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It is testament to an enjoyable and effective production collective when the majority of a touring team have been on the road for many years. This is true of Rod Stewart’s crew - headed up by Production Manager, Lars Brogaard - who have formed close bonds during their time on the tour and perfected the day-to-day operation over the years - or in many cases - decades they have worked with the artist. One such crew member is Lighting Designer, Mark Payne, who 20 years after joining the collective, is still bringing visual innovation to Stewart’s live performances. “Rod is a great performer. All of us on the tour have been around for a long time. We try to make it fun. Many of the suppliers have also been with us for years - Creative Technology, Neg Earth, Eat Your Hearts Out, to name but a few.” With this particular tour, just when we think we’re ramping down, Rod comes out with a new album that becomes fantastically

popular and we’re out with an even bigger tour,” he said. “It’s quite astounding how Rod just keeps going and going - he’s just a really good performer, which means the shows are fantastic.”

EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGY Delivering Stewart’s distinctive sound to the audience is undoubtedly crucial to the success of the Live the Life tour. However, in order to enhance the show, the lighting and video need to be just as exceptional in quality. Payne, has enjoyed a varied career that has seen him join the touring teams of Depeche Mode, Simple Minds and Tears For Fears. Payne started working with Stewart through his connection with Brian Croft, the now retired MD of Vari-Lite, and PM, Lars Brogaard. “The team wanted an operator that could also put the fixtures up so Lars suggested I do it and we got on really well. Here I am, 20 years later, working on the overall visual design of

Rod’s shows,” he explained. “LED video has crept more into live shows. Lars, Rod, myself and everyone in this organisation are keen on keeping up with new technology and we like to use the best we can get hold of. We used to have a portrait screen in the middle of the stage and made it the central part of our design. Since then we’ve always put LED at the centre of what we’re doing. We’ve kept up with all the latest technology when it comes to media servers too and we like to control everything with as few people as possible.” Stewart’s shows have always featured a large amount of video, which in earlier years was cued through tapes - a complicated and slow process that required two people. “With the advances in technology we can now use a server like Catalyst. We first brought this on board after Lars used it and immediately knew that was what we needed for our productions,” continued the LD. Payne’s first task was to develop an overall

HAVING SOLD OVER 100 MILLION RECORDS, ROD STEWART’S GLOBAL STATUS IS UNDENIABLE. THE LEGENDARY SINGER / SONGWRITER’S DISTINCTIVE TONE AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE HAS SEEN HIM SCORE SIX CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE ALBUMS IN THE UK AND - PROVING THAT STEWART IS STILL AS POPULAR AS EVER - HIS LATEST ALBUM, TIME, ALSO SHOT TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS EARLIER THIS YEAR. ZOE MUTTER FOUND OUT HOW THE LATEST LIVE PRODUCTION HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO REFLECT THE ARTIST’S GLITTERING CAREER.

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

ROD STEWART: LIVE THE LIFE

style for the show and have the visual content produced by creative studio, duo2. “When we decided the set would feature LED we covered the front up a bit with some Perspex to take the edge off and developed the towers at the back to make them bigger,” he added. Live the Life’s lighting is heavily driven by the video content. With no smoke being used throughout the production and an all-white set, he predominantly lights the background and performers. “A lot of the creativity is in the

content, which Rod also had a lot of input into, along with the things he wanted on stage,” he added. “Lars then came up with the concept of the towers and the way the screens would work together.”

STRONG PERFORMANCESClose collaboration between the visual team was essential in order to produce the desired experience for the audience. Willis Spencer headed up the video department, whilst Video

Director, Charlie Harris, cut the cameras. “We did quite a lot of work in pre-production and I have been collaborating with Mark Payne in terms of the Catalyst work to make sure everything looks correct,” said Spencer, who after working with the likes of Lionel Richie and Lee Evans, joined Stewart’s touring crew in 2010. “Video is very much a large part of the show, aside from Rod and the music. It’s the main support and determines the mood and look of the songs.”

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ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

Opposite: The large portrait screen was predominantly used for IMAG shots of Rod Stewart, whilst content was displayed on the other screens on the towers and at the back of the stage; Below: The tour had to deliver the same visual and sonic impact as Rod Stewart’s latest number one album.

