LINKIN PARK PERFORM THE HUNTING PARTY TOUR
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
LINKIN PARK PERFORM
THE HUNTING PARTY TOUR
US NU-METAL MEGA-STARS LINKIN PARK RECENTLY RETURNED TO HEAD-BANGING BASICS WITH THE
BAND’S SOLD OUT EUROPEAN TOUR, THE HUNTING PARTY. A CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT THE RELEASE
OF THE BAND’S LATEST ALBUM OF THE SAME NAME, THE TOURING SHOW’S LOOK AND SOUND IS
VISCERAL, TEXTURAL AND DEFIANT. SARAH RUSHTON-READ REPORTS FROM A VERY SWEATY MOSH
PIT AT THE O2 ARENA, LONDON...
The epitome of arena rock, Linkin VISUALS
Park’s latest tour sees sharply angled A key element of the show design, which is
semi-transparent screens deliver layer based on previous designs by Tour Director
upon layer of dynamic content that and Production Manager Jim Digby and
effortlessly mixes pre-recorded video Lighting Designer Oli Metcalfe, is the visuals.
with live cameras. As the screens move Video Director and Content Producer
up and down, sometimes revealing and Brandon Parvini of LA based Ghost Town
sometimes masking band members on Media worked closely with Linkin Park’s DJ
plinths, they transmit vibrant, fast moving and creative director Joseph Hahn on the
curtains of sharp image and light. initial concept, pre-visualisation and mood
Video colludes with stark, edgy angular boards. Parvini, who is also responsible for
beams that combine to deliver everything Linkin Park’s promotional music videos,
from stinging explosions of stage-wide elaborates: “We worked alongside Joe for
blinders to intimate low-lit tableaus, about four months solid, rebuilding the
masterfully echoing Linkin Park’s richly show from the ground up, developing the
layered sound, packed as ever with bassy overall look and feel right up to defining the
synth-scapes, breakneck drumming, mood and tone for the lighting. From there
aggressive, fast-fingered guitar riffs and we developed 18 unique pieces of video
deliciously confrontational lyrics. content, at times pulling assets and video
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Opposite: PRG Supplied the tour’s incredible hanging video elements. Singer Chester Bennington with his Sennheiser e865 microphone.
Below: Monitor Engineer, Kevin ‘Tater’ McCathy in front of his Sound Image-supplied DiGiCo SD7 console.
clips from some of the bands more recent music momentum with the content.” in the realisation and together they launched
videos and at others generating the visuals from During this development period Michael a re-energised version of the visual elements,
scratch.” Fullman and Vartan Tchekmedyian of VT Pro drawing from a fresh non-rock-and-roll
Parvini and Hahn decided they wanted to Design came on the scene and the role of perspective.
abandon the mini music video style and take Parvini and the team from Ghost Town shifted “Our goal was to create a visual story arc
a more environmentally reflective approach - to that of transition team. “We ensured they that evolved throughout the performance,
treating the stage as a character. “Many of the had all the assets they required to realise Joe’s allowing each element to breathe as the
fans have seen Linkin Park a number of times, creative goal.” show progressed,” explained Fullman. “Video
so we wanted to bring a fresh look yet still be VT Pro then took over the lighting redesign content, staging and lighting all work seamlessly
recognisable,” explained Parvini. “The band and re-imagined the live video content styles together and help to enhance the energy of
went to great pains to re-imagine their set list, and executions for the show. Fullman then the band and push that energy out to the
creating medleys of songs where the music engaged lighting designer and programmer, audience.”
runs constantly. We wanted to maintain that Scott Chmielewski of DMDS7UDIOS, to assist Built around three on-stage platforms, (TAIT
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: TAIT Towers built the three on stage platforms of epic proportions; Tom Robb and Seth Fromberg, venue security; Four Martin Professional MAC Vipers positioned close to the stage were used
as followspots, giving a dramatic theatrical feel to the show.
Towers created the stage itself) the video is a ‘Spikey’ Harvey. “Joe was fascinated by the Goodfellow explained: “We built a programme
three-dimensional element that at times fully transparency, so we put together this cube with Quartz Composer to gain use of the
encapsulates band members, boxing them in design with a rear and front surface, which camera outside of the Xbox domain. The
with semi-transparent video screens and at surrounds Joe, the drum riser and an area in the programme enables us to control the type of
others sits at varying heights above the stage. middle of the stage. By manipulating content information received, plus its colour and depth.”
