rod stewart

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
ROD STEWART: LIVE THE LIFE
HAVING SOLD OVER 100 MILLION RECORDS, ROD STEWART’S GLOBAL STATUS IS UNDENIABLE. THE
LEGENDARY SINGER / SONGWRITER’S DISTINCTIVE TONE AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE HAS SEEN
HIM SCORE SIX CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE ALBUMS IN THE UK AND - PROVING THAT STEWART IS STILL AS
POPULAR AS EVER - HIS LATEST ALBUM, TIME, ALSO SHOT TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS EARLIER THIS YEAR.
ZOE MUTTER FOUND OUT HOW THE LATEST LIVE PRODUCTION HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO REFLECT THE
ARTIST’S GLITTERING CAREER.
It is testament to an enjoyable and effective
production collective when the majority of
a touring team have been on the road for
many years. This is true of Rod Stewart’s
crew - headed up by Production Manager,
Lars Brogaard - who have formed close
bonds during their time on the tour and
perfected the day-to-day operation over the
years - or in many cases - decades they have
worked with the artist.
One such crew member is Lighting Designer,
Mark Payne, who 20 years after joining the
collective, is still bringing visual innovation to
Stewart’s live performances. “Rod is a great
performer. All of us on the tour have been
around for a long time. We try to make it fun.
Many of the suppliers have also been with us for
years - Creative Technology, Neg Earth, Eat Your
Hearts Out, to name but a few.”
With this particular tour, just when we
think we’re ramping down, Rod comes out
with a new album that becomes fantastically
62
popular and we’re out with an even bigger
tour,” he said. “It’s quite astounding how Rod
just keeps going and going - he’s just a really
good performer, which means the shows are
fantastic.”
EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGY
Delivering Stewart’s distinctive sound to the
audience is undoubtedly crucial to the success
of the Live the Life tour. However, in order to
enhance the show, the lighting and video need
to be just as exceptional in quality. Payne, has
enjoyed a varied career that has seen him join
the touring teams of Depeche Mode, Simple
Minds and Tears For Fears. Payne started
working with Stewart through his connection
with Brian Croft, the now retired MD of VariLite, and PM, Lars Brogaard.
“The team wanted an operator that could
also put the fixtures up so Lars suggested I do
it and we got on really well. Here I am, 20 years
later, working on the overall visual design of
Rod’s shows,” he explained. “LED video has
crept more into live shows. Lars, Rod, myself
and everyone in this organisation are keen on
keeping up with new technology and we like
to use the best we can get hold of. We used to
have a portrait screen in the middle of the stage
and made it the central part of our design. Since
then we’ve always put LED at the centre of what
we’re doing. We’ve kept up with all the latest
technology when it comes to media servers too
and we like to control everything with as few
people as possible.”
Stewart’s shows have always featured a
large amount of video, which in earlier years
was cued through tapes - a complicated and
slow process that required two people. “With
the advances in technology we can now use
a server like Catalyst. We first brought this on
board after Lars used it and immediately knew
that was what we needed for our productions,”
continued the LD.
Payne’s first task was to develop an overall
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
Opposite: The large portrait screen was predominantly used for IMAG shots of Rod Stewart, whilst content was displayed on the other screens on the towers and at the back of the stage; Below: The
tour had to deliver the same visual and sonic impact as Rod Stewart’s latest number one album.
style for the show and have the visual content
produced by creative studio, duo2. “When we
decided the set would feature LED we covered
the front up a bit with some Perspex to take the
edge off and developed the towers at the back
to make them bigger,” he added.
Live the Life’s lighting is heavily driven by
the video content. With no smoke being used
throughout the production and an all-white
set, he predominantly lights the background
and performers. “A lot of the creativity is in the
content, which Rod also had a lot of input into,
along with the things he wanted on stage,” he
added. “Lars then came up with the concept of
the towers and the way the screens would work
together.”
