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CONCERTS Copyright Lighting&Sound America February 2013 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

he Who’s Quadropheniafocuses on a young man who

struggles with four personal-ities, each represented in

performance by a member of theband. The second rock opera by PeteTownshend, it was first performed in1973. In 2012, for the band’s latesttour, Roger Daltrey re-envisioned it asthe story of the band and those whohave experienced the last half-century with them. “This show is afabulous, intimate look at The Who,”says the band’s longtime productiondesigner Tom Kenny, who has alsoworked with the likes of GeorgeHarrison, David Bowie, Jimmy Page,Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, David

Byrne, and on a wide variety of TVproductions in the US and worldwide.

Once the Quadrophenia sequenceis over, the band gives the audiencesome of its favorite songs. “Unlikeother bands, The Who always playstheir hits, so everyone can enjoythemselves,” the designer notes.

Kenny says that the productiondesign underwent several stages ofdevelopment. “The shape of the setwent through varying forms, as itdoes on every tour. Roger wanted tohave the front of a motorbike or amoped, but that wasn’t really feasiblefor the production. The screen shapesare just something [productionmanager] Roy Lamb came up with

that look somewhat mod.” There arethree 8mm circular SL-pro 8 LEDsand a 15mm Barae BR15 rectanglethat is 39'4" wide by 16'4" high, allprovided by Montreal-basedSolotech, the tour’s video gearsupplier. “We had frames made forthe circular LEDs by Tait Towers [ofLititz, Pennsylvania]. We wanted themto look like headlights, and I decided Iwanted something with a mirror,because, without it being lit, it wouldstill be bright,” he says.

The visuals were created byDaltrey; producer and contentdirector Colin Payne, of The MediaMachine; and a team including DanHardiker and Neil Hetherington, of

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Revealing themany sides of The Who on theQuadrophenia and More TourBy: Sharon Stancavage

Four-Part

Harmony

Zeroh, as well as Chris Rule and DesMurphy. “Overall, Roger drew twoconclusions: Firstly, the need to moveaway from a narrator and guests onstage [usually featured in productionsof Quadrophenia]. Secondly, thedesire to focus not just on the person-alities of the original band members,but to add a new twist, the dimensionof time—The Who now on stage andThe Who then on the screens,” Payneexplains. The mixing of the past andpresent is expressed dually througharchival footage of the band andhistoric footage. “We referenced allthe excellent postwar footage puttogether by [graphic designer andmusic video producer] Aubrey Powell

for the previous shows but cruciallywere given total access to the entireWho archive,” he says. The archivalfootage includes Townshendsmashing guitars during “HelplessDancer;” The Who in an earlier incar-nation as the High Numbers in “ThePunk and the Godfather;” and a widerange of historic news footage.Factories appear during “The DirtyJobs,” WWII headlines run during theinstrumental “Quadrophenia,” and amontage that includes content relatedto Princess Diana’s death and 9/11 isused in “The Rock,” Payne says. “Itmade total sense to use footage thattracks the development of the band,very much along the journey we see in

Quadrophenia itself: The pull of youth,growing through difficult periods,questioning, fighting, exploring,celebrating, deeply emotive, angry,and loving—these really came throughthe films we saw.”

The sea is also a recurring themewithin the visual context of the show.“The sea has always been crucial inQuadrophenia,” Payne says. “Not onlyis it reflective of the location of muchof the action within the story itself, itrepresents the universal, the love, theredemption.” The finale ofQuadrophenia, “Love, Reign o’er Me,”also includes some stunning footageof rain. “The imagery is highly treatedfilm—not CGI—and we really wereinspired by the notion of absolutereality being filtered and highlyartistic. The pixels shine likediamonds, and because the basis ofthe image is natural, it has a highlyuplifting effect,” Payne says.