These carry a combination of content from on the front and back, it can generate some To handle the extensive HD camera feeds
digitally treated I-MAG to pre-recorded video. fantastic 3D looks and effects.” and deliver them to the array of PRG Nocturne
Digby, along with Video Director Skip PRG Nocturne also provided four Ikegami V-28 LED screens, VT Pro Design chose and
Twitchell and Hahn, specified PRG Nocturne’s (manned) cameras, which shoot in standard spec’d two Avolites Ai Infinity Servers for
V-Thru. With 66% transparency, the screen definition but are processed as 16:9. There are redundancy.
“Skip Twitchell wanted to use multiple
video inputs and mix them live,” explained
Chmielewski. “In addition, every instrument
that the band plays, including the DJ rig and the
“Forming the backbone of the multi look generating lighting design guitars, are sending some kind of signal across
the system. We use these to trigger content,
are numerous arrays of Martin Professional MAC Vipers, Clay Paky be it live camera, the unmanned GoPros and
Sharpy Washes and the new a.Leda B-EYEs and Solaris Flares.” the X-Box Kinects or pre-existing media. I can
also manipulate those images in real time, add
effects and blend them together in layers.”
Fullman adds that he specified the Ai media
server because of its ability to provide an
offers a plethora of creative options. In addition six unmanned GoPro cameras covering the accurate pre-visualisation solution as well as its
PRG Nocturne’s V-28 LED video modules were risers and each set of instruments, with an extra ability to quickly and easily map screen formats
secured to the front fascia of the band’s three one [manned] down in the pit to shoot right and provide accurate timecode playback.
risers. on top of the crowd when the band is on the
“It was Joe Hahn who initially saw the barricade. LIGHTS
potential,” says Skip Twitchell, who pilots An interesting addition to this arsenal Lighting brings an added layer of richness, scale,
a Panasonic AV-HS400A switcher during is a ‘K-Cam’ - an Xbox 360 USB connector structure and perspective to the video elements
the show, alongside Video Engineer Jason camera that uses infrared as screen tech Jordan of the show. Forming the backbone of the multi
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: Chmielewski chose Clay Paky B-EYEs as his ‘workhorse’ fixture. He stated: “They’re currently my favourite fixtures. The lack of moving parts makes them ideal to tour.”
look generating lighting design are numerous Sharpys were then used in banks of three for will feed on it. It’s served on a silver platter
arrays of Martin Professional MAC Vipers, over audience aerial effects: “We put in two with this band. So, while it’s important to be
Clay Paky Sharpy Washes and the new a.Leda trusses up-stage that follow the prism look artsy and moody at points, we don’t forget the
B-EYEs and Solaris Flares. Black Box Music in of the screens and force a strong sense of basics.”
Germany, where Linkin Park held their technical perspective,” explained Chmielewski.
rehearsals, supplied the kit. Clay Paky B-EYES were the workhorse fixture RIGGING AND AUTOMATION
Metcalfe’s design, modified for this tour and although Chmielewski had the capability to Ensuring the moving elements fly without
by Fulman and Tchekmedyian, and realised by pixel map these he chose not to, using them in issue is automation and rigging specialist Chris
Chmielewski, was built around the number individual pixel mode instead. “They’re currently Wilson: “When this campaign began in the
three - three risers, three moving screens. “Our my favourite fixtures. The lack of moving parts US we used a Kinesys system. I’m a huge fan.
When we moved into Europe we used the new
generation of Cyberhoists. They’re amazing,
really fast and really precise but there were
challenges in changing hoist systems half way
“The energy of the show is in the crowd. If you can get that going the through a tour. We went quite wide with the
hang so if we’re off just a fraction all the screens
band will feed on it. It’s served on a silver platter with this band...” could be cock eyed or not fit together or go up
Lighting Operator, William Anglin. and down. Luckily for me there were only 12
points where this could happen.”
And when it came to safety, Wilson worked
closely with Tour Director and Production
Manager, Jim Digby: “Because of his close
aim was to create contrast, with strong key makes them ideal to tour.” involvement with the Safety Alliance, Jim
lighting from the down stage truss,” explained On the road with the tour is Lighting is a great support and he really trusts my
Chmielewski. “We hung four Mac vipers Operator William Anglin: “Linkin Park’s set has judgement. This takes a lot of the personal
and disabled the pan and tilt to use them as a touch of EDM, Heavy Metal, Rap and even burden away. If I see something that’s unsafe
followspots, still controlling the fixtures output theatrical points,” said Anglin. “I love some of Jim always has my back. For example, if I turn
parameters from FOH.” the avant-garde lighting shows I’ve seen but the in a rigging plot and the venue says we’re too
The close proximity, dramatic effects and important thing with Linkin Park is feeding on heavy then it doesn’t escalate into an argument,
the steep angle of the spots bring a stark, the crowd energy. The energy of the show is in we trust the building and we make another
edgy - almost theatrical look to the stage. the crowd. If you can get that going the band plan.”