STRONG PERFORMANCES
Close collaboration between the visual team
was essential in order to produce the desired
experience for the audience. Willis Spencer
headed up the video department, whilst Video
Director, Charlie Harris, cut the cameras. “We
did quite a lot of work in pre-production and
I have been collaborating with Mark Payne
in terms of the Catalyst work to make sure
everything looks correct,” said Spencer, who
after working with the likes of Lionel Richie
and Lee Evans, joined Stewart’s touring crew in
2010. “Video is very much a large part of the
show, aside from Rod and the music. It’s the
main support and determines the mood and
look of the songs.”
63
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
®
Below: Mark Payne’s striking visual design was full of colour.
DOUBLE
BRAKE
as standard
BGV D8+
READY
> New pure and totaly fluid design.
> The hoist body is powder coated
with black, protective 70µm epoxy
paint.
> New ergonomic concept for the
retractable, rubber clad handgrips.
> Lifting hook has an ergonomic,
rubber clad, gripping surface.
> Double lifting brake as standard.
> New Clutch concept.
> Electrical limit switch as standard on
version B.
> IP55 protection for the entire hoist.
Version A: 3 phase hoists with direct voltage control.
Version B: 3 phase hoists with low voltage control.
64
> Maintenance operations are
now simpler, faster and more
economical: Plug & play electric
components, easy access to brake
and torque limiter settings.
Acting as somewhat of a
centrepiece of the show were the
screens, which were provided by
longstanding supplier Creative
Technology and CT Touring.
According to Spencer, the support
offered by the company is
exceptional and all shows he has
worked on with them have been
well prepped. The screen set-up for
Live The Life comprised a 60 ft by
30 ft Spider 30 screen at the back
of the stage, a 18 ft by 15 ft Flyer
12 main portrait screen and six
towers with Flyers 12, measuring
9.5 ft by 5.5 ft and 11 ft by 5.5 ft.
While the portrait screen mainly
displayed IMAG of Stewart, the
back screen featured graphical
elements to suit the song.
“We also have four Sony
HSC-300 high-definition cameras
that are operated and then two
robo cams remotely operated to
shoot the drums and percussionist.
Graphics displayed on the screens
have evolved in style - it is bold
and exciting and has become more
refined,” commented Spencer. “It’s
become more stylish and we try to
an extent to give a 3D look so the
towers are separated from the back
screen to give a feeling of depth.”
Spencer believes the Catalyst
system, which plays a key function
in the show, is very well suited
to such productions: “You can
manipulate video easily using
it and Mark can make changes
quickly with the desk. It’s very fast,
user-friendly and reliable. We feel
like we’re in a safe pair of hands
and we’ve just upgraded to faster
Macs so they’re responding much
better.”
Video Director, Harris, has also
seen the benefits of working with
Catalyst: “It’s been fantastic to
have all the footage on two Apple
Macs that we can then play. So
we can just start the song and
Mark has linked it all together
so the lights, video and so on all
start in unison. In the old days you
needed to use timecode from a
keyboard player, but technology
has advanced to such a level that
you don’t have such problems
anymore.”
Harris began his career as a
guitar tech for Jefferson Airplane,
before moving on to work on
the video facets of Prince, Stone
Temple Pilots and Rolling Stones’
live productions. “I first worked
with Rod in 1991 and then I came
back on his tour in 2007 and have
been here ever since,” he said.
“I need to make sure everyone
is shooting what we require for
the specific song. On this show,
image magnification is important
and trying to get Rod’s personality
across, which is fairly easy because
he is so animated and such a good
performer.
“The last O2 show we played
was one of the best we’ve ever
done. Rod performs at 100%
all the time anyway so they are
all really strong performances,
but that last O2 show just had
something magical about it. There
is the odd challenge, like the
weather wasn’t great when we
played in Poland the other day, but
everybody is a professional and
the team works like a well-oiled
machine. This has a lot to do with
Lars being so good at production
managing and picking the right
people.”
COMPLEMENTING THE MUSIC
For the visual content brief Creative
and Art Director, Tito Sabatini,
and his team at São Paulo-based
company, duo2, were asked to be
creative yet simple in their designs.
All visuals were produced by the
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
Below: Head of Automation, Doug Sager, with TAIT’s Navigator; Head Rigger, Pete Rayel;
Lighting Designer, Mark Payne, worked with a Catalyst media server and a High End Systems
Hog 3; Head Carpenter, Gary Jacobs.
designer’s team, with Sabatini’s
lead, while Payne, oversaw the
project, offering input throughout.