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Acting as somewhat of a centrepiece of the show were the screens, which were provided by longstanding supplier Creative Technology and CT Touring. According to Spencer, the support offered by the company is exceptional and all shows he has worked on with them have been well prepped. The screen set-up for Live The Life comprised a 60 ft by 30 ft Spider 30 screen at the back of the stage, a 18 ft by 15 ft Flyer 12 main portrait screen and six towers with Flyers 12, measuring 9.5 ft by 5.5 ft and 11 ft by 5.5 ft. While the portrait screen mainly displayed IMAG of Stewart, the back screen featured graphical elements to suit the song. “We also have four Sony HSC-300 high-defi nition cameras that are operated and then two robo cams remotely operated to shoot the drums and percussionist. Graphics displayed on the screens have evolved in style - it is bold and exciting and has become more refi ned,” commented Spencer. “It’s become more stylish and we try to an extent to give a 3D look so the towers are separated from the back screen to give a feeling of depth.” Spencer believes the Catalyst system, which plays a key function in the show, is very well suited to such productions: “You can manipulate video easily using it and Mark can make changes quickly with the desk. It’s very fast, user-friendly and reliable. We feel like we’re in a safe pair of hands and we’ve just upgraded to faster Macs so they’re responding much better.” Video Director, Harris, has also seen the benefi ts of working with Catalyst: “It’s been fantastic to have all the footage on two Apple Macs that we can then play. So

we can just start the song and Mark has linked it all together so the lights, video and so on all start in unison. In the old days you needed to use timecode from a keyboard player, but technology has advanced to such a level that you don’t have such problems anymore.” Harris began his career as a guitar tech for Jefferson Airplane, before moving on to work on the video facets of Prince, Stone Temple Pilots and Rolling Stones’ live productions. “I fi rst worked with Rod in 1991 and then I came back on his tour in 2007 and have been here ever since,” he said. “I need to make sure everyone is shooting what we require for the specifi c song. On this show, image magnifi cation is important and trying to get Rod’s personality across, which is fairly easy because he is so animated and such a good performer. “The last O2 show we played was one of the best we’ve ever done. Rod performs at 100% all the time anyway so they are all really strong performances, but that last O2 show just had something magical about it. There is the odd challenge, like the weather wasn’t great when we played in Poland the other day, but everybody is a professional and the team works like a well-oiled machine. This has a lot to do with Lars being so good at production managing and picking the right people.”

COMPLEMENTING THE MUSICFor the visual content brief Creative and Art Director, Tito Sabatini, and his team at São Paulo-based company, duo2, were asked to be creative yet simple in their designs. All visuals were produced by the

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

Below: Mark Payne’s striking visual design was full of colour.

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Below: Head of Automation, Doug Sager, with TAIT’s Navigator; Head Rigger, Pete Rayel; Lighting Designer, Mark Payne, worked with a Catalyst media server and a High End Systems Hog 3; Head Carpenter, Gary Jacobs.

designer’s team, with Sabatini’s lead, while Payne, oversaw the project, offering input throughout. Also playing an important part in the content creation was Art Director, Amir Admoni, and Designers and Animators, Fernando Ferreira and Bruno Galan. Due to their high level of creativity, Payne is also planning on using duo2’s services for another future production. “Rod Stewart’s last tour included duo2 creations so I was very happy when Mark told me that Rod has asked to call the Brazilian guys again! There were some specific briefs for songs for this tour, like You’re in My Heart. For this, Rod wanted something related to football so Mark Payne filmed some footage with him in a chroma key studio, playing with a ball,” said Sabatini. “Mark told me that Rod was very happy with the shoot. One thing I’ll never forget was his reaction when he saw the final result playing football inside a ‘real’ stadium. He said: ‘You never cease to amaze me!’” From the first ideas through to final output took six months, with the final design and animation lasting for around 10 weeks. Content was made for the large central screen and all the screens placed at the towers designed by Paul Staples. A mixture of real

footage, 3D and more simplistic 2D footage to fit in with the brief was created to complement the style of music. “For the tour, duo2 Designer, Fernando Shelka, and myself joined the crew for rehearsals to be sure everything was as Rod and the team wanted. The videos for Finest Woman - which features Rod’s wife - were created during rehearsals,” said Sabatini. Payne added: “Rod can be random on stage sometimes so we need to have a bit of flexibility, he does like to change things around a little bit. He’s very interested in the content. It was all quite new for him five years ago - he liked it, but didn’t know what he needed. This time around he’s engaged with it much more and had lots of input. Most shows we play some football footage and sometimes he wants to show something amusing on screen. “What’s different about what we’re doing is the towers - I have two camera inputs into my Catalyst and I control what goes to the towers in terms of IMAG, which is unusual. We run the intro music through the Catalyst too and do a bit of audio through that if we’re showing something on the screens that needs it.”

