Take That: From Man To Machine

TPi caught the 12th night of the tour in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. Robbie Williams quipped that last time he was on stage with Take That, he was faced by thousands of screaming girls, yet this time around, he was facing a stadium full of middle-aged women. Regardless of age, the hormonal frenzy was rife.
    However, the audience appreciation went far beyond the band’s sex appeal as they were overwhelmed by this highly ambitious, high-tech visual extravaganza from the theatrical style gags used to great effect, to the truly groundbreaking technological ‘tricks’ that culminated with a moving 20-metre robot advancing down the centre of the stadium’s B-stage.
    The Production Office’s Chris Vaughan is Take That’s long-standing and very experienced Production Manager. He told TPi: “Kim Gavin, the Creative Director of Progress Live has worked with Take That since 1992 on their first ever tour; she’s lived through the birth/split/re-birth of Take That’s temperamental history. She called me from a tour in America all those years ago and asked me to get involved.”
    If spectacular progression with Take That’s live shows was the ultimate intention from behind the scenes, it was certainly translating on stage. Vaughan continues: “As soon as the band had finished their last album, they started developing their own ideas for the tour with a close team including Kim Gavin, Es Devlin, Patrick Woodroffe, Misty Buckley and Malcolm Birkett. The concept of the album centres on the transformation of man to machine, which fundamentally inspired the ‘robotic’ ideas for the show.
    “Kim and the team gave myself and my TPO colleague Keely Myers their broad concepts for the songs so we looked to see what we thought we could achieve in the given timescale and budget. I see our role as delivering the band’s creative aspirations in the most cutting-edge, entertaining way we can.”

RING SIDE ACTION
Capital Sound carried out a complete overhaul of its Martin Audio W8L ‘Longbow’ inventory in preparation for the tour, finishing the whole system in black, to create stage uniformity and investing in eight further enclosures.
    Another established member of Take That’s touring entourage is Gary Bradshaw, one of the band’s FOH sound engineers since the first tour. “My desk of choice is the Digico SD7, there is one for Take That and another for support band, the Pet Shop Boys. This is actually my first time with the SD7 and it’s given me better overall sound quality, with dynamic compression on all ins and outs.”
    The Martin Audio Ring System was developed by Phil Broad to improve production values. Said Broad: “I wanted to clear the pitch from normal obstructions that affected the sightlines. It’s important that the audience can follow the performance as it moves between the two stages. I really wanted to create an atmosphere with people on the pitch; the B-Stage is only five ft high, so there’s a real proximity between the performers and their expectant audience”.
    Said System Designer and delay tech Al Woods: “Chris (Vaughan) talked to us into doing the ring delays. I was nervous at first, as in some of the venues on the tour, the roof is over the seats, which affects where we hang in regards to weights. We had to do extensive site visits.”
    To implement this, Capital Sound invested substantially in Optocore cabling to have two systems due to the increased install time.  “We wanted to use AES to transfer the data and audio but knew that copper would not carry it over the vast distances required,” acknowledged Woods. “After putting together the spreadsheets for cable runs, it became apparent that we needed to pay attention to the method we used —reliable 200-metre runs became our main concern.”
    But without a shadow of a doubt [the Optocore solution] has been the right way to distribute the audio and data for the Ring System, he confirmed. “All the delay systems need to be timed back to the main PA, so latency is not an issue. The audio quality is great; the data transfer is fast and reliable. And we are isolated between all rack positions so we have no unwanted hum due to common earth issues and potential differences etc.”
    Capital Sound’s Ian Colville, in conjunction with Woods, devised the PA system design for the Ring System. “Typically, eight hangs of between six and eight W8LC elements form the perimeter Ring System, flown from the stadium roof. In terms of quantities, the ring is formed by a core system of 88 W8LCs (with additional W8LCD Downfills). In order to provide sufficient power, two identical amplifier/cable set-ups were invested and designed, each comprising ten six-way racks.
    The W8LCs complement the main W8L Longbow stage system, which is in a standard configuration, comprising 12 x flown W8L Longbows and two W8LD Downfills per side and 12 flown W8LS subs per side. These are boosted by side hangs of 16 x W8L-Longbows and two W8LD Downfills per side and 32 x WS218X ground subs (16 per side). A further 16 x Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Arrays are being used as lip fills and out fills.
    Technical Manager at Capital Sound, Ian Colville, took measurements from the centre of the pitch using Display, Martin Audio’s proprietary audio software. “We did measurements in each venue and let Chris know where we wanted to hang the system. We’ve angled the top hang back and timed it all to arrive with the sub, which has been a lot of work but well worth doing; the sound blew me away. If people are prepared to pay for this style of Ring System“ he concluded, ”then this is  the future. I’m really proud of the sound on this tour and it’s been very nice to walk away having had the budget to create a great sounding PA system.”
    Delta Audio has supplied monitoring with Steve Lutley and Simon Hodge on mixing duties and Pete McGlynn on stage tech duties. Former monitor engineer on Gary Barlow’s Open Road solo tour, Chris Vaughan called Lutley back from touring retirement. He opted to use two Digico SD7 digital consoles — one for Take That and any possible guests (operated by himself) and one to do the seven band members, 35 performers, technical mix and all shout, operated by Simon Hodge.
    Said Lutley: “The desks sound great, have lots of good features like the alternative input, dynamic EQ, macros, FX and outputs for delays. Although we run separate files, we do have a generic file should we ever need to do the show from one console”.
    In-ear monitors are all Sennheiser SR2050 TX with EK2000 receivers — 20 in total — while all five Take That members use the Sennheiser SKM5200 microphone with EM3732-2 receivers.
    The biggest obstacle facing the monitor crew was getting the RF to work with such a large set. He continued: “Take That travel everywhere possible on this stage; 12-metres up in the air, back stage, across the whole main stage, the B-stage (50-metres in front of the PA) and under the B-stage too. At all times, they must be able to hear and be heard — and that was largely due to (RF manager and band monitor engineer) Simon Hodge and Pete McGlynn (monitor, stage and Digico guru).”
    They were supported by Baz Tymms (stage) and Paul Carter (in ears and show communications). The custom B-stage was 40ft 6” wide and 37ft 6” deep, based on Tait’s proprietary Mag Deck. Incorporating eight inch x 30”x80” lifts decks and one centre lift - 12ft four inch x seven ft11”, so the stage was designed with maximum use of limited space to store theatrical props used during the show.

