Rock rebels Muse are right up there amongst the most memorable, original and coolest bands of the moment. When their 16 month Absolution period of performance concluded at Earls Court, Louise Stickland was there to witness the production.

Muse's Earls Court shows in December were a heady mix of art and considerable hard graft for all concerned to stage a massive one-off in a challenging venue. The results were loud, clear and spectacular for all to see, hear and experience, leaving Muse etched on the brink of rational rock'n'roll infinity for 2005.

The production crew still featured many of the same team I'd visited 13 months earlier in Cardiff. Oli Metcalf was weaving his visual magic with lighting and video, Marc Carolan, creator of FOH sonic "shock and awe", and Adam Taylor were keeping everything in control on-stage, and the team and the show were kept in check by the laconic observational wit of 'tour co-ordinator' Tim Collins from Mission Impossible Management, who was attempting to not self destruct at the end of the last show.

It takes a lot of vibes to make a show in the vast and prosaic environs of Earls Court feel like an intimate and personal event, but Muse pushed this envelope to the max.

Lighting and visual designer Oli Metcalf believes in both self sufficiency and creative harmony when it comes to lighting and video. He's one of a new generation of LVDs - for want of a better acronym - who's grown up with the technology and imaginative horizons to fuse the two mediums into one overall viewing experience rather than two separate departments.

Metcalf wanted to extract optical elements of the last production tour and mix with those from the summer festival tour to evolve the Earls Court show into a unique and memorable one-off, so he took his original three upstage LED screen concept as the starting point for the design. This was expanded to six six-panel columns of Barco S-Lite, in keeping with the overall widescreen stage look, and the geometry of five angled upstage/downstage 'finger' trusses.

For additional dynamics, he decided to utilise a Kinesys automation system on the five fingers and the six screens, for accurate and variable speed movement throughout the show. This dramatically increased his range of available video and architectural 'looks'.

Using automation as part of the visual show is also becoming very trendy, with flexible control technology now increasingly available to make it easy. It was the first time Metcalf had used the Kinesys system which came highly recommended by several other LDs and crew he'd spoken to over the year.

Muse used 10 half tonne Kinesys motors of the fingers and six one tonnes on the screen columns, all controlled by Barry Bamford via a Kinesys Elevation One system running its propriety Vector software for millimetre perfect positioning.

Once again, Metcalf worked closely with XL Video's project manager Des Fallon to fine tune the technical video elements, with XL supplying all the video kit and crew. "I love working with innovative designers like Oli," commented Fallon. "The shows are always original and unique, and we all learn and grow considerably in the process." On the creative side of the show, Metcalf collaborated with Tom Kirk, long term Muse associate and originator of their video concepts.

Metcalf used a Catalyst digital media server for which he created and programmed all the content, with a wide option of inputs and controls. These included the facility to feed the five I-Mag cameras (mixed by Phil Woodhead) into the Catalyst system if they wanted, plus two audio feeds from the monitors, which were used specifically to create stunning spectrum analyser effects. Some of the Catalyst clips were also activated by MIDI signals as the band played on-stage.

Muse are a great band to work with in terms of visuals, said Metcalf. They have an active interest and input in how the show looks and always want to keep the technology moving forward. The Earls Court shows were the amalgamation of ideas from Metcalf, Kirk and the band - and build-up time was saved by utilising a 60ft x 40ft rolling riser stage system supplied by Star Events Group.

Metcalf thinks it's essential to combine lighting and visuals with a band like Muse - he couldn't conceive of working any other way. "Controlling both lighting and video is the only way to guarantee a real coherence and visual rhythm in the show," he emphasised. He's recently finished the highly successful Manic Street Preachers tour using the same modus operandi. "The technology's there so why not use it," he stated, adding, half quipping and with an impish smirk, "There'll be a time when I don't need to be there really!"

Other video elements included five lipstick minicams, plus two low-grade wireless surveillance cameras attached to the head of Matt Bellamy's guitar, giving dramatic down-the-frets images. These were sub-mixed by Tom Kirk using a Sony DFS700 mixer/switcher at side-stage, and fed into the Catalyst for Metcalf to output to screen.

XL Video also supplied its OB truck and a five camera I-Mag system to record the shows - for live I-Mag mix to two side screens, and for future DVD material. This was overseen and engineered by XL's Richard Burford. The cameras were at FOH, two tracking in the pit and two hand-helds onstage. They also fed one camera and a TX back into Kirk's Sony DFS system for feeding into the Catalyst.

The side screens were also composed from Barco S-Lite - 5 x 4 panels per side. A major element for video was the cabling, which needed to be extremely accurate and immaculately organised, said XL Video's Alastair MacDiarmid, who co-ordinated their core team for screens, minicams and side screens, and all the associated equipment on-site.

Metcalf used a WholeHog III console for lighting control and to trigger the Catalyst video. He's been using the console since May and says it was "a little daunting" to start with, but Version 1.3.6 (and now 1.3.7) software has made desk "extremely good". He particularly likes the Grouping feature, the quick selection procedure and the fact you can label everything in your patch right down to where it is in the system. He's also certainly given it a thorough workout, running up to 14 DMX universes through it during the festival work period. At Earls Court, this was down to a modest seven universes, with one exclusively dedicated to Catalyst and video. The Catalyst - the latest 3.3 Pro version - running on a G5 Mac has also brought huge improvements to the whole system, he reported.