Also playing an important part
in the content creation was
Art Director, Amir Admoni,
and Designers and Animators,
Fernando Ferreira and Bruno
Galan.
Due to their high level of
creativity, Payne is also planning on
using duo2’s services for another
future production.
“Rod Stewart’s last tour
included duo2 creations so I was
very happy when Mark told me
that Rod has asked to call the
Brazilian guys again! There were
some specific briefs for songs for
this tour, like You’re in My Heart.
For this, Rod wanted something
related to football so Mark Payne
filmed some footage with him in a
chroma key studio, playing with a
ball,” said Sabatini.
“Mark told me that Rod was
very happy with the shoot. One
thing I’ll never forget was his
reaction when he saw the final
result playing football inside a ‘real’
stadium. He said: ‘You never cease
to amaze me!’”
From the first ideas through to
final output took six months, with
the final design and animation
lasting for around 10 weeks.
Content was made for the large
central screen and all the screens
placed at the towers designed
by Paul Staples. A mixture of real
footage, 3D and more simplistic
2D footage to fit in with the brief
was created to complement the
style of music. “For the tour,
duo2 Designer, Fernando Shelka,
and myself joined the crew for
rehearsals to be sure everything
was as Rod and the team wanted.
The videos for Finest Woman which features Rod’s wife - were
created during rehearsals,” said
Sabatini.
Payne added: “Rod can be
random on stage sometimes so we
need to have a bit of flexibility, he
does like to change things around
a little bit. He’s very interested in
the content. It was all quite new
for him five years ago - he liked it,
but didn’t know what he needed.
This time around he’s engaged
with it much more and had lots of
input. Most shows we play some
football footage and sometimes he
wants to show something amusing
on screen.
“What’s different about what
we’re doing is the towers - I have
two camera inputs into my Catalyst
and I control what goes to the
towers in terms of IMAG, which
is unusual. We run the intro music
through the Catalyst too and do a
bit of audio through that if we’re
showing something on the screens
that needs it.”
A STRUCTURED LIGHT SHOW
What was displayed on the
screens directly reflected the
SOMMER CABLE GmbH
Audio ■ Video ■ Broadcast ■ Media Technology ■ HiFi
[email protected] ■ www.sommercable.com
65
b92,5x277_BV_EN_PLASA_130704.indd 1
04.07.2013 12:10:00
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
Below: The visual content was produced by Brazilian creative company, duo2; KB Event supplied 11 trucks for the tour; TAIT built custom helix-shaped lighting trusses; Major Tom supplied the Meyer
Sound PA system; Systems Technician, Mike Smeaton.
lighting - sometimes the video took the lead and
sometimes the lighting would. Payne operated
a very structured light show from a High End
Systems Hog 3 desk - a console he has used for
years and is a big fan of - with every song havinf
been programmed. In terms of fixtures, a total
of 30 Clay Paky 1500 Washes, 30 Philips VariLite VL3015 Spots, 50 Martin Professional MAC
101’s, 50 DWE 2-Lite Moles and 96 LED PAR
Cans in the set inside the towers and behind the
mesh were included in the design.
“I only light people with the Vari-Lites and
the washlights are illuminating the set and
audience,” continued Payne. “The MAC 101’s
are doing all the structural truss and the DWE
are lighting the audience.”
All lighting fixtures and control were supplied
by Neg Earth - a company the Stewart team
has worked with for many years. “We felt they
were offering the right package and have had
some great experiences with the company
in the past,” commented Payne. “I’ve known
Julian Lavender for years and it seemed like an
obvious choice also because we liked the idea of
rehearsing at LH2, which is such a good venue.”
Payne being a keen user of WYSIWYG
benefitted the production team, allowing the
entire crew to get familiar with the look of the
show in 3D before beginning rehearsals at LH2.
“I went into rehearsals knowing what height
everything was and where it was going to go. I
knew where the towers would be and how they
would move,” he said.
PRODUCING CLEAN SOUND
Rental house Major Tom was responsible
66
for supplying audio equipment to suit
the requirements of the artist and band.
