as we specialise in classical concerts as well as rock'n'roll, but Glastonbury came together very well. The key, as always, is good planning in advance helped, in no small way, by excellent partners like Sennheiser, South West Audio and, on the lighting side, White Light."
Sennheiser provided the microphones and in-ear monitoring, which were used by 90% of the 40 acts that performed on the New Tent Stage over the three-day festival. The microphones used included e935 and e840 vocal, e664 and e614 condensers, e609 guitar cabs and e604 clip-on drum mics. Also, used for the first time at Glastonbury, Sennheiser supplied the new G2 wireless hand-held evolution e935 radio mic and 300 series IEM G2 in-ear monitoring systems.
Other acts using Sennheiser and Neumann equipment throughout the festival included Scissor Sisters, Jamie Cullum, Ben Harper, Goldie Lookin Chain, Franz Ferdinand and Damien Rice, along with Sennheiser endorsees Lostprophets, Starsailor and Joss Stone.
Sennheiser UK's Director of Sales & Marketing, John Steven said: "The festival is still such a unique opening for new talent to perform in front of a great audience and in the atmosphere that is pure 'Glastonbury'. Sponsorship of the New Tent is our opportunity to help these bands and artists and seeing the winners of last year's Sennheiser Unsigned Artists competition, Nowhere Near The Garden, on the New Tent Stage at Glastonbury was a real pleasure."
SKANNED
LOOKING FORWARD
Buoyed by the success, co-organiser Melvin Benn believes there is scope for extending the capacity in 2005. He said: "[It's] our third year of it going really well, and I will now begin to start talking to the local authority about whether it can increase. Another 25,000-30,000 would be very good. I'd be very pleased with that!"
However, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis is not so keen: "When I see long queues for the loos, I wonder whether we can cope with anymore or not... the beauty of it is that I have the last word!"
Glastonbury 2004 is destined to be remembered as one of the best weekends in the festival's history, and Eavis is already making plans for an impressive bill in 2005. TPi's top tip for next year's headline act? U2. We'll see!
Sound for the Jazz World stage relied on a system supplied by Steve Sunderland of Audiolease, comprising of 32 Adamson YAxis 10 cabinets (16 per side) powered by Lab Gruppen fP-6400 amps and controlled by XTA processing. The subs were the Audiolease-designed 2 x 18" A2s.
Martin Professional lighting fixtures, Jem smoke and associated kit was specified throughout the festival site, with production companies Fineline, Neg Earth, Utopium Lighting, Electric Fly Productions and Halo Lighting providing the equipment and expertise.
A total of 192 James Thomas Pixelline LED battens were in action for Oasis' Friday night headline slot on the Pyramid stage, in a stunning lighting scheme designed by LD Andi Watson. The battens were supplied by LSD Fourth Phase.
An Avolites Diamond 4 console was used to run all stage, audience and effects lighting for the hugely popular Dance Tent, supplied by Utopium. The Kayam-style Dance Tent featured performances by the Scissor Sisters, Kosheen, Sister Sledge and many others, plus an array of top international DJs.
Adlib Audio was out in force again, battling the inclement weather and imbibing the good vibes. Fielding 19 engineers and audio technicians, the Liverpool firm serviced seven stages: the Cabaret Tent, The Circus Big Top, Outside Theatre, Outside Circus, the Theatre Tent, the Albatross Stage plus a mobile system.
Sennheiser UK continued to support up and coming talent with its sponsorship of the New Tent, in conjunction with production company Reality Check, and hire company South West Audio. Additional exposure was given to the New Tent this year with live broadcasts from the stage on BBC 6 Music radio and, every evening, on BBC3 TV.
Another rental company extending its association with the big festival was Skan PA Hire, which supplied a Lab.gruppen-powered L-Acoustics V-DOSC/dV-DOSC system to the Other Stage, along with Midas Heritage 2000 desks and XTA processing at FOH, and Heritage 3000 monitor consoles. On stage, the monitor system comprised of L-Acoustics ARCS and dV-SUBs for sidefills, Logic Systems LS 215 drum fill subs and 24 Turbosound TFM-450 wedges.
When the box office opened in April, it took a mere 24 hours for the 112,000 tickets to be snapped up at the cost of £112 each. Thousands were left disappointed by booking problems and stricter ticket allocation.