Keane: In Perfect Symmetry

Any trace of February cold weather blues was shaken off at London’s O2 Arena by the East Sussex boys, now firmly established as one of Britain’s leading contemporary bands, with a show that was bursting with colour, enthusiasm and positive energy.

    Ant Carr and Cara Greczyn welcomed TPi into their friendly, relaxed tour bubble for which the two sold-out O2 shows concluded Keane’s first UK leg.

    The band’s third and latest studio album, Perfect Symmetry embraces new musical boundaries, fused with electric guitars, taking their musicality into yet another dimension, while Keane’s live performances continue to push the barriers of confident, imaginative and entertaining stagecraft.

    With a rocky base and plenty of pop accessibility, Perfect Symmetry also explores deeper and moodier spaces, and this tour has been the perfect vehicle for Tom Chaplin’s charisma to continue growing in stratospheric leaps of Bono proportions.

    They still belt out the crowd-pleasing anthems — ‘This Is The Last Time’, ‘Crystal Ball’, ‘Everybody’s Changing’ and their irresistible début hit from 2004, ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ — but they’re now even louder with rockier resonance.

    The production is symbiotic with the band’s current mood and style, offering designer Rob Sinclair plenty of scope for innovation and eccentricity, as befits his trademark. He’s now worked with Keane for four years, and when you see his name on the crew sheet, you know it’s going to look good!

    Some of the latest album was recorded in Berlin and Sinclair decided to develop the look and feel of the performance space with the Bauhaus-type influences that they found interesting and striking whilst working there.

    Bringing bright, bold, distinctive colours and strong geometric shapes to the stage, he blended these seamlessly with hints of the 1980s retro that colour the poppy elements of the new songs.

    “We wanted to do something colourful, classic and fun,” explained Sinclair, who is a great believer in unfolding shows in layers to keep the visual excitement pumped up; this was no exception.

    It started with all the moving elements of the rig including lighting pods, trusses and follow spot bridges — via a 16-way Kinesys automation system — flown in really low, with various beams slicing through to create multiple silhouettes. This all gradually physically lifted to reveal a simple block patterned backdrop upstage, bringing depth and some unexpected disorientated perspectives right from the off.

    At the end of the fourth song, a kabuki backcloth fell to reveal the upstage and lower half — approximately 60’ wide by 20’ high — of a two-part Stealth LED screen. That first section of the set concluded another four songs later with ‘Spiralling’, the first single from Perfect Symmetry, after which they all decamped to the B-stage for three numbers.

    The triangular B-stage mirrored the shape of the risers and set onstage. The elegantly curved runway exited at the stage left edge, positioned to keep the downstage edge completely clear, providing an optimum viewing angle for the majority of an arena audience.

    “The stage and set was designed with a huge amount of help and advice from Charlie Kail,” said Sinclair. “He’s absolutely unflappable, immensely practical and creative all at the same time.”

    Next, the band returned to the main stage with a simultaneous high impact reveal of the top Stealth screen (40’ x 20’). This was considerably further downstage than the lower screen, adding yet more depth and a completely new facet to the picture. The upstage video truss cut horizontally across the two sections of screen, and both screens featured zig-zagged edges.

    Keane then stormed their way through the rest of the set, culminating in a simply fantastic ‘Crystal Ball’ crescendo, for which Sinclair produced a full visual extravaganza of lights, pictures, movement and emotion. This was peppered with 14 different movement cues and several moments of glory for Kinesys operator Dave Jolley!

    The two hours (including encore) slipped away in what seemed like a matter of minutes — a testament to the dynamics of the show, and even had it continued for another hour, I’m sure Sinclair would still have had tons of eye candy and surprises up his sleeves.

    His asymmetric trussing plan for the tour includes two diagonal spot bridges, stage left and right, each containing two Lycian 2.5kW follow spots and 360° swivel-able chairs plus lots of Martin Professional MAC 2000 moving lights and Atomic strobes.