Experienced System Engineer, Mike Smeaton,
ensured kit was configured to produce the
highest quality of sound. “Although I am
freelance, I worked for Lars’ touring solutions
company, Major Tom, for this production,” he
said.
Meyer Sound’s LEO was the best-suited
system for the tour, with the set-up also
featuring MILO side hangs and the 1100-LFC
low-frequency control element. The main hangs
comprised 12 LEOs, with four MICA underhangs
per side and then five 1100-LFC subs in cardioid
behind the main hang - with three pointing
forward and two backward. “Lars thinks Meyer
Sound makes some of the best equipment and
I’m a big fan of it too. We have spacer bars
between the subs to split them, which is to
help with cardioid and to tighten the vertical
dispersion of the bass so we’re not sending too
much up to the roof or down to the ground.
“Lars likes a nice clean sound and we need
to get decent gain before feedback to try to get
the sound around the room as best we can. This
system was chosen on quality.”
Although the configuration allowed for
the use of 16-deep MILOs for side hangs, at
Liverpool’s Echo Arena only 10 were used. For
front fills six Meyer Sound UPA-1Ps were chosen,
with subwoofers on the ground being three
1100-LFCs - one pointing backwards and two
forward in cardioid. Meanwhile, continuing
the Meyer Sound theme, the audio crew likes
to use Calisto and Galileo for processing and
control.
PERFECTING THE MIX
Over at FOH position, Production Manager,
Brogaard also took up audio engineering duties
- using his trusty DiGiCo SD7 console. DiGiCo
desks also featured in monitor world, where
Sven Jorgensen mixed Stewart and Mark Willett
mixed the band, both using D5 consoles.
Smeaton commented: “Lars helped develop
the DiGiCo range and is very fond of the
desk. I believe some of the features making it
one of thebest consoles out there include it’s
wonderful sound quality and how easy it is to
get around. You can work with a lot of channels
simultaneously and arrange in several different
places or layers as you please - we’ll be at
somewhere around the 76 odd input mark from
stage for this show. The SD7’s three onboard
screens make this easy.”
Microphones used were predominantly
AKG models including the D112, D5 451 and
C518. Shure SM57’s, Sennheiser e609’s and
Neumann U87 also made an appearance, with
Sennheiser G2 being chosen as IEM systems.
Little processing was needed for the production,
with Brogaard making use of a Smart Research
C2 compressor for Stewart’s vocals. “Everything
else is internal on the console. We then go
straight out of the console into one Galileo and
then it splits off into Calisto and Galileo’s for the
PA,” continued Smeaton.
“The Calisto and Galileo are six-input devices
with 16 outputs each, so we zone the PA up into
four zones for the main hang and three for the
sides through them. It’s then straight copper to
the boxes and we zone them by taking five zones
up in the air and use four of them for the mains.”
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
Below: The dramatic TAIT-supplied curtain just before show time; Stewart sings to a packed Echo Arena in Liverpool.
VISUALLY DYNAMIC SET
DESIGN
“Ian Knight, who had been
Rod’s Set Designer for years,
unfortunately died a few years
ago,” said Payne. “We were
thinking about designing it
68
ourselves but then we decided to
entrust the set design to someone
else. Knowing this production
needed to live up to the success of
Stewart’s most recent album and
previous tours, PM Brogaard asked
Paul Staples (Queen, Elton John
and Pink Floyd) from Guernsey
Consultants, to design the tour.
Although Staples had not designed
for the artist before, he had known
Brogaard or many years and
worked with him on a large tour
for Eros Ramazzoti.
The brief was fairly tight in that
Stewart wanted a full-width video
cyclorama, a specific band layout
and a fixed portrait ratio video
screen roughly halfway upstage.
There were up to 14 people on
stage at any one time, so layout
and ease of access was also of
great importance.
“Tourability in terms of
truckspace, load-in and load-out
times was always critical in view
of the schedule, and the input and
contribution of all the key touring
production staff was vital, thus the
only real compromise was that the
six periaktos trucks now remain
static, whereas they were originally
intended to move,” said Staples.
