This was more than just another large-scale tour. Port Vale Football Club's most famous supporter had a loaded agenda, a point to prove - that he is undeniably the world's most exciting contemporary solo performer and a craftsman among modern entertainers. His passionate confidence led him to announce a trio of 125,000 capacity dates at Knebworth, that most hallowed of outdoor UK sites, in a bid to surpass then popularity of previous record holders Led Zeppelin and Oasis (two dates each). And guess what? The cheeky bugger pulled it off.
Following the advice of Williams' long-time Production Manager Wob Roberts, we wisely avoided Knebworth (see this month's leader), and chose to witness the production in rehearsal at Elstree and north of the border at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium, where Scottish fans were treated to a pair of outstanding shows.
Williams' spectacular stage entrance was revealed the moment that the huge expanse of LED video screen split into sections to present the star bound and flown upside down, Houdini-style, by two vari-speed cable winches, set up by specialist company Foy. It was an introduction dripping with pure theatrical and operatic drama. From there, the escapologist wriggled free to unfold the show that everyone talked about all summer long.
'Robbie live' is an interactive phenomenon, an interface into the future world of hypermedia (that's possibly a subversion of 'hyperbole' and 'multimedia', two of the most overused buzz words of the 21st century), and an all-encompassing emotional spectacle that yields superlative entertainment.
Respect to the man - he's reinvented the art of solo performance and by a long way eclipsed the success of the boy band from which he was sacked. (Phone home, Mr. Barlow!) Williams is unique in that he can draw such a broad cross section of admirers into a stadium - male and female - and keep them enrapt with his energy and charisma, careering through a whole genre of styles and ideas.
The multi-layered show has a definite intellectual level and a classical structure. One minute it's being bigged up, then dumbed down the next with a wicked streak of ironic humour for a karaoke section ('Strong'), then reduced to an intimate scuzzy desperados' bar room, before expanding to an anthemic stadium superstar crescendo for 'Angels'. Executed to perfection, there are very few solo artists who could do it with such wit and professionalism.
Aside from a wholly enjoyable show, it's no surprise to find some of the best creative and technical practitioners and companies in the production world on the firm. In terms of aesthetics, RW's shows have always been a collaborative effort. From the outset of the singer's solo career, Lighting Designer Liz Berry and Wob Roberts, keeping a canny eye on the budget, have been integrally involved with the core visuals and stage 'look'. This tour, however, saw the arrival of a new influence in the entourage.
The Weekends Of Mass Distraction tour's Creative Director was Lee Lodge. He's produced for several TV shows for Williams and pitched for the live show at the end of 2002. Lodge wanted to the show to incorporate and interweave ideas extracted from many different visual devices - television, theatre, filmic, video - to create a large scale 'extravaganza' that reeked of ambiguity.
"We're not ignoring the tradition of rock concert presentation," claimed Lodge, "but we're trying to take it further and we want this tour to be as memorable to audiences as Zoo TV or Lovesexy were in their day."
It's very evident from the show language that Lodge and Williams gelled well together. Williams' highly narrative songs bring meaning and soul to the creative equation that's mirrored in the stage show. The two discussed many ideas exhaustively at the outset, seeking to amalgamate both narrative and anti-narrative dynamics into the mix.
Lodge saw the live show as a means of enhancing and supporting RW's whole complex 'brand identity', which spreads across his recorded material, his constantly changing image, the merchandising and the live show DVD which will become the populist archive for this piece of work.
He worked closely with Liz Berry and set designer Mark Fisher to develop a set of initial overall ideas for the look, colouration and texturing of the stage. He brought in video artists and graphic designers BDH from Bristol, led by Rob Hifle to create and produce the various video inserts, ranging from the abstract to the surreal, the sublime to the disturbing.
One initial point of reference was the image of a decaying billboard from film maker Wim Wenders' book 'Written In The West', a work produced from his research of locations for shooting the 1983 masterpiece, 'Paris, Texas'.
The production's narrative thread subverted the faded superstar theme - turning the often negative tabloid frenzy that's plagued Williams' career into a positive and empowering platform for the public and the fans whoÕve stuck with him through thick and thin to enjoy and relate to his performance... elevating his success in the face of cynics and detractors.
