Mind Blowing Insights into An ARENA Show with TAKE THAT

[@michaelbishop.]

Brilliant ! Multiple pauses and online searches, but amazingly informative, deserving repeat plays for missed details. Thank You!

[@drindy5166]

💯% glad I caught this. Definitely saved too lol

[@tomevans1388]

Might be the best video on KZbin right now, great insight into how everything works. Great to see a chat with Lee too, seen him play with It Bites, Yes, Rick Wakeman and Steve Hackett (guy get's around)!

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

Worked stage crew for their last run of UK shows. Got many groans/eye rolls from the techs by asking if/where they wanted me to “take that” while moving cases etc around.

[@urbannpa]

I heard the deck of an Aircraft Carrier was the hardest place to work....My hats off to the roadies!!

[@mikegreyfromnz]

A mind-blowing eye-opening insight into making a live concert work. I had absolutely no idea! Thank you so much.

[@dougle03]

As a now retired sound engineer, I still remember when Tascam DA88's were brought in for click track use on live shows, I remember the click always bleeding over channels on the old analogue desks and the DIY button boxes with homemade electronics to control the DA88's. I could see then that the future of live events really was Timecode, click and automation. And yes, we did have duplicate Tascam's running at the same time as a backup, although switching between them was a lot more of a headache as digital consoles with seemingly limitless input channels were still the price of a small factory... Loved the video.

[@VickersDoorter]

You're a retired sound engineer? I am one too, one too...

[@JezNashMusic]

Wonderful behind-the-scenes tech details. A must-see!

[@KarenLancs]

Mike Stevens is a genius, turns his hand as well to 10cc, ELO amongst others. Its his attention to detail with every note of every song. Great interview and vieo tour. Thanks

[@DojoOfCool]

I was a roadie back in the 70's working arena tours and seeing how things are done in the digital age is very interesting. Thanks for the video.

[@ChrisM541]

A lot more real/live playing then. The level of miming today is truly eye watering.

[@HARTYNMUGHES]

@@ChrisM541 the amount of acts genuinely miming is truly minimal. There’s more and more using tracks, and pitch correction across all genres, but miming? Nah.

[@ChrisM541]

@@HARTYNMUGHES As a live event mixer of many years, I politely disagree.

[@riffism]

I’ve been a gigging musician and Music Director for 35 years. It’s amazing what we currently use to run a show compared to 30 years ago. I’ve embraced the tech and use a digital console, time code, stems on a Mac, virtual instruments/guitar cabs, in-ear monitoring, etc. The stage is way cleaner and the sound is better for the musicians AND the guests.

[@Number1Bassman]

Fantastic video! Absolutely awesome to see the behind the scenes of a big tour. How cool to have a monitor engineer looking after your IEMs! So cool!

[@MikesBakes]

Thank you for making this video! I’ve always been fascinated by how the big artists do it, and there’s never been anything this detailed since the Rush behind the scenes video!

[@inventorsyndrome8894]

You just summarised knowledge that took me over an year to learn from various sources in one video - love you and your work so much

[@FrancisBurnsWorldwide]

I’m amazed that no-one has yet realised that this is a brilliant spoof perfectly delivered by the amazingly talented Lee Francis (Keith Lemon). Great job! More, please.

[@UKRenna]

My late good friend Les Adams worked with Mike Stephens many years ago in his “band” LA Mix, and said he couldn’t have done it without Mike as he is such a talented multi-instrumentalist. Les was asked to produce Take That when they started out, but instead suggested Mike do it as he said he was the best man for the job. The rest, as they say, is history.

[@Penfriendrocks]

Mike Stevens!! I was lucky to work with him many moons ago when I was a session bassist. Brilliant musician, lovely man xo

[@Super8Rescue]

Thank You to everyone who made this video possible. A real insight.

[@caryeddy6928]

As a tech curious musician who also happens to be a Take That fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Their show is filled with all manner of fire, wind, water, confetti etc but this video has informed me that those are nothing compared to what goes on behind the scenes, Thank you so much Christian!!

