50 • February 2016 • Lighting&Sound America

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The Who’sFirst 50 Years

Creating distinctive lighting and video for the band’s semi-centennial

By: Sharon Stancavage

Copyright Lighting&Sound America February 2016 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

he goal of The Who’s current tour, The WhoHits 50!, is quite straightforward: “We wantedto celebrate how important The Who are inthe world we are in, and to provide enter-

tainment for adults—it’s there to make you sit, enjoyyourself, and really chill out,” explains productiondesigner Tom Kenny, who has been working with thegroup since 1990. He adds, “It’s great to work withpeople at this level—for Pete [Townshend], Roger[Daltrey], the band, and all of us, we have two-and-a-halfhours of sheer fun every night. We’re also very lucky thatthey’re not afraid to spend money on the right stuff. A lotof bands would cut corners, but they didn’t.”

This celebration of 50 years of The Who was in theplanning stages during the last tour, Quadrophenia, Kennysays: “Myself, Pete, Roger, and management decided weneeded more visual help, so we contacted two friends ofours from London, Des Murphy and Chris Rule, whohelped us with Quadrophenia.” Murphy and Rule are withthe animations and graphics firm ShinyEye Studios. “We’refortunate to have a lot of archived stuff of the band,”Kenny says. “We also have Pete and Roger, who havegreat opinions and are not negative at all—they helpeveryone 100%.” A 45' x 35' WinVision video wall is usedfor both content and IMAG; also featured are two 16' x 9'side screens used exclusively for IMAG.

Kenny says that the band members “didn’t want [thevisuals to be] as psychedelic as Quadrophenia’s were.They don’t like anything too literal, and they don’t want thevisuals to take away from what they’re doing; they alsowant everyone to feel comfortable.”

Overseeing the content displayed on the new PRGNocturne VR-7 (7mm) LED wall is video content directorGiani Fabricio, of Ultima Productions, the firm thatsupplied the front-of-house video control system. Fabriciodecided to eschew traditional media servers, insteaddesigning his own media control solution. “There aren’tmany options out there as live control solutions for mediaservers,” he says. “Lighting consoles are often used, but Idon’t find that ideal, because they’re designed to controllights via DMX first, so MIDI or OSC programming is not apriority, which often results in limited functionality andinevitable drawbacks when wanting control applicationsrunning on a computer instead of lighting fixtures.”

Fabricio has experimented with different options; thelast time out with The Who, he employed an Avolites Aimedia server. “I like to try different systems for eachproduction,” he says. Still, he adds, “It’s great to designand build your own system, as you end up knowing itinside out. If something goes wrong, you can quickly fix ityourself, without having to rely on tech support that mightbe halfway across the world in a different time zone.”

Fabricio has devised a setup with two separate facets.“The control console would be the equivalent of the

lighting desk, while underneath it is a dual-rack case thathosts the computers and processing units, which mostlydeal with inputs and outputs—getting video feeds from thecameras, sending video outputs to the LED wall processor,or receiving and sending audio.”

Two Apple Mac Pros function as the system’s centralprocessing units. For a control surface, Fabricio turned tothe firm Native Instrument, which makes MIDI controllersfor the DJ market; he has one Traktor S1 and two TraktorS4 MIDI controllers. “Because they’ve been building widelyused performance-driven MIDI controllers for a long time,the build quality is really awesome; they feel great and arevery robust,” he says. “They also have an efficient andintuitive system for programming and mapping, whichmakes it a much more fun experience than using Art-Netto program a lighting desk to control a media server.”

Also, he says, “I can even customize the backlight colorof each control, and there is a wide range of controls tochoose from, with different types of faders, knobs, jogwheels, and pushbuttons of varying sensitivity to allow for

different kind of control styles. Because they are typicallyused by DJs, they also have built-in audio interfaces,which allow the system to send and receive up to fourchannels of audio for time code or media playback withoutthe need of additional rack units; they also have aconvenient headphone jack with volume control, which isreally handy while programming a show.”

Fabricio adds, “The primary computer monitors are two23" ASUS PA238Qs with picture-in-picture functionality,allowing them to receive multiple inputs; I also use twoBlackmagic Design SmartView Duo monitors, which aresmaller units that can accept SDI broadcast signals. I usethem to keep an eye on the camera live feeds in case Iwant to mix them in with the visuals and add effects. Oneis used for a fixed camera on [drummer] Zak Starkey so Ican follow his leads for timing and cues. It’s great to haveall the components being independent units; if one goesdown, I can very quickly replace it without having to swap

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a whole desk.”Also, Fabricio says, “Two of the rack units are

Blackmagic Design UltraStudio 4K Thunderbolt 2s; theirprimary function is to capture the camera feeds into theMac Pros. Because each is a combined video and audiointerface, they could also be used to send and receiveaudio or time code.” The units are used for capture andplayback and to support a variety of input/output connec-tions, including 6G-SDI, HDMI, analog audio, AES/EBU

audio, analog video, time code, and Sync.in. One of the more unusual aspects of the system is a

Focusrite RedNet 6 MADI bridge. “I do a lot of work incor-porating audio within the video world,” Fabricio says. “I’m adata-flow programmer, and I design audio-reactive systemsfor other projects, so I wanted to have that as an option ona show like this, which has lots of audio channels, but in away that I wouldn’t need to bother the very busy audioguys. RedNet 6 allows me to receive up to 64 channels

Kenny was an early user of the Chauvet Professional Nexus 4 x 4 wash light, which is used here to frame the WinVision LED wall.

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directly from the FOH audio desk with one single cable, andto network them to however many servers via Cat6.”