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten, FOH Engineer; Paul White Monitor Assistant Wireless; All work and no play makes Seth Fromberg, Venue Security pull interesting faces; The dramatic look of the show
gave the audience a sense of live rock ‘n’ roll theatre.
SOUND ADVICE They also wanted to avoid the split and share that is flat all the way out, and subsequently
Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten has been with Linkin the head amps.” delivers the highest quality sound.”
Park for eight years and works intimately Pooch is a keen observer of developments In addition, Crown Audio I-Tech amps have
with the band. “We spent many hours in in pro-audio technology: “We want to achieve been specified, bringing plenty of headroom
collaboration during extensive rehearsals for the the best sound possible so I spend a lot of time and keeping things super clear. “The VTX
tour. I have creative input into how the band keeping up with the industry. I go to trade system is wired in performance mode, where
should sound live and that is very satisfying.” shows like Musik Messe, NAMM, and AES on the V25 are configured in two box circuits with
The primary goal for Pooch is to deliver a behalf of the band, looking for what is new and amps circuits running at 8 Ohms, explained
record quality mix that has maximum impact upcoming, so that on the next cycle we can Wagner. “I had one to one ratio flown subs
in the live environment. To that end Pooch implement it.” behind the V25’s. I found that with the flown
subs crossed over 80 hertz, low frequency
energy sums with the waveform coming off
the V25’s, when they are time aligned properly
it all comes together to gives plenty of low-
“I go to trade shows like Musik Messe, NAMM, and AES on behalf of mid warmth. For some people that’s hard to
the band, looking for what is new and upcoming, so that on the next manage, however Pooch is really sensitive to
that frequency range because of his studio
cycle we can implement it...” Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten, FOH Engineer
background. There’s a certain tonal quality from
1- 3k that JBL compression drivers have. It’s
kind of throaty and particularly suits distorted
guitars, especially when you push the system.”
works closely with system technician Victor All equipment is supplied to the tour by the Pooch is also determined that the best mix
Wagner: “We’re using a JBL PVTX A, which is a touring division of US company Sound Image. possible reaches every seat. “We want every
system I’ve toured with before,” said Wagner. “We’re using JBL’s VTX 25 PA, the latest, and in person to walk out of a Linkin Park gig talking
“In addition Pooch and Monitor Engineer my opinion the best, PA that JBL has to offer. It’s about how it was the best sounding show that
Kevin ‘Tater’ McCarthy were moving over to amazing technology. There’s a new mid / high they’ve been too. Some of the tools I use to
DiGiCo consoles for the first time, and because driver in the D2 Box. No other manufacturer achieve that are the Waves plug-in products,
I specialise in setting up DiGiCo networks I was has this driver; every other PA on the planet has alongside the DiGiCo SD7 console. I believe the
asked to join the team. Pooch is a big Waves some sort of high-end harmonic distortion or combination of the two things is the best front
fan so they needed a lot of inputs and outputs. resonance that colours the top end. JBL’s driver end mixing solution out there, both sonically,
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: Sound Image supplied a JBL VTX 25 PA system for a consistent sound in the arena; Jim Digby, Director of Touring; The show view from FOH; Will Anglin, Lighting Director.
and in ease of use.” Both Pooch and Tater wanted to get a 96k outputs, Waves enabled, 96k, and four MADI
The toughest thing for Pooch, from a mix 24-bit resolution on all their inputs and outputs: streams.”
standpoint, is that Linkin Park has a large “DiGiCo had the only system in place to do this, With Linkin Park, Tater has a lot going on:
repertoire. “The band have been going a long concludes Wagner. “We also wanted to have “We have 10 stereo mixes of In Ear Monitors
time so the songs from their first few records a high quality bit-rate for the recording so we (IEMs) for the five band members with three
are mostly guitar, bass and drums recordings. can cut it out to a master. The Lake LM 44’s Matrix Mixes, Cue and Guest. For monitor
However the later records contain vast for matrix splitting and analogue fall back and wedges I have 10 mixes including stereo side
fills, four pairs downstage, one upstage mix, a
drum seat shaker, and a cue wedge.”
