sign of mellowing as he attacks his SG, mouth from Rob Harries at Air Artists — the Suffolk and festival dates — as their FOH engineer.
agape. firm whose inflatable prop commissions from “Both John ‘Grubby’ Callis [monitor
Preparations got underway for this arena Stufish have spanned tours by Pink Floyd engineer] and I, among others, were new to the
tour when the band and their sound and and the Rolling Stones, among others — the camp back in ’96,” recalled Pab. “We put our
backline crew headed out to Philadelphia for locomotive was created by those clever people names in and got the job. Opie was the new
a month of rehearsals at Center Stage, leading at Brilliant Stages (see sidebar on page 46). production manager and it all felt like the first
up to mid-October when the whole production As Opie explained: “It came directly from day at school.”
came together at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes- the new album and the track, both of which The late John Roden was a later arrival when
Barre, Pennsylvania, where the tour began on were originally going to be called ‘Runaway he took over on monitors during Stiff Upper
October 28 under the management of Tim Train’. Then the album title changed, and the Lip and it’s clear that his professionalism and
Brockman, who is supported by assistant Darren song became ‘Rock’n’Roll Train’, but the idea humanity continues to be as much missed in
Hagen. of having this huge, life-size train on stage was AC/DC world as it is amongst the McCartney
“For the whole week we were there setting still as relevant. Mark Fisher did the design, we camp.
up the show in Wilkes-Barre, the band probably showed it to the band and they went with it. Outside of touring, Pab is also involved with
came on stage for about 15 minutes,” said “We gave ourselves plenty of time, from AC/DC at their London recording facility where
production manager Dale Skjerseth, the man Mark’s first sketches last June through to he engineers Malcolm and Angus Young’s
known throughout the industry as ‘Opie’. “They manufacturing, to ensure that deliveries arrived writing sessions. “I oversaw the writing of
just trust what we do.” within the deadline, and I always like to use many of the songs for the new album, and it’s
For this tour, Tait Towers handled yet another these companies because there’s no fuss and fascinating to watch them work close-up.”
AC/DC stage construction with its usual mastery they’re so great to deal with.” His choice of the Electro-Voice X-Array
as well as providing the scissor lift it built for the PA system for Black Ice was influenced by its
Stiff Upper Lip tour of 2000-01. HIGH VOLTAGE successful use on Stiff Upper Lip... and the
Joining the band’s now-iconic cannons Mixing AC/DC’s heavy duty sound was Paul band’s own preference.
and Hell’s Bell are two new ‘gags’ conceived ‘Pab’ Boothroyd who is, of course, also known Supplied worldwide by Clair Brothers, this
by Jeremy Lloyd and Mark Fisher at Stufish for his long-running association (since 1989) system has quite a history having first debuted
— namely, a huge train and an obese, inflatable with Sir Paul McCartney. Pab’s relationship on the Rolling Stones’ 1997 Bridges To Babylon
‘Rosie’ who emerges astride the loco during the with AC/DC can be traced back to 1996 when tour when it was sprayed gold as part of Mark
1977 Acca-Dacca classic that bears her name. he undertook his first of three world tours Fisher’s regal-looking set. It was then owned
While ‘Rosie’ is yet another fine example (Ballbreaker) — in addition to several one-offs by Harry Witz’s dB Sound but later became
“It came directly from the new album and the track, both of which were originally going to be called
‘Runaway Train’. Then the album title changed and the song became ‘Rock’n’Roll Train’, but the idea of
having this huge, life-size loco on stage was still as relevant...” production manager Dale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth
TPi MARCH 09 • 35
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