It was also, unmistakably, an antithetical shot across the bows of the artificially-created pop superstars of today - Williams is every bit an authentic pop idol. As Lodge explained eloquently, at the essence of all surrounding images and ideas was Williams' intense presence - the source of the stage show. "As a production team, we sought to maximise and support his incredible power," said Lodge. "His performance is totally honest - and thatÕs the beauty and spontaneity of working with someone like Rob."
Lodge worked with Blink TV's head of production Marcus Viner to produce specific video material and show build-up visuals that would start running from the moment the doors opened in the afternoon. This culminated in a specially designed video montage to 'Walk This Way' which led seamlessly into the start of the high energy set.
As one would expect, Mark Fisher's elegantly distressed set design architecturally framed the stage. This had to be developed within the confines of the StageCo stage/roof structure, and the crack'n'peel environment of the billboard idea was integral to the set design. "Just like the billboard, the form of the generic outdoor rock stage has evolved a particular visual character," wrote Fisher to Lodge early on in their correspondence. "They are expressive pieces of simple engineering." The idea was that the stage appeared ravaged by its environment - like the decayed billboard - and a visual object existing only for this particular moment.
I really wanted to work with Mark Fisher," beamed Lodge. "He's incredibly clever, a god amongst set designers. I felt like a student learning from a professor... or maybe a stalker fan! Structurally he is amazing, and that comes from his knowledge of architecture. Through his work with Floyd, U2 and the Stones over 30 years, he has an unrivalled understanding of what it takes to design a potent stadium show. Rob's career has had a very steady progression to this point where he can fill stadium venues, and it was very important that we had someone on board with this kind of expertise."
The billboard idea also triggered the evolution of the moving video screen. These, as with all video hardware, were supplied to the production via Blink TV by XL Video in conjunction with its sister company XL Belgium.
The on-stage screen proved the show's visual and technical centrepiece, even warranting comment in the mainstream press reviews! Consisting of 448 tiles of Barco D10 LED screen - measuring 13.4 x 7.7 metres physical size when configured as a 16:9 ratio solid block - it split into eight columns, was raised and lowered, and tracked fully upstage to downstage on an oval 'race track' system, with each column also capable of 360 degree rotation.
Screen automation was a collaboration between Andy Cave's specialist company Kinesys, and Brilliant Stages. The tracking system was based on the one first developed for We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, and further developed for The Rolling Stones' Licks tour, with the Weekends Of Mass Distraction show adding more axes of motion to the system.
Each column was suspended below a track driven 'tug' unit, using Kinesys' 'Elevation' hoist control system for vertical motion. The tugs tracked the screen around the stage on the race track, under the control of Ian Macdonald. The track was an 8" steel I-beam suspended 1.4 metres below StageCo's roof via a series of V-braces and hanger plates. The tugs hug from the track via flanged rollers, propelled with a geared AC servo motors through a pinion, on to a steel rack.
The on-stage screen video content - a mix of video footage and animations pervading 90 per cent of the show - was all produced by Lodge and Hifle, with each sequence conceived as a mini-movie that could also survive as a stand-alone if taken out of context. Shocking, comic, surreal or subversive, each one plays a part in the 're-energising' of the decaying environment, with a slick, streamlined new show. Live video I-Mag was directed by Ruary MacPhie, one of the UK's most innovative masters of the art, utilising six of XL Video's new Sony E10 broadcast cameras, and mixing from their OB truck which was also on the tour.
Video hardware was the heaviest production department, the LED screen alone weighing in at an awesome 14 tonnes. XL's project manager was Des Fallon, who also worked on the last RW tour in 2001. They fielded a touring crew of 12, crew chiefed by the unfazable Stuart Heaney.
Blink TV commissioned 'video scientist' Richard Turner as its consultant programmer to transfer the BDH produced material on to three Doremi hard drive machines. For the show, these were Dataton-controlled, fired from a timecode signal received from the band's MD.
With the screen panels changing positions as they tracked around stage (with panel 1 upstage becoming panel 4 downstage, jigsaw style), Turner pixel mapped (and effectively reversed) the images to ensure that they appeared correctly on whichever columns of the screen they were sent to. This was achieved by each LED column being driven by a separate screen processor.