In terms of how the band like their mix,
Tater said: “Pretty much all the band members
that are on IEMs like a full band mix with their
“All staff members are encouraged to proactively engage in their role vocals and or instrument on top. Guitar player
and to present ideas to improve practice at every turn...” Director of Brad wears foam earplugs and gun muffs over
touring and Production Manager, Jim Digby. the top. All the traditional speakers are really for
him. He doesn’t like a loud stage, but he does
want it really clear. I follow him wherever he is
for all his cues.”
Tater uses Shure PSM1000 transmitters
and receivers with a Professional Wireless
soundscapes of synths and low-end information. Crown amps, all run at 24 / 96. We’re looking at GX-8 combiner and a Wireless First Fractual
Marrying those two worlds is the hardest thing an entire network where there’s no sample rate antenna. IEMs are from JH Audio. JH-16’s
I’ve to overcome. They have a tendency to play conversion, no fidelity loss or colouration and (Chester and Mike) JH Audio Roxanne’s for the
an old song right next to a newer song, and minimal latency from input to output.” rest of the band. Adamson SX-18s for side fills
then back to an older song. Making sure that And on monitors Kevin ‘Tater’ McCarthy and Adamson M12’s for the wedges, with Lab
the old songs don’t sound ‘thin’ after a more also recently switched to the DiGiCo SD7 and Gruppen PLM10000 amps. “I love the Shure
recent, lush sounding song can be challenging. is delighted with the outcome: “It sounds IEM gear because I think it sounds good, and
Again, the Waves SoundGrid and DiGiCo SD7 amazing. The SD7 has all the features we need the Axient Spectrum Manager really makes
play a gigantic role in that. to meet the bands requirements: 128 inputs, 48 it easy to do the frequency coordination,” he
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
explained. “Plus the rechargeable batteries are Digby. “All staff members are encouraged to pre-production work at Black Box Music in
awesome. Similar thing goes for the Adamson proactively engage in their role and to present Berlin, also joined by an urgent airfreight
gear. The wedges are small, powerful, light, ideas to improve practice at every turn.” shipment from Brazil,” explained EFM’s Lisa
and very easy to hang on our grill decks under Linkin Park are a long-standing customer of Ryan.
the stage.” Singer Chester Bennington uses a event logistics specialists, EFM. The company Once the European tour ended, in
Sennheiser e865 mic for his main vocal duties. handles all the band’s international shipping for November, EFM loaded out overnight straight
both tours and the festival season. When the from the final show at the 02 Arena into six 40ft
POSITIVE PRODUCTION band were in Europe for the summer Festival containers which were shipped back to Miami
Long-term Director of touring and Production run in May 2014, EFM handled their three again for the beginning of another US tour this
Manager, Jim Digby, coolly governs back 40ft containers from Los Angeles and a 40ft month.
stage, production and logistics. “The band container from New York, in addition to the Other suppliers include TransAm UK for
and the organisation behind it are a family-first airfreight of their audio gear for the A rig. trucking duties, Beat The Street for tour crew
enterprise,” stressed Digby. “They recognise that Linkin Park have three touring systems but and artist bussing. Linkin Park continues to tour
music touring is a business and requires a ‘home the audio components are essential to all three in the USA until 14th February 2015 and will be
team’ that can provide stability.” of their rigs, so often have to be air freighted at returning to Europe for festival dates throughout
This positive viewpoint extends to the short notice to wherever the next touring leg the summer.
vendors, suppliers and staff Digby chooses to may be. On arrival in UK, the EFM crew split TPi
work with: “Over the last decade we’ve had two rigs, the A rig went to Lisbon, Portugal,
the pleasure of steadily building and fine- once the video had been pre-programmed at
tuning our team. First and foremost we chose LH2 Studios, ready for the rest of their European Photos: http://thefifthestate.co.uk
to work with people and vendors on the basis shows, whilst the B rig went straight to and Scott Davies
of safe practices, their ability to provide highly Moscow. “Timeframes were extremely tight, so www.linkinpark.com
competent and functioning crew alongside well everyone had to work around the clock to get www.nocturneproductions.com
cared for equipment. Lastly, we strive to find the equipment customs cleared and onto the www.sound-image.com
enthusiastic partners in everything we do.” waiting tour trucks. At the end of the Summer, www.black-box-music.de
There’s no denying that this team is packed everything was shipped back to LA and Miami, www.beatthestreet.net
with boundless energy and enthusiasm: “As ready for the US tour, before returning once www.transamtruck.com
their leader, I can confidently say that no one again back to Europe for the band’s autumn www.taittowers.com
on this team is micromanaged,” concluded arena tour which began in October, following www.efm-worldwide.com
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