HIT THE LIGHTS
Lighting Designer Patrick Woodroffe was brought on board again following his own involvement on the Circus tour, two years ago.
    He said: “One of the overriding concerns was the issue of sight lines within the stadium considering we have a production where half of the show took place on the B-stage. We decided to do away with the usual spot towers, but of course, needed to find a way to relocate both of these elements. It was a challenge, and there was a certain degree of compromise, particularly with the spot positions, but overall, I think the choice was the right one as the very open view of the stadium looked extraordinary.
    “Es Devlin’s set, while looking spectacular, didn’t afford us many front or side lighting positions, but working together, we managed to carve out enough real estate to get adequate light on the performers.”
    The show was programmed by Woodroffe’s long time collaborator Dave Hill, and according to the Lighting Designer was “much more aggressive and syncopated” than the last tour.
    Heavy overhead and top lights came via the Varilite 3500 Washes on the bridge. Martin MAC 301s defined the composition of the stage but also turned backwards to act as foot lights for the performers as well as being a source to light scenic pieces including Om the robot. The lighting control desk used is the grandMA2 which is run by Lighting Director Dennis Gardner, it being his desk of choice.
    LED within the lighting design has been crucial for Woodroffe and Co as the punchy, small, discreet units are needed for specific effects throughout. The rest of the lighting system used discharge sources.

THE (BIG) MANMADE MARVEL
In October 2010, the planning of the Big Man began. If you hadn’t already guessed, he’s the dominating centre piece (and this month’s cover star) on the main stage.Three set design companies were given briefs with the elements that they could potentially fulfil and each company seemed to gravitate towards the ones which felt the most natural for their team to deliver.
   The aforementioned 20-metre robot is called Om, and is tiny in comparison to Big Man, but in reality, still impressively huge. “With Om, Brilliant Stages went straight into intensive research and development, whereas Tait took on the bridge and flying possibilities for the performers and the big water feature backdrop”, commented Vaughan.
    “Total Fabrications took on the major scenic element of Big Man whose head looks down over the audience. His arms stretch the width of the stadium. He’s 30-metres tall, takes eight trucks to transport and goes up as part of the Stageco steel build.
    The tour is truly gargantuan, requiring 73 trucks (only one less than U2’s 360 Tour), with 106 universal tour crew and 30-advance crew comprised of Stageco, Popcorn Catering for the crew and The Ring System.   
    Take That’s four continuous members opened the show (sans Williams), making immediate use of the B-stage. “On this production, the complexity of the show means a minor technical set back could be a potential showstopper as there are a lot of quick transitions to the next complex trick. If one cue is missed, the knock-on effect is massive; communication is key.” Yet Vaughan has a plan to cover all eventualities: “Fortunately, we have some of the best people in the industry on board: rigger Phil Broad, Mark Berryman and Richard ‘Wez’ Wearing who stage manage. We’re constantly vigilant and talking to each other throughout the show.”
    “Time has been our main challenge,” admitted Andy Edwards, who designed Om. “Every valve and function is monitored, so if it goes wrong, it will simply stop the computer.” All movements are pre-programmed with a manual joystick to initiate each move. “I thought I would operate from within, but we figured that wasn’t the optimum place for me, so I handle control in a bunker at FOH.
    Said Edwards: “Some of the tabloids focused on the band getting stuck on the hand of Om, which was a shame for all concerned as he really is a testament to a lot of hard work. It happened at an early Manchester show and was down to miscommunication rather than a breakdown; a misheard cue caused someone to stop mid move and there would have been a small “jolt” if we’d re-started as the sequence when hydraulics moved into the net position. We didn’t want to risk it from a health and safety POV. It was a short break in the set, which the band took in their stride, and Chris (Vaughan) simply found a couple of ladders to get them down. 12 nights into the tour, every night is still a test night.”

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