The live I-Mag was beamed primarily on to two Saco 15mm side screens, configured five wide and nine high. The cameras, positioned two at FOH, two on track and dolly in the pit and two hand-held on-stage with wide angle lenses, were mixed by MacPhie via the OB truck's Sony DVS 7250 switcher. A Magic DVE was used to make the normal camera ratio fit the 16:9 centre screen.
For 'Strong', I-Mag of the audience flipped over on to the centre screen for the only time during the two-hour set, and in the same number, MacPhie utilised a downstream key on the Magic DVE to overlay the song's lyrics, 'karaoke-style'.
From the live direction angle, MacPhie's challenge was to achieve a good balance between Williams, the band and the dancers, all very tight performers, whilst naturally ensuring the star of the show received the biggest onscreen presence. "He's a highly spontaneous performer and there's never a dull moment or any form of predictability to the set," stated MacPhie, who enjoys working on the edge of his seat!
LIZ WORLD
LD Liz Berry listened to Lodge, Hifle and Fisher's ideas before making any firm key lighting decisions, quickly realising that her lighting rig would have to be defined by the remaining weight allowances once the video had been hung.
Berry knew that with the screens upstage, getting enough back lighting on-stage in a tight performance area for 23 people would be a major challenge. Initially she intended to overcome this by dropping rear lighting in on moving trusses, but this idea had to be modified, as she found herself having to cut lights and positions to save weight. She also knew she needed to light the show really brightly to create an on-stage harmony and a balance between the lighting and the LED screen.
She chose 68 Vari-Lite VL2416 washes, the largest VL wash light, and 30 Moles with scrollers that were dotted around the various trusses to create big rear lighting washes. Berry also employed 32 of the new VL3000 spots, which she describes as "awesome", and gave the screen a good run for its money in the brightness stakes, and in terms of separating the performers from the power of the screen. Another five VL 2416s per side were hung of the PA stacks.
Pragmatism to the fore, Berry took full advantage of the fact the LED screen columns rotated, and sneaked in a back wall of 98 VL5s, attached to the backs of the screen panels! Always keen on how other production elements work, she'd visited XL Belgium to view the screen, and realised how easy it would be to rig lights on to it with the help of a customised bracket. These are used to light the backdrop, a distressed take on the tour graphics - supplied by Peter Baker at Prompt Side - which looked equally stunning either front lit or silhouetted by eight Studio Due City Colors. She used low level VL5s and 6s at the sides for rear, side and cross lighting. Being on the floor, there were no weight issues, and the rich cross lighting effects ensured the overall band illumination had a luxurious and three dimensional feel.
Working at FOH with Berry was Richard Gorrod, who ran the 98 VL5s on the reverse of the LED panels off a Virtuoso console, used with devastating fullness during 'Rock DJ', one of the big lighting numbers of the set. Berry ran all other fixtures off her own Virtuoso, and both desks were synchronised, and in effect run as one big system. Lighting equipment and the 10 crew were supplied by VLPS, chiefed by Mark England. There was also an advanced team working alongside the riggers, hanging everything except the front truss at each leapfrogged venue.
Chief rigger was Jez Craddick, who's rigged the last four Robbie shows. He oversaw the two stages, roof systems, race tracks, plus production steel crews and local crews that leap frogged the tour. His biggest challenge was rigging the race track. A 32 foot section of it had to be removed after the roof was rigged at each venue to install the screen tugs, cables and electric before the video screens could be hung.
Ninety per cent of the 80 odd motors and 65 points would be hung by the advanced crews at each gig, joined by the rest of the gear on the production day, which was followed by the first show day. Much of the rigging hardware was dry hired from Summit Steel, which has an excellent reputation for good quality gear, with the rest coming from Brilliant, and VLPS supplying its own for lighting.
SWITCH TO DIGITAL SOUND
Like many of the key members of RW's crew, FOH Engineer Dave Bracey has been there since the start of the singer's rise to solo megadom. PA supplier Britannia Row Productions can also claim an equally long association, however, in this busy summer season, Brit Row required support from Westfalen Sound to meet the intricate demands of the production. Westfalen had also recently purchased two DiGiCo D5 Live digital consoles, and with FOH and monitor world requiring a total of four, it was easier to have the two companies pool their resources.