“The most visually dramatic
elements of the design are the
two double helix trusses, which
are both the lighting support
system and decorative elements
themselves. The motion control
system is very sophisticated and
provides an almost infinite number
of speeds and positions for each
of them relative to each other.
We use them sparingly during the
show, so that they can be used to
the best effect during the finale.”
Payne added: “The design
of the previous tour has now
been beefed up to feature large
triangular towers at the back. They
have three sides - one is LED, one
is a mirror structure and the third is
mesh with LED PAR Cans in it.
“Rod is very keen on the
acoustic part of the show and
wanted to make a change for
this section so we added a truss
structure built by TAIT that we
had designed and custom built,
which drops in and changes the
atmosphere on the stage for about
four or five songs.”
Brogaard, LD Payne and Staples
worked extremely closely, all
making valuable contributions
to the end result. Set Designer,
Staples, commented: “The high
spot for me was a successful
opening night and the continued
support and enthusiasm of the
touring crew. The Rod Stewart
team are very experienced and
professional and anticipated
pretty much every problem at a
very early stage so there were no
insurmountable issues.”
CUSTOMISED STAGING
ELEMENTS
Continuing a long-standing
relationship with the legendary
Rod Stewart team that spans nearly
three decades, TAIT was eager
to produce customised staging
elements for the artist’s widelyanticipated Live the Life tour.
Working alongside Set Designer,
Paul Staples; PM, Brogaard and LD,
Payne, the team integrated TAIT’s
fully-optimised stock assets into
the set design.
“We have worked with TAIT’s
Scott Levine a lot, who was our
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
Below: The set and stage design of the show was the creation of Paul Staples.
main man there,” said Payne. “They did a great
job - we had some real challenges. We sent
the set guys out to TAIT Towers in America for
two weeks before we started building to get it
all right because we knew it was going to be
complicated.”
TAIT supplied six custom Periaktos, which
were positioned on the main stage and
manually rotated throughout the performance.
Each of the three-sided Periaktos contained
a multi-faceted mirror face, a 12mm CT Flyer
video screen and a grill-plated surface backlit
with LED PAR fixtures.
The company’s automated helical trussing
provided one of the main, artistic focal points
of the set design. Powered by TAIT’s Nav Hoist
system and hung from 10 half-tonne chain
hoists, the elements featured a custom scenic
applique, integrated lighting and helical curved
scenic units, which attached to the chords of
the trussing.
TAIT also produced a custom band riser
package with custom LED fascia, as well as an
integrated drum riser. Both the band and drum
risers featured TAIT’s patented MagDeck system
for increased efficiency in its assembly.
POWERFUL AND FLEXIBLE
TAIT’s equipment was also utilised for the
automation aspects of the tour, as its Navigator
system took pride of place beside the stage,
70
operated by Head of Automation, Doug Sager.
“I was originally a Master Carpenter in theatre
in Denver, Colorado, and then ran away with
the circus and toured with Cirque du Soleil
for almost four years,” he said. “I then went
to Batman Live and through that became
involved with TAIT and have worked with them
on various projects since. It was through that
association that I joined this tour this year.”
Sager has operated TAIT’s Navigator system
for over a year, with his first experience of
the system being on Batman Live. He works
closely with the head rigger and lighting crew
from Neg Earth - the company that provides
the mother grid as well as lighting fixtures.
“My motors hang off the mother grid so it’s
important I communicate regularly with the
lighting team,” he added. “There isn’t too much
automation in this show though - I have a total
of 10 Tait Nav Hoists, which are variable-speed,
Liftket-based chain motors moving two pieces
of TAIT’s bespoke circular lighting truss. The
truss pieces aren’t just static - they have multiple
motors on them to allow them to move up and
down.”
Throughout the show, Sager works with six
cues, with the automation being introduced
about halfway through the performance, just
before the acoustic set. A few more moves
are then carried out throughout the acoustic
section before the dynamic move during the
encore, which Sager refers to as a “four-minute
dance with the truss”.
“Navigator’s 3D engine figures out the
physics for which motor needs to move to
which point and at what speed in order to
maintain a proper weight distribution across
the truss piece,” he explained. “Navigator is
exceptionally powerful and customisable and
can do anything you can think of. It’s a really
well-built product that’s easy to modify and
customise and set up for personal preference
and to make sure you have everything you need
right at your fingertips.”