A STRUCTURED LIGHT SHOW What was displayed on the screens directly reflected the

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

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lighting - sometimes the video took the lead and sometimes the lighting would. Payne operated a very structured light show from a High End Systems Hog 3 desk - a console he has used for years and is a big fan of - with every song havinf been programmed. In terms of fixtures, a total of 30 Clay Paky 1500 Washes, 30 Philips Vari-Lite VL3015 Spots, 50 Martin Professional MAC 101’s, 50 DWE 2-Lite Moles and 96 LED PAR Cans in the set inside the towers and behind the mesh were included in the design. “I only light people with the Vari-Lites and the washlights are illuminating the set and audience,” continued Payne. “The MAC 101’s are doing all the structural truss and the DWE are lighting the audience.” All lighting fixtures and control were supplied by Neg Earth - a company the Stewart team has worked with for many years. “We felt they were offering the right package and have had some great experiences with the company in the past,” commented Payne. “I’ve known Julian Lavender for years and it seemed like an obvious choice also because we liked the idea of rehearsing at LH2, which is such a good venue.” Payne being a keen user of WYSIWYG benefitted the production team, allowing the entire crew to get familiar with the look of the show in 3D before beginning rehearsals at LH2. “I went into rehearsals knowing what height everything was and where it was going to go. I knew where the towers would be and how they would move,” he said.

PRODUCING CLEAN SOUNDRental house Major Tom was responsible

for supplying audio equipment to suit the requirements of the artist and band. Experienced System Engineer, Mike Smeaton, ensured kit was configured to produce the highest quality of sound. “Although I am freelance, I worked for Lars’ touring solutions company, Major Tom, for this production,” he said. Meyer Sound’s LEO was the best-suited system for the tour, with the set-up also featuring MILO side hangs and the 1100-LFC low-frequency control element. The main hangs comprised 12 LEOs, with four MICA underhangs per side and then five 1100-LFC subs in cardioid behind the main hang - with three pointing forward and two backward. “Lars thinks Meyer Sound makes some of the best equipment and I’m a big fan of it too. We have spacer bars between the subs to split them, which is to help with cardioid and to tighten the vertical dispersion of the bass so we’re not sending too much up to the roof or down to the ground. “Lars likes a nice clean sound and we need to get decent gain before feedback to try to get the sound around the room as best we can. This system was chosen on quality.” Although the configuration allowed for the use of 16-deep MILOs for side hangs, at Liverpool’s Echo Arena only 10 were used. For front fills six Meyer Sound UPA-1Ps were chosen, with subwoofers on the ground being three 1100-LFCs - one pointing backwards and two forward in cardioid. Meanwhile, continuing the Meyer Sound theme, the audio crew likes to use Calisto and Galileo for processing and control.

PERFECTING THE MIXOver at FOH position, Production Manager, Brogaard also took up audio engineering duties - using his trusty DiGiCo SD7 console. DiGiCo desks also featured in monitor world, where Sven Jorgensen mixed Stewart and Mark Willett mixed the band, both using D5 consoles. Smeaton commented: “Lars helped develop the DiGiCo range and is very fond of the desk. I believe some of the features making it one of thebest consoles out there include it’s wonderful sound quality and how easy it is to get around. You can work with a lot of channels simultaneously and arrange in several different places or layers as you please - we’ll be at somewhere around the 76 odd input mark from stage for this show. The SD7’s three onboard screens make this easy.” Microphones used were predominantly AKG models including the D112, D5 451 and C518. Shure SM57’s, Sennheiser e609’s and Neumann U87 also made an appearance, with Sennheiser G2 being chosen as IEM systems. Little processing was needed for the production, with Brogaard making use of a Smart Research C2 compressor for Stewart’s vocals. “Everything else is internal on the console. We then go straight out of the console into one Galileo and then it splits off into Calisto and Galileo’s for the PA,” continued Smeaton. “The Calisto and Galileo are six-input devices with 16 outputs each, so we zone the PA up into four zones for the main hang and three for the sides through them. It’s then straight copper to the boxes and we zone them by taking five zones up in the air and use four of them for the mains.”