Bracey first used the D5 last November on RW's Pinewood TV special which featured the big swing band and the regular rock band. The channel count was naturally demanding, and Bracey saw the D5 would provide an ideal solution. "I've used Yamaha PM1D before and it gave me a degree of confidence in digital, and I was aware of what the D5 could do, plus it was better styled to the way I like to mix," said Bracey. "DiGiCo have implemented some nice changes to the way snapshots run. Before then, you'd be spending too much time recall saving and de-automating major parts of the console because you don't want to overwrite changes you've made when you call up the next snapshot. Fortunately, DiGiCo have this aspect sorted out and I was obviously delighted!"
With a show which has five very distinct 'acts' within it, a reliable snapshot facility was always going to be of paramount importance. "Absolutely," agreed Bracey. "Every song we've rehearsed has its own snapshot. Certain things have always been possible with analogue consoles, like muting and automated VCAs, which assist complex changes to musical 'scenes'. But you could never perform radical alterations to gain thresholds or EQs and have those things come and go instantly on a scene-by-scene basis. So it does open up a whole new world of possibilities, which for this type of production is essential. Situations where guitar changes are radically different from song to song, and, of course, where the rock band morphs into a cocktail jazz combo - now that does prompt a major desk change."
Behind Bracey was a second D5 console which was used for support acts and as a back-up for RW with mirrored settings. This back-up could be activated within one frame of audio in the event of the failure of the main desk.
Did Bracey use much of the famed internal processing? "Yes, in a big way. I have one external compressor [a Tube-Tech CL1B] and that's only for convenience for Rob because I need my hands on it so often. I'm more than happy to use the internal compression but I'd be forever calling it up. There are two effects that I use during the show that I can't reproduce on the D5. One is a simple distortion effect in the Yamaha SPX-990 and another from the TC M5000. Having other effects in the rack was a safeguard because I thought I might have to switch off the internal effects package to get 32 extra channels. However, the D5 is now loaded up with all the DSPs, giving me enough channels plus the effects Ñ so no problem!"
The choice of PA was a Lab.Gruppen-powered L-Acoustics' V-DOSC system. For Edinburgh it was configured as 14 V-DOSC subs and two 'claw' drops of 16 V-DOSC each side, with three clusters of three ARCS along the front of the stage as the near fill. Bracey commented: "One of the reasons we don't have any dV-DOSC is that their dispersion would cut across the thrust too much and Rob spends a lot of time out there, so we have the PA chiselled in just either side of the thrust." In addition, there were eight V-DOSC cabinets on each of the two delay towers.
The microphone regime, said Bracey, was largely unchanged since the 2001 tour [as featured in TP September 2001]. "I use a lot of Audio-Technicas on drums and guitar amps, but Rob and the singers use Shure Premier Series radio mics with Beta 58A capsules. I'm often presented with good alternatives, I don't have any reasons to change what we have."
Compared to the 2001 tour, the major difference has been that everything on the control side is now digital, although there's was a slight issue involved in going into the BSS Omnidrive Compact Plus 366s digitally from BSS Soundweb, which surprised Bracey. "It had something to do with uploading a new file into Soundweb," he said. "It just freaked out the AES input of the 366 and it caused a full-scale horrible noise through the PA which took out some drivers. So temporarily we are going analogue into them until the solution is fully tested. The thing is, we keep doing things that no one else has done before and inevitably we find bugs. Working at this level, you have to expect these things to happen - it's all part of the process of moving forward with live sound."
It should be noted that this is not a generic problem but very specific to Bracey's application of the technology, and BSS Audio has been in close contact with the engineer in order to rectify the matter.
MONITORS
Monitor Engineer Martin Wareing also adopted DiGiCo's technology, using a D5 with a back-up. "I hadn't worked on the D5 until rehearsals six weeks ago, so it was new to me," said Wareing, "but it's taken little time to get up and running with it. It's fantastic to be able to do everything on such a small work surface as opposed to having two large format analogue desks perform the same task."