Lighting effects included 40 James Thomas PixelLine LED battens, used to delineate the spines of the five finger trusses, linked via MIDI to another FOH computer running PixelMAD software. More PixelLines were built in the keyboard stand, also MIDI-triggered and fed with video images.

Lighting fixtures included 62 High End PC Beams, 38 X-Spot X-Spot Xtremes with 2:1 lenses, 24 Martin Atomic 3000 strobes, 12 Molefeys with colour-changers and four Robert Juliat Ivanhoe FOH followspots with dimmer shutters and colour changers, all controlled by Metcalf from the Hog III, so the operators only had to point! For side infill lighting and to ensure there were no 'black holes' for the cameras, Metcalf used eight bars of ACLs and 16 bars of Pars on side trusses and the floor. All lighting gear and crew was supplied by Neg Earth, who serviced the whole Muse tour and all the festival 'specials'.

SONIC SHOCK AND AWE
FOH sound engineer Marc Carolan has worked with Muse for four years and 'Power with a Capital P' is the keyword in their musicality, together with huge diversity. Harnessing the dynamics of the performance and truly representing what they're playing is his FOH raison d'�tre. The band are all technically minded and have opinions on how they want to sound on-stage, although they also give Carolan head and ear space to get on with what he does best. When they do flag up anything, he said, they are usually quite precise.

The sound contractor is Skan, who've also seen Muse through the Absolution campaign. Carolan uses a Midas XL4 console at FOH which is "absolutely" his desk of choice. It's warmth and tonality is perfect for Muse, he insisted. However, he does set the desk up with a digital 'layering' mentality, centralising the main mix elements with the input channels out to both sides, for efficient show operation.

He used 901 distressers on the vocals, TubeTech LAC2Bs on the bass, Summit compressors on the drums together with XTA G2 gates, and Summit and BSS compressors on the guitars. Effects encompassed a TC System 6000, an Eventide H3500 harmoniser and a dbx 120 sub-harmonic synthesiser, the latter used to create a nice thundering sound on the toms. He also used a System 6000 for Bellamy's vocal, for whom the choice of mic is a Neumann KMS 105, chosen to deal with his challenging mic technique (i.e. not singing very close to it) presenting a real live engineering conundrum.

Bellamy's voice also goes through three stages - the normal standard clean vocal; the Avalon VT737 with high gain that produces a "nice value distorted" sound and the third plateau... of extreme distortion, for which they use a SansAmp in conjunction with a custom control switch operated by Bellamy. Carolan also uses System 6000 reverbs a TC delay and a touch of H35000 on the singer.

Other mics include AT40s and 50s on the guitars, a Beyer M88 on the bass and Neumanns on the overheads. The bass has a clean and a distorted side, and they use a POD Line 6 Bass Pro X to generate sub for the bass, which enhances the weight of the sound.

There's a minimal amount of multitracking coming off-stage, from Mackie HD R24s looked after by keyboard tech Des Broadbery on-stage, sent as stereo inputs to FOH.

The PA for Earls Court was L-Acoustics V-DOSC, with dV-DOSC downfills and delays, all powered by Lab.gruppen amps. The main hangs comprised 15 V-DOSC elements per side with three underhangs, plus two outfills a side featuring one dV low and nine dV-DOSCs, plus two delays of the same. L-Acoustics ARCS boxes were used for infill.

They also flew four dV lows beside the main rig to help balance the weight of the sound image, working with dV lows as a centre sub cluster under the stage and the main subs, 12VDOSC SB218s, either side of the stage on the floor. It was configured like this, explained Carolan, to minimise 'troughing' and for even sub distribution around the cavernous bowels of Earls Court. He says they were surprised by how easy it was to generate large volumes of sub in the room.

The delays were all focused downwards in a concerted attempt to confine the sound to below, rather than have it escape upwards and rattle indiscriminately round the roof. Monitor world was kept calm and collected by Adam Taylor. The band all use IEMs and a Shure PSM 700 system, chosen primarily for its flexibility - with a selection of 32 available frequencies.

Taylor mixed the Earls Court show with the Yamaha DM2000 that the band bought earlier in the year. This was for their upcoming US tour at the time, which was starting in small clubs with minimal production, so they wanted to introduce some continuity into the equation. The desk has since gone on to do all their other shows, including their acclaimed appearance at Glastonbury 2004.

The DM2000 is handy for recording the gig, said Taylor, which happens at every show, and he utilises all the on-board effects. He has four stereo sends coming out of it - three for the band and one for Des Broadbery who has a Yamaha 01V desk from which he takes splits and does various submixes in his 'world', tieing up eight auxes. This leaves two for monitor effects, which is just enough.

Matching the intensity, energy and excitement levels of Muse, Carolan's sound swilled round the great barn-like space with huge attitude and presence. Combined with enough visuals to sate the greediest eye-candy junkies, the Muse experience 13 months down the line was every bit as compelling, enjoyable and fresh as it was at the start of the tour - a testament to the fusion of lively and imaginative production and ideas, plus some kick-ass music.

Photography by Louise Stickland