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

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Below: The visual content was produced by Brazilian creative company, duo2; KB Event supplied 11 trucks for the tour; TAIT built custom helix-shaped lighting trusses; Major Tom supplied the Meyer Sound PA system; Systems Technician, Mike Smeaton.

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VISUALLY DYNAMIC SET DESIGN“Ian Knight, who had been Rod’s Set Designer for years, unfortunately died a few years ago,” said Payne. “We were thinking about designing it

ourselves but then we decided to entrust the set design to someone else. Knowing this production needed to live up to the success of Stewart’s most recent album and previous tours, PM Brogaard asked Paul Staples (Queen, Elton John

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

Below: The dramatic TAIT-supplied curtain just before show time; Stewart sings to a packed Echo Arena in Liverpool.

and Pink Floyd) from Guernsey Consultants, to design the tour. Although Staples had not designed for the artist before, he had known Brogaard or many years and worked with him on a large tour for Eros Ramazzoti. The brief was fairly tight in that Stewart wanted a full-width video cyclorama, a specific band layout and a fixed portrait ratio video screen roughly halfway upstage. There were up to 14 people on stage at any one time, so layout and ease of access was also of great importance. “Tourability in terms of truckspace, load-in and load-out times was always critical in view of the schedule, and the input and contribution of all the key touring production staff was vital, thus the only real compromise was that the six periaktos trucks now remain static, whereas they were originally intended to move,” said Staples. “The most visually dramatic elements of the design are the two double helix trusses, which are both the lighting support system and decorative elements themselves. The motion control system is very sophisticated and provides an almost infinite number of speeds and positions for each of them relative to each other. We use them sparingly during the show, so that they can be used to the best effect during the finale.” Payne added: “The design of the previous tour has now been beefed up to feature large triangular towers at the back. They

have three sides - one is LED, one is a mirror structure and the third is mesh with LED PAR Cans in it. “Rod is very keen on the acoustic part of the show and wanted to make a change for this section so we added a truss structure built by TAIT that we had designed and custom built, which drops in and changes the atmosphere on the stage for about four or five songs.” Brogaard, LD Payne and Staples worked extremely closely, all making valuable contributions to the end result. Set Designer, Staples, commented: “The high spot for me was a successful opening night and the continued support and enthusiasm of the touring crew. The Rod Stewart team are very experienced and professional and anticipated pretty much every problem at a very early stage so there were no insurmountable issues.”

CUSTOMISED STAGING ELEMENTSContinuing a long-standing relationship with the legendary Rod Stewart team that spans nearly three decades, TAIT was eager to produce customised staging elements for the artist’s widely- anticipated Live the Life tour. Working alongside Set Designer, Paul Staples; PM, Brogaard and LD, Payne, the team integrated TAIT’s fully-optimised stock assets into the set design. “We have worked with TAIT’s Scott Levine a lot, who was our

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main man there,” said Payne. “They did a great job - we had some real challenges. We sent the set guys out to TAIT Towers in America for two weeks before we started building to get it all right because we knew it was going to be complicated.” TAIT supplied six custom Periaktos, which were positioned on the main stage and manually rotated throughout the performance. Each of the three-sided Periaktos contained a multi-faceted mirror face, a 12mm CT Flyer video screen and a grill-plated surface backlit with LED PAR fixtures. The company’s automated helical trussing provided one of the main, artistic focal points of the set design. Powered by TAIT’s Nav Hoist system and hung from 10 half-tonne chain hoists, the elements featured a custom scenic applique, integrated lighting and helical curved scenic units, which attached to the chords of the trussing. TAIT also produced a custom band riser package with custom LED fascia, as well as an integrated drum riser. Both the band and drum risers featured TAIT’s patented MagDeck system for increased efficiency in its assembly.