The monitor system was 50% wedge-based with nine mixes and 50% in-ear. On the wedge side, the stage contained both Turbosound TFM-350 and TFM-450 monitors, while sidefills consisted of Flashlight with four subs per side, although Wareing admitted that two subs were solely included in order to give the other boxes some height!
Hand Held Audio director Nick Bruce-Smith worked closely with Wareing and Dave Bracey to ensure that radio mic and IEM requirements were met smoothly. "We have seven sets of Shure PSM 700 in-ear monitor systems and the band were fitted with Ultimate Ears UE-5 pro custom monitors, while the drummer, Chris Sharrock, preferred Hand Held's own custom acrylic moulds. Rob uses IEM but also wedges. Traditionally, we'd use an Aphex Dominator to limit the IEM mixes as a safety wall for the users, but the D5 has internal limiting which does a fine job."
Hand Held Audio configured the IEM systems into a tight frequency plan, utilising antenna combiners and directional antennae to ensure maximum coverage on the sometimes huge stages encountered on the tour.
ENHANCED COMMS
As previewed in a recent issue of TP, a new communications tool was being debuted on the RW tour by StageAccess.com - the company founded by Lee Charteris and backed by David Enthoven and Tim Clark, the duo behind Williams' management firm, IE Music.
workTeams, the new product from Scottish mobile technology specialist Yakara plc, was deployed by StageAccess.com to enhance mobile communication between the huge team of suppliers, contractors and freelancers on the tour.
The workTeams product - branded eBiz Teams by StageAccess - makes it easy for mobile project teams to communicate, collaborate and co-ordinate using SMS, e-mail and the Internet. All mobile phone users, whatever their network, can benefit without the need for specialist handsets and the tour management had a fast and reliable way to communicate with the entire team for the first time, as well as enabling easier one-to-one communication.
eBiz Teams is one of several features which enhance the online entertainment industry directory at www.stageaccess.com. Charteris commented: "On numerous occasions during a tour, there can be seemingly minor discrepancies that can cost the rolling tour army valuable time and, of course, money. This is on top of the monster headache of realigning and imparting all the corrected information to the disparate parties involved. Using eBizTeams, these issues could be sorted out in a matter of minutes."
We finally asked Creative Director Lee Lodge what he thought this massive branding exercise would have achieved by the time the tour climaxed at Dublin's Phoenix Park in front of 120,000 fans on August 9. "I think Rob will continue to be regarded as the leading entertainer of his generation. I've worked with him for six years now, and the only things that change about his status are the headlines and his bank balance. All we have done is presented a different framing device for him as a performer and I don't think audience perspective will change, but it may be enhanced. For the vast majority of people who have bought a ticket, he's already the best."
Additional crew photography by
Mark Cunningham & Louise Stickland
ROBBIE WILLIAMS 'WEEKENDS OF MASS DISTRACTION' - KEY PRODUCTION CREW & SUPPLIERS
UK Promoter: Clear Channel Entertainment
Agency: Helter Skelter
Management: IE Music/David Enthoven, Tim Clark, Josie Cliff
Production Company: Kingstreet Tours
Tour Manager: Andy Franks
Tour Accountant: Tom Golseth
Tour Manager/Tour Accountant's Assistant: Zoe Duncan
Production Manager: Wob Roberts
Creative Director: Lee Lodge
Co-Creative Director: Rob Hifle