With regards to health and safety, constant
communication is needed amongst the team
building the truss pieces to ensure it is built
to the highest standard to enable flawless
automation. “Beyond that, the motors all
have double breaks on them. I also have Show
Distribution load cells on all of my motors so
I can tell how the weight is dispersed at any
time,” he added.
MULTIPLE RESPONSIBILITIES
As well as being in charge of carpentry activities
on tour and leading three other team members,
Head Carpenter, Gary Jacobs (Diana Ross), gets
involved with the audio side too, looking after
its maintenance. “I’ve been in the industry for
16 years and came on this tour through Lars
Brogaard, who I had done a lot of previous
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
Below: Meyer Sound was the best-suited PA system for the tour; Head of Video, Willis Spencer, and Video Director, Charlie Harris; Stage Manager, Mikkel Brogaard; DiGiCo consoles were selected for
FOH and monitor mixing; Mark Payne worked with a High End Systems Hog 3 lighting console; Video screens for the tour were provided by Creative Technology.
building work for. For this tour, the new set TAIT
has provided has been fantastic. I worked very
closely with them and as it came out of their
factory is how it is going up in the venues,” he
said.
The carpentry team is responsible for
unloading most of the trucks and working with
the band risers on stage, the marley underlay
and other scenic elements such as the six
towers at the back of the stage. Jacobs’ remit
also covers all of the quick changes on stage,
constructing the set - which normally takes
around 2.5 hours - and then deconstructing it.
“The Austrian curtain was provided by
TAIT too and the original curtain motors were
supplied by them for previous Rod Stewart tours
- they’ve served us well and we’re still using
them today. The motors were resurfaced this
spring, but they’ve been around on the tour as
long as I have, used in different configurations,”
he said. “We don’t change the set-up much
from venue to venue, but we don’t put the
curtain up when we go to outdoor venues.
Sometimes we are playing in tighter venues and
need to reconfigure the shape of the truss at the
top.”
PRODUCTION COMPLEXITIES
Mikkel Brogaard (Rolling Stones, Lionel Richie,
Spandau Ballet) has an extensive history with
Rod Stewart’s on-the-road team, working on
and off with them and the artist since 1978.
“I was Stage Carpenter on the 1978 tour and
then moved over to Stage Manager. I also have
72
a company - European Staging - that supplied
outdoor stages and have been providing staging
for Rod’s outdoor shows since 1996,” he said.
Brogaard pointed out that this tour has been
bigger than the last two, which have normally
fitted in seven or eight trucks instead of the 11
that were needed this time. The set also features
a greater number of moving pieces along with
the moving truss, making the production more
complex.
“Day to day, we need to make sure we get
all our trucks lined up in the right position,
fire escape routes are checked and we have
the right number of local crew,” he explained.
“I also need to make sure that nobody is in
anyone’s way and we can get sound through
one door and set through another and so on.
This has been relatively easy, but the main
challenge has been to make sure as many trucks
are loaded and unloaded at the same time - the
set alone fills four or five trucks.”
As the only touring rigger on the crew,
Pete Rayel (David Blowie, Genesis, Queen) is
in charge of 12 local riggers at each venue,
supervising them during the rig and de-rig. Like
many of the crew, Rayel joined the team after
meeting Lars Brogaard, when they met 35 years
ago whilst working on the live shows of Scottish
band Nazareth.
“Rod is a great artist to work for and the
crew is like a big family. This tour hasn’t been
too demanding either. I usually start at about
7am and we’re up and running by midday and
then the de-rig is normally a couple of hours
and myself and the rigging team are working
with regular 22-inch general purpose truss,” he
commented. “I’ve been very impressed by the
bespoke helix truss - an all-singing, all-dancing
creation. I think the show has really improved
over the years and has got much bigger.”
