Songs & Visions: The Carlsberg Concert '97 (part II)

The full cast attending the photocall

The rehearsals

Four days before the show, I attended a full rehearsal of the band, orchestra, and singers at London's Olympic Studios, where the project had been taking shape over the previous two and a half weeks. Stewart Levine's skill at coordinating the talent was amazing to observe as I listened to rehearsal playbacks in the control room along with several members of the 'cast', including Kd and Chaka whose Every Breath You Take offered much promise for the eventual show. Not least due to the crack musicianship of drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, guitarists Mike Landau and Heitor Pereira, bassist Nathan East, Stones' keyboard player Chuck Leavell, and their colleagues.

Levine, along with arranger Jerry Hey, was the man responsible for researching all of the greatest hits of the last 40 years to see which would accomodate certain combinations of artists. As a musician/producer who for over 35 years has worked on records for the likes of Hugh Masekela, Minnie Riperton, Joe Cocker, and Simply Red, Levine was, in the mind of Tony Hollingsworth, the perfect man to keep the music and musicians in check, and a recording studio was always going to provide the ideal environment for this type of pre-production.

Robert Palmer at the photocall

At Olympic, Hollingsworth said: "Tribute shows seem to be the only ones which consistently employ the directional talents of senior figures from the international recording industry. We had Bob Clearmountain on the first Mandela show, Phil Ramone on Guitar Legends, and Sir George Martin on The Great Music Experience in Japan. It demonstrates an attention to music that normal television or even live sound in general doesn't have.

"We're rehearsing in a more controlled way that might normally be the case for a live show. Stewart is getting everyone to rehearse, but (engineer) Gregg Jackman is also recording it as we go along. That has allowed us to send DATs of rhythm tracks to artists, so that they can get used to the arrangements or suggest key changes before they arrive at the studio during this final week. Hot session players like these guys are used to the producer being in charge, as Stewart is here, and they approach the rehearsal as disciplined as they would for a recording session."

The second week of rehearsals saw Olympic being ISDN-linked to various international studios, enabling artists to remotely rehearse their solo numbers. "It only starts to get seriously expensive when I have to book all 10 artists to arrive at Olympic for a full week," said Hollingsworth. "And it's now that we're going through the 20 songs that are either duets, trios or ensemble arrangements."

The studio method appeared to suit everyone from the singers to the musicians. Robert Palmer told me: "It's super streamlined, which of course it has to be. Everything is worked out specifically before we come in, so it's not as if we're experimenting to arrive at a happy mixture of songs. Otherwise it would be nigh on impossible to even consider getting it done. It would be mayhem... you can't afford to be very flexible on a show like this."

Robert Palmer arriving at Olympic Studios, London

Monitor Engineer John 'JJ' James noted that for certain shows, the recording studio is starting to find favour for pre-production. "I suppose it's still unusual, but we did something like this with Cher in Trevor Horn's studio acouple of years ago with a similar monitor system to get a more controlled feel." Gregg Jackman who, with assistance from Jay Reynolds, was recording the rehearsals on 56 tracks (Sony 3348 and Tascam DA-88), and also mixed the actual show for broadcast in one of two Manor Mobiles, had previously worked this way for the first Nelson Mandela show as well as numerous Prince's Trust gigs. He said: "I am trying to reproduce on tape at Olympics what is going to be heard at Wembley. I'm using very little screening so that the spill factor is fairly realistic, as per live performance."

Key to the clarity of sound heard by band members and singers in the studio and on stage was the global use of both wired and wireless Garwood in-ear monitoring (IEM) systems which, along with radio mics, were supplied by Hand Held Audio. One of the supplier's additional responsabilities was to locate audiologists across the world and organise appointments for artists to have impressions of their ear canals made, which were then returned to London so that Hand Held Audio could order personalised moulds.

Several of the performers were first-time IEM users, including Steve Winwood, Mary J., Chaka, Jon Bon Jovi and Robert Palmer. "I haven't used IEM before but I'm delighted with it," said Palmer. "The sound is so clear and precise, to the point where you feel that you're listening to your favourite hi-fi system. It's not every singer's taste: Chaka can't stand them; they're hurting her ears. But Rod, who's been using IEM for a few years, has been like an ambassador for the technology, helping some of us get to grips with it." Bon Jovi was an IEM sceptic at first but seemed quite happy once he recieved his personal moulds. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta used wired ear moulds in conjunction with an under-stool 'butt shaker' and was another to comment favourably on the sound quality. JJ joked: "Vinnie's been coming to rehearsals on his bike and I've been toying with the idea of sticking a lump of gaffer tape around his wheels so that he feels the same sensation as when he's playing!"

Robert Palmer at Wembley Stadium with his IEM system

Apart from approximately six 1x12-inch wedges installed backstage to provide some 'vibe' for the artists before and in between their segments, there were no monitor wedges in evidence at Wembley; which left room on stage for altogether more important things... like autocues. In fact, the show completely relied on IEM and thus contributed to the use of just about every frequency legally available. Those who were not using the 10 wireless Garwood Radio Station systems, namely the fixed musicians and backing vocalists, used the 16 'hard-wired' Garwood Outstations. JJ said: "The decision to go totally in-ear was influenced by the close proximity of the string section to everyone else. After all the pre-production, to go into the stadium and suddenly deal with a totally different method of monitoring at high volume would have been futile, especially with a band that has never played together before. This way, when they actually arrive at Wembley it won't sound a lot different to them on stage. Hand Held Audio have been wonderful - they got us out of some trouble by building 32 small monitor splitter boxes, enabling us to just send one global mix to the orchestra (each wearing generic Garwood IEM II ear pieces), although the individual boxes have a volume control so that each member can set his or her desired level." The orchestra's IEM system was run off four channels of Brit Row's BSS amplification.

On the evening prior to the concert, the cast arrived at Wembley for a full dress rehearsal with everyone dressed exactly as they would appear the following night... and for good reason. Said Hollingsworth: "We're recording the dress rehearsal and the tapes act as the backup for radio and television for the next day. It was something I did for The Wall In Berlin and we needed it. The monitor stage sound failed three times, and on one of those occasions, I couldn't go to backup tape because when we filmed the dress rehearsal the night before, Roger Waters went to the microphone and said, 'I'm not going to sing this one because I'm saving my voice for tomorrow'. I had no choice but to show the world that there was a problem, with Roger on his knees, praying!"

The rehearsals at Olympic Studios, London

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