While the visuals for Quadropheniaare thematic, the approach to thesongs in the hits section is distinctlydifferent. “We view this section as aconstantly evolving, live experience—we have banks and banks of coolvisuals, which we can adapt and VJalong with the band, depending onsong choices, mood, and energy,”Payne says. “We can follow andenhance and, in this way, the videocan become as flexible as any of the musicians.”

Giani Fabricio, the show’s touringcontent director, uses an AvolitesSapphire media console working withfour Avolites-Immersive Ai mediaservers. It’s the first time Ai has beenout with a major tour. “Overall, theproduction needed flexibility. Theyknew that some of it was perhapsgoing to be preprogrammed with timecode, but the band doesn’t likehaving the rigid structure of having toplay with a click track and timecode,” Fabricio says.

When visuals and vocals of thelate Keith Moon and John Entwistlewere added (to “Bell Boy” and P

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Both Daltrey and Townshend requested throwback lighting for the hits section of theshow, specifically to 1973, the year Quadrophenia was released.

“5:15”, respectively), it becameapparent that the show would needsome sort of time code system.“Some parts of Quadrophenia are ontime code, and that’s something that’sset up beforehand,” Fabricio notes. “Iuse the system to put it on timelinesand then do the offset to get the rightsynching, and that generally neverchanges. But the rest ofQuadrophenia is mostly operated live.There are never two time-coded bitsone after the other, and it generallyswitches from a fully live operatedtrack to a time-coded one.”

The set “was a challenge to startwith,” Fabricio admits. “I’ve doneshows, with other artists, where it

comes to a situation in which, for thesake of everything being perfect andin synch, the artist gives up their liveperformance quite a bit, removing anysuspense from the show. These guyssaid, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.We’re going to do our thing, and wemight take a bar out here, anotherone there, and I might just go into aguitar solo for 20 minutes, and youjust deal with it.’ One reason theygave me the job is that Colin wantedsomebody who had a musicalbackground—not just a programmer,but also a musician.”

One of Fabricio’s primary responsi-bilities is to keep the visuals—eventhose in the non-time-coded

segments—aligned with the music. “Ikeep tight control over the speed ofthe clips, so that if the band drifts andgoes a bit faster or slower, I’m readyto adjust the synch,” he says.

While Fabricio is handling thecontent at the front of house, there’sanother aspect to the video systembackstage, he says: “There’s oneperson doing all the camera cutting;there’s another person who looks atcolors and calibration, the treatmentof cameras; another who operatesthe [Vista] Spyder, channeling thedifferent signals to the screens.” TheIMAG system includes four Sonycameras, a Barco FSN-1400 switcher,and two Christie Roadster S+20K DLPP

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The three 8mm circular SL-pro 8 LEDs, supplied by Solotech, are framed with mirrors and integrated into the design to look like theheadlights on a motorcycle, Daltrey’s original design concept.

projectors for the left/ right screens.Although there are numerous content/IMAG configurations, it is lessrandom than one might expect. “Ifwe’re going to put camera feeds onthe central set screens, it’s going tocut out content, so it is carefullychoreographed,” Fabricio says.

The signal path between the frontof house and video world backstageis complex, and it includes front-of-house sound. Fabricio explains,“SMPTE time code comes from theADAT machine on stage to Robert[Collins, front-of-house soundengineer]; from Robert, it goes to myMIF4 MIDI time code interface. That’swhere SMPTE is converted to MIDItime code and goes to my servers totrigger the video clips. The videosignal then goes out of my Ai servers,through the DVI matrix, and to a DVIto fiber transmitter, which sends thatsignal behind the stage to the Spyder,from which the Solotech guys route itto the correct screens.”