POWERFUL AND FLEXIBLETAIT’s equipment was also utilised for the automation aspects of the tour, as its Navigator system took pride of place beside the stage,

operated by Head of Automation, Doug Sager. “I was originally a Master Carpenter in theatre in Denver, Colorado, and then ran away with the circus and toured with Cirque du Soleil for almost four years,” he said. “I then went to Batman Live and through that became involved with TAIT and have worked with them on various projects since. It was through that association that I joined this tour this year.” Sager has operated TAIT’s Navigator system for over a year, with his first experience of the system being on Batman Live. He works closely with the head rigger and lighting crew from Neg Earth - the company that provides the mother grid as well as lighting fixtures. “My motors hang off the mother grid so it’s important I communicate regularly with the lighting team,” he added. “There isn’t too much automation in this show though - I have a total of 10 Tait Nav Hoists, which are variable-speed, Liftket-based chain motors moving two pieces of TAIT’s bespoke circular lighting truss. The truss pieces aren’t just static - they have multiple motors on them to allow them to move up and down.” Throughout the show, Sager works with six cues, with the automation being introduced about halfway through the performance, just before the acoustic set. A few more moves are then carried out throughout the acoustic section before the dynamic move during the

encore, which Sager refers to as a “four-minute dance with the truss”. “Navigator’s 3D engine figures out the physics for which motor needs to move to which point and at what speed in order to maintain a proper weight distribution across the truss piece,” he explained. “Navigator is exceptionally powerful and customisable and can do anything you can think of. It’s a really well-built product that’s easy to modify and customise and set up for personal preference and to make sure you have everything you need right at your fingertips.” With regards to health and safety, constant communication is needed amongst the team building the truss pieces to ensure it is built to the highest standard to enable flawless automation. “Beyond that, the motors all have double breaks on them. I also have Show Distribution load cells on all of my motors so I can tell how the weight is dispersed at any time,” he added.

MULTIPLE RESPONSIBILITIESAs well as being in charge of carpentry activities on tour and leading three other team members, Head Carpenter, Gary Jacobs (Diana Ross), gets involved with the audio side too, looking after its maintenance. “I’ve been in the industry for 16 years and came on this tour through Lars Brogaard, who I had done a lot of previous

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

Below: The set and stage design of the show was the creation of Paul Staples.

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building work for. For this tour, the new set TAIT has provided has been fantastic. I worked very closely with them and as it came out of their factory is how it is going up in the venues,” he said. The carpentry team is responsible for unloading most of the trucks and working with the band risers on stage, the marley underlay and other scenic elements such as the six towers at the back of the stage. Jacobs’ remit also covers all of the quick changes on stage, constructing the set - which normally takes around 2.5 hours - and then deconstructing it. “The Austrian curtain was provided by TAIT too and the original curtain motors were supplied by them for previous Rod Stewart tours - they’ve served us well and we’re still using them today. The motors were resurfaced this spring, but they’ve been around on the tour as long as I have, used in different configurations,” he said. “We don’t change the set-up much from venue to venue, but we don’t put the curtain up when we go to outdoor venues. Sometimes we are playing in tighter venues and need to reconfigure the shape of the truss at the top.”

PRODUCTION COMPLEXITIESMikkel Brogaard (Rolling Stones, Lionel Richie, Spandau Ballet) has an extensive history with Rod Stewart’s on-the-road team, working on and off with them and the artist since 1978. “I was Stage Carpenter on the 1978 tour and then moved over to Stage Manager. I also have

a company - European Staging - that supplied outdoor stages and have been providing staging for Rod’s outdoor shows since 1996,” he said. Brogaard pointed out that this tour has been bigger than the last two, which have normally fitted in seven or eight trucks instead of the 11 that were needed this time. The set also features a greater number of moving pieces along with the moving truss, making the production more complex. “Day to day, we need to make sure we get all our trucks lined up in the right position, fire escape routes are checked and we have the right number of local crew,” he explained. “I also need to make sure that nobody is in anyone’s way and we can get sound through one door and set through another and so on. This has been relatively easy, but the main challenge has been to make sure as many trucks are loaded and unloaded at the same time - the set alone fills four or five trucks.” As the only touring rigger on the crew, Pete Rayel (David Blowie, Genesis, Queen) is in charge of 12 local riggers at each venue, supervising them during the rig and de-rig. Like many of the crew, Rayel joined the team after meeting Lars Brogaard, when they met 35 years ago whilst working on the live shows of Scottish band Nazareth. “Rod is a great artist to work for and the crew is like a big family. This tour hasn’t been too demanding either. I usually start at about 7am and we’re up and running by midday and then the de-rig is normally a couple of hours

and myself and the rigging team are working with regular 22-inch general purpose truss,” he commented. “I’ve been very impressed by the bespoke helix truss - an all-singing, all-dancing creation. I think the show has really improved over the years and has got much bigger.”

