SUPERGRASS

Originally hailing from Oxford, and known for the fresh flamboyance and youthful vitality they injected into the BritPop scene of the mid-’90s, Supergrass have lost none of their exuberance for playing live and concluded their latest UK tour with high energy, sold out shows in the sweaty atmospheric environs of the London Astoria — the Charing Cross Road venue that has just received a new five-year lease and reprieve on being flattened to make way for the Cross Channel Rail Link.

    At the helm of the tour was Mick Brown, the tour/prodction manager who has worked with them in various roles for the last eight years. Although fiercely loyal to their crew over the years, the current buoyancy of the industry meant several regulars were already committed to other projects, so the tour bus welcomed plenty of new faces.

    Lighting designer Matt Arthur was working on his first Supergrass tour, having been offered the hot seat by lighting supplier Lite Alternative on the suggestion of its long-time LD Ali Bale, who has lit the band for many years and is now based in Australia. Arthur discussed some initial concepts with the band who definitely wanted LED on the tour. It soon became apparent that they would need a high definition solution for the content —an eclectic mixture of Catalyst library re-mixes and custom content produced by bassist Mick Quinn, with Stevie Marr also involved in producing content.

    This led to the development of the 9m wide by 2.5m high Barco MiTrix screen, supplied by XL Video and fitted into its 6 x 4 touring frames. This produced a stunning visual backdrop, carefully planned and positioned not to distract audiences from the band.

    Quinn suggested the idea of having two small front-of-house HD handi-cam cameras, one framing a tight shot on lead singer Gaz Coombes, used primarily to project in negative into the screen, and the other offering a wide shot covering the whole band and also incorporating the audience, along with some elements of camera feedback. To this they added five lipstick cameras with wide angle lenses each trained on the individual band members.

    All the images — an eclectic collage of abstracts, Lichtenstein-esque images, colour blocks, oscillating sinewaves, etc, plus the camera feeds — were affected in the Catalyst in one way or another. This element of the process was left almost entirely to Arthur, with some notes from Quinn on specific moments. “Adding video elements brings a whole new dimension to the stage,” said Arthur, who described it as “The fifth element.” It’s used sparingly and intelligently, appearing and disappearing throughout the set.

    When the first wide shots hit the screen that include the audience along the bottom, they produced a real reaction, almost like a bonding process, bringing the fans on to the stage and including them in the action.

    Arthur had used video to great effect on the recent Mark Ronson tour, but this was a real learning curve for him in terms of using cameras and weaving them into the mix. The camera footage was used for quick cutting changes, particularly during the last section of the set, building up to the pre-encore crescendo of Supergrass’ classic, ‘Pumping On The Stereo’.
    
LIGHTING
When it came to lighting, Arthur wanted to achieve a layered look, with two clear levels of lighting above the video screen, and he also wanted a healthy mix of lighting and video, without one or the other taking over. The back truss featured five Martin Pro MAC 700 Spots and Washes, with the video sub hung from this on mini-beam trussing, on top of which were another five moving lights — again, a mix of MAC Spots and Washes.

    Downstage, he positioned nine MAC 250 Washes, including some on top of the side fills for cross-stage illumination, with the others on the top truss and on the video truss. Three Atomic strobes with colour changers were concealed behind the backline, used for silhouetting effects, and five Martin Stage Bar 54Ls were used to provide a colour changing back light for each band member. On the front truss he had an ETC Source Four PAR for each band member and four 4-lites for audience illumination.

    Arthur ran all the lighting and the Catalyst through a Jands Vista — this was his second tour with the Vista, his current desk of choice, and this also triggered the Catalyst. Also working on the tour with him were Mike Sheppard from Lite Alternative and Gareth Manicom from XL Video.

SOUND
Mixing the FOH sound was Franc Le Moignan, the first time she’s taken up the FOH role for the band, but she has worked for them before as a systems tech for PA supplier Skan. She also knows Mick Brown through monitor engineering for The Flaming Lips. Skan again supplied an L-Acoustics dV-DOSC system for this tour featuring nine mid-highs per side, run with eight d&b J-SUBs (four per side) and d&b Q7s for infills.

    On the tour, Le Moignan used a Yamaha PM5D console, primarily to make access easier and for its small footprint in some of the more space-squeezed venues on the itinerary. A Midas XL4 is her first desk of choice, and by happy coincidence, this is the in-house console at the Astoria, where they used the full house PA rig.

    Elsewhere, she made the most of the PM5D’s internal effects; the system processing was handled by XTA 226s and 448s, and driven by Lab.gruppen amps. Skan also supplied systems engineer Scott Essen who was a big part of the whole Supergrass production equation.

    In more creative terms, Le Moignan followed the organic and slightly soft-edged rawness of the band’s natural sound. It was very much a case of ‘less is more’ in terms of effects and intervention. “The sound really does all come from them ultimately,” she said, “so getting a good, clean level on-stage is the main objective...” — along with it being important to hear the lyrics to appreciate that unique Supergrass humour and quirkiness.

    She uses a bit of fast slapback delay on Coombes’ vocal and aims for that raucous slightly trashy acoustic that has defined their sound over the years.

    On monitors, Denny Vidal enjoyed his first tour with the band. He also worked with a Yamaha PM5D console, which is very much his preferred desk in the digital domain. The 14 wedges were d&b M2s, powered by D12 amplifiers, and coupled with d&b C7 stacks for side fill. It was a “very straightforward” eight-way mix involving 27 channels, explained Vidal.

    The stage sound was pure and generally unprocessed, with just one sample in one number throughout the set. “It’s really refreshing to work with this,” said Vidal, adding that as a band they all know exactly what they want and need from their monitor mixes, and have a great rapport with all their crew. “Everyone on the tour is important to them,” he commented — a sentiment echoed by TM/PM Mick Brown, who added that years of touring have not jaded Supergrass’s enthusiasm or love for the lifestyle connected with live performance.

    Brown, whose touring roles with the band have also encompassed backline and monitors, said in closing: “The co-operation from all the suppliers on this has been amazing.”
TPi
Photography by
Louise Stickland