    These are moved on eight of the 11 points of Kinesys fixed speed one-tonne motors, and the upstage truss behind the rear screen also moves. Four Neoflex-clad triangular pods are each loaded with three MAC 2000 Washes and moved in and out on eight ways of half tonne Kinesys/Liftket vari-speed motors.

    Jolley runs the movement on Kinesys’ highly flexible Vector control system, and together with lighting and video, movement is part of Sinclair’s visual essence.

    Seeking a contemporary PAR can style ambience for the space, he chose primarily wash lights and soft-edged fixtures, including 40 MAC 2000 washes and 14 MAC 250 washes, with just 12 MAC 700 profiles in the whole rig.

    Upstage are four Novalight Nova Flowers — a fully programmable high powered ‘flower’ effect that’s defiantly become a trend for creating powerful back light effects. In typical Sinclairesque fashion, they’re used only in one number (‘You Don’t See Me’) with maximum impact.

    Generics include 38 Atomics and 34 4- and 8-lite Moles, some with scrollers, plus a small selection of Source Four profiles and 12 Lowell Omni floods on sticks, dotted around stage — the arty LD’s lamp of choice for in-between song looks.

    Hangman produced the backdrop at Sinclair’s request, along with additional draping and matching Bauhausian printed Marley floor covering the risers and set, which were constructed by LiteStructures. All the lighting kit for the UK and Europe sections of the tour was supplied by Lite Alternative and video came from Blink TV.

    Sinclair’s control set up is inconspicuous — blink and you miss it! The whole show is run off a tiny Jands Vista S1 control desk, which might be equally at home size-wise at the school end of term drama production. That’s where the similarity ends, and taking the “small is beautiful” theory to heart, the highly powerful S1 has all the buttons and will do everything the larger desks will — and this is how he runs the show’s lighting and video.

    “I’ve been using the Vista so long that I almost feel married to it,” said Sinclair, who always takes the console on a plane with him.


VIDEO
By his own admission, apart from relishing design and technical challenges, Sinclair is also a “serious control freak”. It was never an option to have anyone else involved in running video or directing the I-Mag mix, but his reasons for wanting full control of the space relate to flowing the mixed visual mediums into a creatively coherent package. This is no ego trip!

    Video is a massive part of the show and runs continuously from the fifth song to the end. Sinclair specifically wanted a lightweight transparent screen that could be disappeared and then re-emerge with lighting trickery.

    He made some of the content himself as well as commissioning Tom Lowndes at onedotzero to make two pieces and Judy Jacob at Beggar’s Velvet to produce another. Andras Ketzer also contributed, rendering special loops from the project files of his ‘Spiralling’ video.
Drummer Richard Hughes also shot some video, which Sinclair edited and entwined into the screen action along with re-cut archive footage.

    All of this is stored on two Catalyst media servers — one feeding two side screens and one the onstage LED surfaces — supplied by Andi Watson’s company, Scenographic.

    Sinclair cuts the camera mix from two operated cameras stationed at FOH and six Sony remotes dotted around the stage and on the trusses. The result is a very documentary style I-Mag sent to the side screens and at strategic points to the onstage screens, with playback content concentrated totally on the Stealth.

    Sinclair’s favourite video clips are the ’80s computer game loading screens for ‘Again And Again’ made by onedotzero and Jacob’s ’80s-style Tron grids overlaid on the surveillance cameras in ‘You Haven’t Told Me Anything’.


AUDIO
FOH sound is mixed by Matthew Kettle, a new kid on the Keane block, who’s working on his first tour with the band.

    Offered the hot seat on the strength of his recent work with artists like Mark Ronson, The Last Shadow Puppets and the White Stripes, Kettle’s Canadian accent is now almost imperceptible after 24 years in the UK. He also does a lot of studio work — another element that interested the band.

    They sent him plenty of material to listen to ahead of the tour and he also managed to factor in a couple of days prepping with a ‘virtual show’ via his Digidesign D-Show Profile console and live multitrack recordings. The first time he met the band was at LiteStructures in Wakefield for production rehearsals.

