NEWS FOCUS: Alice Cooper
Opposite: Shock rocker Alice Cooper put on a crazy night of ghouls and gore to tie in with Halloween. Below: In true Cooper style, the singer wore a variety of elaborate outfits; The rock star displayed a message to the crowd; Cooper was supported by his rockin’ band; The artist used Shure microphones.
European leg of the tour, with German firm Go Audio supplying not only audio but lighting equipment and crew too. “They are a one-stop shop for Europe and
when we do a full on tour where we carry full production I use them because it’s so much easier if it all comes from one company. We used Stagetruck for transport, who we have been with for many years now, with additional services provided by Phoenix Bussing and Transam Trucking.”
THE PERFECT SETTING “Alice Cooper’s Halloween Night of Fear was a huge success. Alexandra Palace’s Victorian gothic architecture created the perfect theatrical backdrop for the incredible production brought to the venue; it was a mix of horror, thrills and pure adrenaline,” said Alexandra Palace’s Managing Director, Rebecca Kane. “The sheer size and scale of the dramatic
barrelled roof arching over the spectacular scene below was breathtaking. Watching zombies roaming the food stands and bars, interacting with people who were quite taken aback by the whole thing, made the night for me.” The zombies, were of course interactive actors left to graze upon the crowd as they entered the venue and its stunning setting. Kane continued: “The Palace sits on top of a
hill amongst 196 acres of land, it’s got the best panoramic views of London and the prominence of Ally Pally as an iconic North London destination makes it extremely special. The venue also has the ability to host 10,400 people standing in one space, in the Great Hall. If you
couple this with the musical heritage and sense of history, gig goers feel part of something and productions can maximise the flexibility of the venue.” The sound remodelling work from
Vanguardia means visiting audio engineers have an established platform to work on. Said Kane: “With our expert live event
teams, the get-ins, builds and de-rigs run smoother than ever before. We’re keen to continue building strong relationships with promoters, agents and artist management to enhance the great rapport that continues to bring shows to the Palace. AP stands for ‘Anything is Possible’,”said Kane. “We will continue to push boundaries and
use the versatility of the venue to its absolute maximum.” Next year, Alexandra Palace will be part
of the Olympic celebrations. Two days before the Olympic Torch makes it into the Olympic Stadium, it will grace the hills of Alexandra Palace with the stadium in view in the horizon. For Production Manager Sabatini, the venue
offered the ideal setting for Alice Cooper’s spooky event. He said: “Alexandra Palace was a really cool place. I hear that they don’t host a lot of rock gigs, but we chose it because it was so well set up outside as well as inside for a Halloween show and provided the perfect environment to give the production exactly the vibe we needed. “It was easy to get to aswell, which was
important factor for us because we wanted it to be as convenient as possible for people to commute to.”
THEATRICAL LIGHTING WITH A ROCK EDGE After spending several years working on projects alongside Production Designer, Seth Jackson, Andy May joined Cooper’s production crew as Lighting Director in May 2011. Aside from focusing the audience’s attention
on Alice, May’s lighting priority on stage was to get the balance right between properly lighting the set whilst still layering the lighting on various backdrops revealed through the show. “The look we were going for was bigger and longer lighting looks, which made the production more about Alice, but by the end it transforms into a full-blown rock show,” said May. “Initial ideas for this tour’s lighting design
revolved around Alice being in the middle of a trash covered school yard. The original concept used a chain link fence for the backdrop, but the lights we used ended up looking much better on a mesh screen.” A full-size MA Lighting grandMA 1 supplied
by US company PCS Audio was used for lighting control. It was selected because of its ability to clone between fixtures in just seconds - a feature May finds particularly useful in the festival environment in which he regularly works. Lighting cues were a prominent part of
Cooper’s show, from the little guitar licks to a section of the performance where an actor playing the part of a photographer is stabbed with a mic stand. Said May: “In a way, it is 90 minutes of
cue after cue because it is such a theatrical rock show. At one point you even see a 12ft
TPi JANUARY 2012 • 07
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