The key to making the system workis the Ai media servers. “The Ai systemis perfect for the job because of its 3-

D visualizer and the live performance-driven user interface with the corre-sponding hardware, the Sapphiremedia console,” Fabricio says. “What Ifind most interesting about the systemis that it is built with a node-basedvisual programming language,Salvation, which means that, besideshaving the typical interface with all ofits options, you can also access thebackground of it all and reconfigurethe system to fit your needs, which isnot something you can do with yourtypical software. Visual programminglanguages are great because they giveeven nonprogrammers the ability tocreate new patches or even alter thebasic architecture of the software withjust minimal training. For mediaservers in the entertainment industry,this is particularly interesting, as anexperienced user can reconfigure thesystem on the spot to fit the specificneeds of the show without needing tocontact the original softwareprogrammer or even quickly createcontent using generative videopatches without the support of agraphic designer.”

Behind the lights Discussing how he worked to blendthe lighting with the video, Kennysays, “I learned that you have tocomplement whatever color is inthere.” During Quadrophenia, Kenny’spalette is fairly subdued and includessteel blues, lavenders, and ambers.That changes somewhat when theband goes into its hits. “I keep it verylive and very electric, because it’s alldown to what Pete and the band doevery night,” he adds.

Both Daltrey and Townshend hadinput into the production’s lightingaspects. Kenny says, “Roger rang meup and said, ‘First of all, I want younot to light it like a Who show; thinkof it as dark and moody.’” Also, herecalls, “Roger said, ‘I want you tothink of 1973, and basically light ittheatrically—think PAR cans.’Basically, we’ve gone back to 1973using 2012 technology.” He adds,“Pete said, ‘You’re going to do yourtraditional Tom Kenny Who lighting,aren’t you?’” That style is in evidencein the latter part of the show.

The lighting rig, provided by

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In an effort to retrace the past of The Who and its audience, the Quadrophenia section of the show includes a wide variety of historicnews footage, from World War II to Princess Diana’s untimely death.

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PRG, is extremely streamlined. Itincludes 36 Philips Vari*Lite VL3500Washes, 18 Martin ProfessionalMAC III Profiles, 24 Mac 2000 WashXBs, 24 Coemar Infinity Wash XLs,and 24 Mac Auras. The latter, Kennysays, “is the most beautiful light inthe world. They are absolutelystunning. The color from them is thebest, the absolute best. I’ve usedthem on the MTV Video MusicAwards, and basically I use them asmuch as I can.” The Auras alsohave another claim to fame.“They’re the only lights that haveever been downstage of The Whothat they haven’t kicked over onstage,” he says.

The lighting rig also includes 24SkyPan 5K open-face tungsten flood-lights from Mole-Richardson on thevertical trusses upstage. “I wantedsomething that looked like amotorbike bulb, and they fit the bill,”Kenny says. “I’ve used them every-where. It’s a beautiful old lamp.They’re like a candle; there’ssomething very beautiful andattractive about them.”

There are also numerous four-light Mole-Richardson Molefays andMartin Atomic strobes, which givethe latter part of the production thetraditional The Who/Tom Kenny big-rock look. “I just wanted to liven itup,” he says. “In Quadrophenia, I’mholding back all night, so the videoscreens are the star then.” The dailyneeds of this aspect of theproduction are maintained bylighting crew chief Corey Tom andhis staff.

The console of choice for Kennyand his lighting director/programmer, Jim Mustapha, is anMA Lighting grandMA1. “I’veprogrammed in very normal states,”Kenny says. “They’re not beamy,because we don’t have smoke, dueto Roger’s allergies. They have verynice, colorful, gorgeous looks, butthen I take over on every songwhere the band takes over.”

The real mix Robert Collins, who handles front-of-house audio, has worked with TheWho before and with Daltrey andTownshend on solo projects. He sayssimply, “I just love mixing.” To mixThe Who, he has a DiGiCo SD7. “It’sa brilliant desk,” he adds. “Unlikemost digital consoles, it’s verymusical, and for me it mixes like anold analog desk.” This is Collins’ firsttime touring with the SD7. “I had noreason to use it earlier, as my oldfaithful D5 was doing just fine,” hesays. Speaking of the SD7’s capabil-ities, he notes, “It will run a smallcountry if you want it to.”