HIGHEST STANDARD OF SERVICEBussing services for the tour were delivered by Phoenix Bussing and Coach Services, with two busses being required. Due to the touring schedule, no overnight stops were needed - apart from the trip between Hamburg and Poland - so the busses were only utilised during the day. Meanwhile, trucking specialist KB Event was selected to provide 11 trucks. The company was already acquainted with the touring team, having worked on the last stadium tour, leapfrog trucking the two stages as well as trucking production. “We have also done some one-off shows for Rod Stewart and have worked for Lars Brogaard for a number of years on events as diverse as Englbert Humperdinck tours through to UFC arena shows,” said Stuart McPherson, Managing Director of KB Event. The company provided trucking for both legs of the European tour after extensive pre-production including route planning and scheduling to deliver the most efficient and cost effective way of meeting the tour itinerary. “We trucked rehearsals into and out of LH2 and then supplied 11 of our Scania Topline Megacube Artics for the tour trucking,” added McPherson. “Our driving team was involved in the show

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

Below: Meyer Sound was the best-suited PA system for the tour; Head of Video, Willis Spencer, and Video Director, Charlie Harris; Stage Manager, Mikkel Brogaard; DiGiCo consoles were selected for FOH and monitor mixing; Mark Payne worked with a High End Systems Hog 3 lighting console; Video screens for the tour were provided by Creative Technology.

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in various roles, operating truss spots, turning scenery and even doing the balloon release.” In total, the company was involved in all rehearsals and then every date of the European tour, including a reduced two-truck show in Monte Carlo at the end of the first leg. The MD continued: “Our biggest challenge was ensuring that we put the right driving team together for the tour. Lars’ Rod Stewart crew is like a very large family who have worked together for a long time so it is imperative that the personalities all gel.” Aside from being appointed trucking supplier, McPherson’s favourite part of this experience was seeing the show for the first time. “The TAIT set looks fabulous, with the lighting and video complementing it wonderfully and the show sounded great,” he said. “It was an absolute delight to watch. It was also great for my team to have a rock ‘n’ roll tour with such a pleasant schedule. With many of the tours we do the teams on the road are faced with a lot of very big back-to-back overnight drives. This tour was planned and scheduled in such a way that there were very few of these.” For McPherson, one of the most important factors that he believes has led to them being chosen for the tour is the quality of the relationship that has been built up over a period of time. “It builds a trust in our ability to deliver what is required,” he explained. “It is also about service levels and ensuring we deliver the

highest standard each and every day. We aim to be clever in how we plan a tour to ensure we can be as cost effective as possible while still maintain quality in what we provide.”

COMPETITIVE PRICING The logistical side of Live the Life was placed in the capable hands of travel agent The Tour Company. Although the company’s head office is located in Glasgow, Bournemouth-based Lindsey Young looks after her set of clients, which includes Rod Stewart, Barry Gibb and Marilyn Manson. “I have been involved in his travel for many years. I arrange the hotels and flights for their US tours as well as in Europe, the UK, South America and flights worldwide,” she said. “My objective is to provide the best possible service, which entails sourcing hotels and flights of the right standard and facilities to suit the group, and at the most competitive prices. I also need to keep the service going throughout the tour to ensure the hotels understand the brief and carry out our instructions correctly. This includes handling and processing any changes that occur along the way and to communicate these effectively.” Meanwhile, freighting was being carried out by Global Motion.

A SMOOTH RUNNING OPERATIONEfficiency and professionalism are at the core of the touring team’s production accomplishments

so far. “What’s also great about the organisation that has grown up around Rod is that it’s really good value for money,” commented Payne. “We don’t just have equipment because we can - everything we have we use. Every light I have has a purpose because you just can’t justify having lots of kit that doesn’t do much or anything. Some shows I have seen feature hundreds of lights everywhere and that aren’t really being used.” When working with an artist with such a high profile and succession of number one hits, the crew doesn’t play small venues regularly so they don’t always have to adapt the design to suit different venues. “The only thing we really have to adapt to is larger venues - we’re always upsizing rather than downsizing because his productions always prove to be such a hit with audiences.”TPi

Photography: Zoe Mutterwww.rodstewart.com

www.majortom.orgwww.negearth.co.uk

uk.ct-group.comwww.kbevent.com

www.taittowers.comwww.duo2.tv

www.phoenix-bussing.co.ukwww.globalmotion.co.uk

www.thetourcompany.co.ukwww.snp-productions.co.uk

ON THE ROAD: Rod Stewart

Below: A wide variety of visual treatments featured throughout the performance.