    Kettle described Perfect Symmetry as ‘Bowie-esque and classic ’80s Depeche Mode’ which has facilitated some fun in recreating classic ’80s effects. With the earlier hits all included in the set, it is an interesting show to mix and one that requires several stylistic audiological shifts.

    The Profile is his current favourite console for its neat size and Pro Tools integration, which also allows him to use some of his favourite plug-ins from Waves, Massey, McDSP and TC.

    He also tries to mix the show at loud rock SPLs to ensure that everyone has a a visceral experience at the gigs, leaving with the right impressions of where the band are at. Tom Chaplin’s voice is confident, strong and “effortless” to work with, declared Kettle.

    The B stage section entails dealing with some more off-beat instruments like a Cajón hand drum, while Tim Rice-Oxley plays a Rhodes amongst other vintage keys.

    The d&b J-Series system for the UK and Europe was supplied by Wigwam with the main hangs consisting of 18 J-8s and six J-12s, duplicated exactly for the side hangs and completed with six flown J-Subs per side and four SB2 subs per side on the deck.

    For the O2 and this year’s TPi Award-winning venue, the M.E.N. Arena, they added a third hang per side of 16 J-8s.

    At the O2, they also added another eight d&b Infra Series subs in the centre, to get the kick drum and the real low end frequencies rolling around the arena. For infills, d&b Q7s were used along the front lip of the stage and on top of the ground-stacked subs. All of it was powered by d&b D12s running over Ethernet, which systems tech Sid Rogerson described as “absolutely rock solid”, adding that it’s been a completely stress-free tour for audio.

    System control was XTA DP448s for matrixing and delays, with all the crossovers dealt with via d&b’s proprietary ROPE remote control software.

    It was Kettle’s first time with d&b. It was specified before he came onboard, but he’s been very satisfied with the results.

    Onstage, monitor engineer Jon Ormesher was smiling, amidst much ribbing from the rest of the crew, and must have been in a good mood because he let me take his photo! After nearly 30 years in the business there’s little he’s not seen or done... and neither has he lost his wicked, dry sense of humour.

    His console is a Yamaha PM5D with a DSP extender, taking him up to 96 channels. This came about through having to allow for the addition at any point of an orchestra, a choir, a brass section, strings... and a saw. When it materialises, the saw is miked up with a Shure SM58, which “works a treat”.

    He’s using all the desk’s onboard facilities, amounting to “nothing clever”, just some reverb and delay on Chaplin’s vocal. He reiterated what Kettle had to say about the vocal power and presence of the lead singer, who uses a Sennheiser e935 wireless mic.

    “I started touring with Keane about three years ago and even then nearly all the mics were Sennheiser,” explained Ormesher, who added that ew500 Series guitar systems and e906 mics for Chaplin’s guitar cabs, and e904s and an e901 for Hughes’ toms and bass drum are also part of the spec.

    “They’ve stayed with the 935 vocal mics ever since, mainly because the band like them so much. Tom actually used the 935 in the studio to do the vocals for the last album. Sometimes we go to radio or TV shows and someone there says ‘You’ve got to use our vocal mics’. I say, ‘No, no. That’s what our singer sings into. That’s what he likes. Live with it.’

    “From my standpoint the 935s have notably good rejection, better than some other popular mics. And it has some nice sparkle and it’s reasonably flat too.”

    The whole band are on a Sennheiser ew300 G2 IEM system with two tech mixes for backline crew, and Ormesher generally runs 24 mixes.

    There are also two short throw subs onstage, one by the bass rig and one by the keyboards, and Richard Hughes also has a thumper seat. Chaplin has a pair of d&b M2 wedges at the centre stage mic position for some air movement, but throughout his highly pro-active performance, he’s rarely there for more than a few seconds at any given time!

    Ormesher concluded our interview by paying homage to Wigwam’s Chris Hill whom he described as “my hero”, adding that all the crew have been “fantastic”.

    If you’re reading this in Australia, Japan or North America, Keane are heading your way very soon. They’re also on the Euro festival circuit this summer, playing at Pink Pop, Rock Werchter, T In The Park, Oxegen and V — don’t miss ’em!
TPi

Photography by Louise Stickland