As for processing, Collins isn’tnecessarily a fan. “We strive for anatural-sounding show,” he says. Heuses a TC Electronic M6000 plus twoSummit Audio TLA-100 tube levelingamps and four dbx 160 XLcompressors. “The rest is SD7-internal.” While many front-of-houseengineers won’t leave home withoutWaves, Collins says passionately,“No. Absolutely not. I don’t even useSnapshots.”

As a vocalist, Daltrey has alwayshad the reputation of someone whoisn’t afraid to let go and scream. Tohandle these vocal machinations—most notably in “Baba O’Riley” and“Won’t Get Fooled Again”—Collinskeeps it simple. “No big compressorson Roger. I don’t like squashingthings. I use a very subtle TLA;they’re so smooth, and actually myfinger is the best compressor.”

From an aural standpoint,Quadrophenia runs the gamut,encompassing quiet moments like theplaintive cries of Daltrey asking “Is itme, for the moment?” during “Dr.Jimmy” to intense moments like theend of “Love, Reign o’er Me.” Collinsgives the band control of that. “Thedynamics are huge for them. Theyshould be huge,” he says. “On theguitar, Pete likes to go quiet to loud,and when somebody wants to shout,they shout. And it should be louder.It’s up to them; it’s not up to me todecide what’s louder.”

On stage, Collins has a variety ofmicrophones, most of them quitefamiliar. When asked why Daltrey isn’t

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Touring content director Giani Fabricio, production designer Tom Kenny, and lightingdirector/programmer Jim Mustapha.

using the newest, most expensivevocal mic, he replies, “Why? Roger isonly going to throw it around onstage and smash it into something.”

The mic that Daltrey swingsaround on stage is the Shure SM58.“We have a case of them for Roger,and he’s not going to change now.He’s been using them for years,”Collins notes. In fact, the SM58 is thevocal mic of choice on The Whostage. Townshend and his brother,Simon, who sings vocals for “TheDirty Jobs,” are also on SM58s.

As for the rest of the stage, there’sa nice range of brands represented.“It’s a mixture of Audix and AKG onthe drums—there’s an Audix D6 onthe bass drum, a D4 on the toms, anAKG C414 on head, an AKG C 451 Bon high hat and ride, and, on thesnare, a Shure SM57 on the top andan Shure SM80 for the bottom.”

When asked about the key tomixing a very musical, acoustically

dimensional band like The Who,Collins has a simple answer: “Listento the sounds that you’re reproducingand let things sit there so you canhear them.” It’s also similar to hisadvice for newer members of hisprofession. “I try to tell the youngmixers coming up—go and listen tothe instrument, and reproduce thesound of it. Don’t have it in your headwhat you think a saxophone shouldsound like. Go and listen to the actualinstrument.”

For the PA, a d&b audiotechnik J-Series line array is provided by EighthDay Sound Systems, of Cleveland.There are 18 front cabinets, 12 sidefills, and six J-Series subs. The mainhang has a mixture of J8 and J12swith J12s on the side hang. There arealso three B2 subs on each side ofthe side, and the back stage hang, ifused, is loaded with Q1s. AlthoughCollins could have gone heavy on thesubs and loud overall, he chooses not

to. “Subs are overused, and generallywe tend not to go that heavy with thesub sound,” he says. “I—and theband—want a really big sound butnot a really loud show. And that’s theart of it.”

As the show ends, Daltrey andTownshend perform a touching andintimate song called “Tea &Theatre”—the two passions ofEnglish gentlemen. It is just anotherpersonal moment of a very personalshow that traces the history of themusicians on stage and the collectivehistory of the audience as well.Kenny, who is out with the tour,leaves the front of house to head offwith the band. “Isn’t it a good bit offun?” he asks with a smile.

The Who continues theQuadrophenia and More Tour acrossthe United Kingdom with additionalshows in France and the Netherlandsthrough July 5.

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