HIGHEST STANDARD OF SERVICE
Bussing services for the tour were delivered
by Phoenix Bussing and Coach Services, with
two busses being required. Due to the touring
schedule, no overnight stops were needed
- apart from the trip between Hamburg and
Poland - so the busses were only utilised during
the day. Meanwhile, trucking specialist KB Event
was selected to provide 11 trucks. The company
was already acquainted with the touring
team, having worked on the last stadium
tour, leapfrog trucking the two stages as well
as trucking production. “We have also done
some one-off shows for Rod Stewart and have
worked for Lars Brogaard for a number of years
on events as diverse as Englbert Humperdinck
tours through to UFC arena shows,” said Stuart
McPherson, Managing Director of KB Event.
The company provided trucking for both
legs of the European tour after extensive
pre-production including route planning and
scheduling to deliver the most efficient and cost
effective way of meeting the tour itinerary. “We
trucked rehearsals into and out of LH2 and then
supplied 11 of our Scania Topline Megacube
Artics for the tour trucking,” added McPherson.
“Our driving team was involved in the show
ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart
Below: A wide variety of visual treatments featured throughout the performance.
in various roles, operating truss spots, turning
scenery and even doing the balloon release.”
In total, the company was involved in all
rehearsals and then every date of the European
tour, including a reduced two-truck show in
Monte Carlo at the end of the first leg. The MD
continued: “Our biggest challenge was ensuring
that we put the right driving team together
for the tour. Lars’ Rod Stewart crew is like a
very large family who have worked together
for a long time so it is imperative that the
personalities all gel.”
Aside from being appointed trucking
supplier, McPherson’s favourite part of this
experience was seeing the show for the first
time. “The TAIT set looks fabulous, with
the lighting and video complementing it
wonderfully and the show sounded great,” he
said. “It was an absolute delight to watch. It
was also great for my team to have a rock ‘n’
roll tour with such a pleasant schedule. With
many of the tours we do the teams on the road
are faced with a lot of very big back-to-back
overnight drives. This tour was planned and
scheduled in such a way that there were very
few of these.”
For McPherson, one of the most important
factors that he believes has led to them
being chosen for the tour is the quality of the
relationship that has been built up over a period
of time. “It builds a trust in our ability to deliver
what is required,” he explained. “It is also
about service levels and ensuring we deliver the
74
highest standard each and every day. We aim
to be clever in how we plan a tour to ensure we
can be as cost effective as possible while still
maintain quality in what we provide.”
COMPETITIVE PRICING
The logistical side of Live the Life was placed
in the capable hands of travel agent The Tour
Company. Although the company’s head office
is located in Glasgow, Bournemouth-based
Lindsey Young looks after her set of clients,
which includes Rod Stewart, Barry Gibb and
Marilyn Manson.
“I have been involved in his travel for many
years. I arrange the hotels and flights for their
US tours as well as in Europe, the UK, South
America and flights worldwide,” she said. “My
objective is to provide the best possible service,
which entails sourcing hotels and flights of the
right standard and facilities to suit the group,
and at the most competitive prices. I also need
to keep the service going throughout the tour
to ensure the hotels understand the brief and
carry out our instructions correctly. This includes
handling and processing any changes that
occur along the way and to communicate these
effectively.”
Meanwhile, freighting was being carried out
by Global Motion.
A SMOOTH RUNNING OPERATION
Efficiency and professionalism are at the core of
the touring team’s production accomplishments
so far. “What’s also great about the organisation
that has grown up around Rod is that it’s really
good value for money,” commented Payne.
“We don’t just have equipment because we
can - everything we have we use. Every light
I have has a purpose because you just can’t
justify having lots of kit that doesn’t do much
or anything. Some shows I have seen feature
hundreds of lights everywhere and that aren’t
really being used.”
When working with an artist with such a
high profile and succession of number one hits,
the crew doesn’t play small venues regularly so
they don’t always have to adapt the design to
suit different venues. “The only thing we really
have to adapt to is larger venues - we’re always
upsizing rather than downsizing because his
productions always prove to be such a hit with
audiences.”
TPi
Photography: Zoe Mutter
www.rodstewart.com
www.majortom.org
www.negearth.co.uk
uk.ct-group.com
www.kbevent.com
www.taittowers.com
www.duo2.tv
www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk
www.globalmotion.co.uk
www.thetourcompany.co.uk
www.snp-productions.co.uk