For playback, Fabricio uses a mixture of programslinked together by a new protocol called Syphon. “Insteadof using one server environment, like an [Avolites] Ai or aHippo, I have taken advantage of protocols like Syphon tocreate a custom environment made from various interlinkedapps,” he says. “It’s a very useful protocol; it’s similar towhat the Dante or Soundflower protocols do for audio in

terms of digital routing or networking of high-quality audiowith no latency. Syphon allows you to stream video fromone application to another within the same computerdirectly on the graphics card, without having to output firstand then recapture thus adding possible latency.”

The system includes a variety of programs that Fabriciocan call on as needed. He explains, “I use Resolume Arenaas the main interface. It has a really neat way of arranging,triggering, and mixing media. It also has great time-codefunctionality, integrates well the Blackmagic Designhardware for video capturing or transmitting, and has avery intuitive output-mapping engine. I also use a visualprogramming environment called Magic, which is great forcertain kinds of effects, especially for audio-reactive sort ofstuff. Then I use Vezér for some MIDI/OSC sequencing,Ableton Live for audio channel monitoring, and a series ofother plug-ins, patches, and utilities for all the bits inbetween. Basically, it’s a modular system that takesadvantage of protocols, like Syphon, to share a videostream across different applications, for them to process itin different ways, depending on what they are good at. Thecontrol data is generally just MIDI or OSC, which you canalso network to multiple applications at the same time.

“If something suddenly happens, like a bad software orfirmware update, or a bug screws up your main mediaserver environment, you’re hanging there—you end up withthe typical scenario of an engineer trying to urgently reachan already-busy software developer halfway across theglobe to fix the problem before showtime. With this moremodular system, if something is not working, I cangenerally just reroute things or use a different combinationof apps as a quick fix. The rest of the system will be fine,and I can solve the problem at a later time after the show.”

Fabricio works closely with video director MathieuCoutu, who was also part of Quadrophenia. “Mathieureceives all the feeds,” he says. “He’s directing thecameras and the final IMAG feed. I’m not in direct commu-nication with the cameramen; I’m in direct communicationwith him so he can send me specific shots to mix in withthe content on the center LED wall.” The production hasboth manned and robotic cameras; all are provided byPRG Nocturne.

Fabricio says of his custom system, “Overall, it’s a greatsolution for me because it’s flexible and modular and moreresilient to failures; it also takes up less space at FOH, withboth main and backup system taking up the same spaceas one lighting console would.” Although the bulk of thetour has been in arenas, he notes, “The Who does a lot ofcharity shows and sometimes we end up in smaller venueslike historic theatres where FOH space is limited. Especiallyfor the video person, unless you want to end up backstageit’s important to have a small footprint to find a spot oncethe audio and lighting desks have settled in.”

LightingAs expected, the color palettes of the video and lightingwork in tandem. Kenny notes, “I gave the content guys thecolors we like: deep reds and blues and ambers andgolds. The Who likes very strong, very British and patrioticcolors. We have a lot of deep reds and deep greens, so it’sa cornucopia of very deep colors. Of course, we use a lotof white light.”

Kenny relies on a trio of lighting instruments: the PhilipsVari*Lite VL3500 Spot [48 total in the air], ChauvetProfessional Nexus 4 x 4 wash light [50], and Robe 1200LEDWash [64].

“I frame the whole show with the Nexus 4 x 4s and itgives us a nice color,” Kenny says. “I got the first demounits, and I’ve liked them ever since. And, because there’sno smoke, they add a different visual to the show.” TheNexus units surround the video walls, and are also usedon the stage right and stage left kicker trusses.

The Robe units are used overhead and on the floor,Kenny says, mentioning some of the band’s iconicsymbols, “The Robe 1200 LEDWash is a big wash lightwith a lot of different effects, and I wanted to be able to dothe roundel and the target and all the different effects thatwe use with The Who. It is a beautiful light and we get agreat wash out of it as well.”

For his key light, which is always pristine, Kenny uses theVL3500, a favorite of many TV lighting designers. “We keepthe IMAG very crisp and clean,” he says. “That’s becausemyself and our video engineer, Sebastian Lamoureux, are

very attentive to the close-up imagery. Because I do somuch TV and film, it’s just natural for me now.”

The lighting rig, provided by PRG’s Toronto office,includes 46 Martin Professional Atomic strobes in theair and on the floor. “It is a fantastic white strobe”Kenny says, adding, “I have some GLP impression X4Sunits [30] on the deck that I use to color the band.” Anadditional eight VL3500 Washes are placed on thefloor upstage.

Because of the production’s strong focus on video,Kenny says he streamlined the lighting package. “We havefour straight trusses over the stage, and four towersupstage. We have some diagonal kickoffs at the side onstage right and left. It’s very straightforward, but the waywe trim it makes it look a bit different and bigger.” Theshow carries two Lycian M2 followspots and also uses fourhouse spots.

On the road, the show is handled by Kenny, as well aslighting director Jim Mustapha; programming was done byDavid “Fuji” Covertino. Lighting is controlled by two MALighting grandMA2 consoles. “I’ve got a great crew fromPRG; they support us really well, and the lighting goes upquickly every day,” the designer adds.

The Who Hits 50! Tour continues until the end of May.“We’ve done so many shows and we’ve enjoyed themall,” Kenny says. “I really look forward to the house lightsgoing out every night, because, like with every Whoshow, you never know what’s going to happen and it’s ajoy to watch.”

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54 • February 2016 • Lighting&Sound America

IMAG is handled by video director Mathieu Coutu; the camera-and-video package was supplied by PRG Nocturne.

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Fabricio created a custom video control system for The Who, using Resolume Arena as his primary interface.

Key to illuminating the band are Robe 1200 LEDWash and GLP impression X4S units.