Screen Content and Tour Identity Design & Direction: Burrell Durrant Hifle (BDH)
Choreographer: Danny Teeson
Site Co-ordinators: Tom Armstrong, Steve Iredale
Production Assistant: Lizzie Adshead
Wardrobe Styling: Gerlada Kefford
Wardrobe: Flo Guenand, Sally O'Mara
IT Guy: James Leitch
Guest List: Zeb Minto
Stage Manager: Gary Currier
Assistant Stage Manager: Tony Gittins
Stage Crew: Stage Miracles
Radio Hire: Communication Spares UK
Satellite Communications: Bridge Broadband
Rigging: Summit Steel
Head Rigger: Jez Craddick
Riggers: Reuben Pinkney, Brian Wares, Nick Evans, Johannes Soelter
Set Designer: Mark Fisher
Staging Company: StageCo
Drapes: Prompt Side
Set Company: Brilliant Stages
Lighting: VLPS
Lighting Designer: Liz Berry
Lighting Crew Chief: Mark England v Lighting Crew: Richard Gorrod, Sean Burke, Aidan McCabe, Nick Russell, Tebogo Manthata, Andy Jupp (Motion Control), Eugene Benavidez, Phil Sharp, John Wynne, Mandla Mnisi
PA: Britannia Row Productions
Radio Systems: Hand Held Audio
FOH Sound Engineer: Dave Bracey
Monitor Engineer: Martin Wareing
Sound Crew: Sherif El Barbari, Bart Schoonbaert, Chris Morrison, Duncan Hoare, Chris Peters, Stephanie Thompson, Andreas Andraeu
Backline: Music Bank
Backline Technicians: Adam Birch, Jules Bowen, Neal Adcocks, Mick Winder, Jez Webb
Video: Blink TV
Video Screens: XL Video
Screen Automation: Kinesys
Video Director: Ruary MacPhie
Video Crew Chief: Stuart Heaney
Video Crew (Racks): Richard Burford, John Steele
Video Crew (LED): Oli Clybouw, Jezz Harmer, Giles Conte (& camera)
Camera Crew: Larn Poland, Ian Smith, Mark Cruikshank, Paul Eggerton, Dan Ormerod
Head Carpenter: Rick Worsfold
Carpenter: George Osborne
Flying Carpenter: Jared Doughty
Carpenter/Barrier: Michael Howson
System Motion Control: Ian Macdonald
Pyrotechnics: Feuer & Flammen Pyrotechnik/Nicolai Sabottka
Gas: Theobald Ruby
Head Of Security: Pompey
Security: Gary Marshall, Jason Heft
Venue Security: RMD Security Management/Richard Douglas, Cary Nightingale, Robert Kozlowski
Catering: Popcorn
Head Chef: Graham Morrison
Chefs: Mairead de Barra, Darren Staats, Kathryn Birnie, Dan Stockland, David Bevan, Beva, Stuart Allford, Jo Lee
Caterers: Rebekah Reynolds, Kylie Morris, Georgina Bell, Steffy Head, Nicky Ingram
Generators: Tweed Power
Generator Crew: Anthony 'Tweed' Hurlacker, Jamie Cutler, Simon Turner, Andy Turner
GLD Crew: James Jaques, Mark Caldwell
Merchandise: Richard Stevenson, Kevin Salim
StageCo Crew: Hendrik Verdeyen, Stefaan Van Den Bosch, Glen Atkinson, Ron Lagerweg, Rene Lunenberg, Gerrit Geens, Wim Carens, Wilfred Celen, Mon Peeters, Erc Van Meldert, Jurgen Raskin, Michel Van Der Veken, Luc Dardenne, Ed Overest, Dirk Swanepael, Ludo Hoebrechts, Eric Muhm, Roland Fuchgruber, Willy Brams, Rudy Van Hool, Francis Kerckhofs, Werner De Neef, Uwe Marin, Alain Bertrand, Hugo Colpaert, John Vleugels
Trucking: Stage Truck
Lead Truck Driver: Simon Lake
Truck Drivers: Mick Shipley, Robert Hewitt, Ian Silver, Andrew Mellor, Clinton Hewitt, Andy Ruaux, Robbie Jones, Nigel Webber, Phil Allen, Stuart McDermott, Andy Goddard, Mark Poole, Paul Mayle, Jim Robinson, Paul Bricusse, Dave Gregory, Steve Whittingham, Stefan Christ, John Gordon, Dan Wales, Alec Case, Matt Kenward, Neil Dowsett, Simon Brocklehurst, Stephen Orpin
Buses: Trathens Star Riders
Band Transport: Lancaster Limousines, Stars & Cars
Crew Bus Drivers: John Mulholland, Micky Birch, Anthony Biddiscombe, Ray Valks, Mel Gibson, Steve Birmingham, Paul Healey, Eric Taylor, John Bettinson, Graham Brumhead, Kevin Hindle, Billy Higgs
Insurance: Swinglehurst
Legal: Sheridans
Airline Charter: Chapman Freeborn
Travel Agent: Rima Travel