ON THE ROAD: Motörhead
Below: FOH Engineer Martin ‘Arnie’ Annables with the Midas XL3; Lighting Designer Stefan Sjoland opted for the Avolites Pearl; Systems Technician Ian Turner; Monitor Engineer Mark Lewis has found the Yamaha PM5D has made it easier to get into smaller venues.
The tour began with a kit list featuring 16 wedges, but due to the efficiency of the models chosen, this was reduced to 10 wedges, four Audiolease A2D for drum fills and eight side fills. Added Lewis: “We tried putting Mikkey on in-ears. He said it sounded great but he couldn’t play using them so we went back to wedges.” A combination of four d&b M2 wedges
powered by four d&b D12 amps were positioned stage left for lead singer Lemmy. To give the on-stage sound added impact, a proprietary system from Audiolease made up of eight BW15 wedges were placed downstage and stage right for guitarist Campbell. For sidefills and vocal coverage, a pair of Audiolease’s A2 subs was married with two flown L-Acoustics ARC sidefills - a recent addition to the band’s winter tour. When mixing monitors for artists that
produce such a powerful sound, Lewis has been confronted with a challenge at the end of the show when the band play the stripped back track Whorehouse Blues. “Mikkey and Phil play acoustic and Lemmy is in the centre with the harmonica for this song. So far, the whole set has been as loud as can be and then they switch to acoustic so I have to try and isolate elements and turn off a few instruments,” explained Lewis.
REMAINING TRUE TO THE BAND’S STYLE Stefan Sjoland was first offered the position of Lighting Designer on Motörhead’s live shows after he worked with drummer Dee on a tour in their native Sweden. “When Mikkey asked me if I wanted the job I turned it down because they were one of my favourite bands and I thought I couldn’t tour with Motörhead because, well... they’re Motörhead!” Sjoland enthused. “He offered it to me again and I thought I’d give it a shot and I’ve been doing it for just over eight years now.” Sjoland was responsible for lighting Swedish
bands before landing his first international act, Motörhead. This led to him working on the productions of artists from around the globe; from Brazialian heavy metal group Sepultura to
62 • TPi JANUARY 2012
Canadian rock band Danko Jones. “The cool thing about Motörhead is they’ve
never compromised and always remained true to themselves. They have always been old school and I try to keep that theme with the lighting used in the show,” explained Sjoland. “I have kept it pretty consistent each year.
We’ve added slightly more moving lights over the past four years, but it hasn’t changed dramatically. Lemmy hates moving lights and just wants static flashing fixtures, whereas Mikkey wants more of the modern moving lights, so I have tried to compromise between the two.” When Sjoland joined the production team
he worked with the previous LD’s design before creating a new rig for the second tour he was a part of. “They liked it so much that they have trusted me ever since. The most recent tour features a whole new lighting rig once again,” he explained.
crew and house lights. All lighting equipment for the tour along
with 11 5ft and 11 8ft James Thomas double- hung pre-rig truss was provided by GLS Lighting. A total of 276 standard Par64’s with 30 strings of Par64 ACLs, including some hybrid bars of six, formed the foundations of the lighting set-up. The stage was accentuated further using 15 Martin Professional Atomic 3000 strobes and the equivalent of 19 James Thomas linear 4-lite blinders. “You couldn’t do a Motörhead gig without
the trustworthy Par Can blinders - they just never break. The Martin Atomics are really reliable too - they’re the best strobe ever, producing 3000W without overheating on you,” said Sjoland. Although it was a predominantly Par64 rig
featuring a small selection of moving lights, Robe equipment was a valuable part of the lighting effects created. A total of four Robe
“I remember the first time I saw them live, it was so powerful that it felt like I had been run over by a train when I left the venue.”
“I do everything live without cues and use
all 10 fingers throughout the gig. If the band plays live, I believe that’s the least I can do. It’s important that you feel the music and give it your own personal touch to highlight what you want throughout the performance and express what it’s making you feel.” The rig was designed so it was compact
enough to fit into a single truck and made it as easy to get in and out of venues. Even without the help of the rig’s simple design, the Mitusbishi Electric Halle in Düsseldorf was singled out by Sjoland as a standout place to perform. This was not only due to its easy load- in and load-out, but its fantastic stage, local
ColorWash 700E AT and six Robe ColorSpot 250 AT fixtures were put to good use, with the 700’s on the floor being selected for their power and ability to move between narrow and wide effects. Haze and smoke effects were provided by two Robe 500FT Pro Hazers and one Jem ZR33 smoke machine. GLS Lighting Technician Karen Brown, who
works alongside fellow technician Jamie Catt to ensure all lighting equipment is set-up correctly, agreed the Par64’s were the main feature of the rig. This configuration included two Thomas loadbearing pivot hinges for pre-rig. These are what made the angles in the back truss. Said Brown: “The Par64’s are the backbone of it all
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