[@carstenaltena]

My band is nowhere near as big as Take That, but we managed to build a "similar" system around a laptop running Reaper, that runs our guitar amp sims (as VSTs), plays back synths and other backing tracks. It's one big project in Reaper that holds the playlist, switches patches, outputs front of house and different monitor mixes via a 10 output audio interface. Theoretically it could even control a custom lighting rig and projectors.

[@ALMELMUSIC]

Fascinating. People moan why concerts are as expensive as they are have no idea what goes into big shows like this, and this is before the trucks, riggers, security, the band themselves and the venue hire. Amazing video. Well done.

[@foljs5858]

Did people ask for "big shows like this"? How did artists in past decades managed big shows without sculping their audiences?

[@jamiec4478]

@@foljs5858yes as technology is constantly improving and changing people expert their favourite artist to put on the best modern show

[@onesong2001]

you forgot to factor in greed. Let's not pretend it doesn't exist. Last time I saw Prince play at the o2 tickets were £31 and he had to fly his stage there. Other big names were charging multiple times more for tix.

[@concernedcitizen2031]

Lets realistic, most big headliner shows charge way to much. For example, there is no reason I should have to pay $700 a ticket to see Blink-182 in the US if I want a standing room only ticket. Most of ticket price problems are not as noticeable in say the UK as ticket companies are regulated, but in the US there is a rampant problem where people pay face value for tickets in bulk with bots and then resell them for double, triple or quadruple the face value of the ticket.

[@ChrisM541]

@@concernedcitizen2031 BUT(!!!) - The Braindead keep buying! Their numbers are big enough to 'justify' these sickening prices. $700 (and above) tickets sell, but anything above $50 for just a seat is also a rip-off. We live in a society where critical thought/brain power has all but been extinguished.

[@larswillsen]

Oh wow, I tried being a "stand in" for a band that was support for a legendary on hard-rock synths (My Moog, Oberheim and a Matrix-12 .. my Korg DSS-1 couldn't handle the power voltages on stage and it re-started every other second .. But I was hidden behind the curtains, no monitors .. a nightmare, but I could play those songs in my sleep .. You couldn't bring your B3 as a support act - Gothenburg, Oslo, Helsinki 1993 :) ..

[@paulpryde1]

Thank you Christian for a superb insight and walk through. Interesting, informative and entertaining. Well done !

[@joecantdance494]

Fascinating and totally over my head!

[@skylightmusicshowree]

All fascinating, thank-you everyone! It looks like a a great ensemble and a must be pleasure to work with! I noticed that the Lee is a 'lefty' that has left hand bass guitars, but strung 'right handed'.

[@EwanMarshall]

One thing with the IEMs that wasn't covered, is they also act as good ear protection for the sound levels. When not on stage, they can have other music and stuff fed to them, other behind the scenes people can have them for communications while stood next to the PA speakers and not worry about hearing loss.

[@gregorykusiak5424]

What I love about this video…well, there are a few things: demystifying the process and amount of work and expertise it takes to mount a spectacle, (and then unmount and move it), the level of technology everywhere that people need to stay current with - kempers and in-ears and MADI, oh my! - and how it all, as it always has, gets down to connecting through music while not being daunted by technology. Good job -kudos!

[@Ephergie]

Many thanks for a truly unique glimpse behind the curtain. "Full Uncut Version" - yes, please! 👍

[@CharlieNorth]

Amazing how things have changed over the years. Great video. Really interesting. 👍

[@FireAngelOfLondon]

A very informative video, thank you Christian for getting this organised! The changes to digital have made it easier and healthier for the band, and far from the machines taking over live music they are giving the people more control, more expressive opportunities.

[@JayKay0245]

Great interview! And generous participants!

[@chriswattsuk]

Fantastic video. I have a huge appreciation for stage production, and a pretty good understanding of how things work on a modern stage. But this elevated my knowledge loads. Thank you!

[@johnamick]

Lee Pomeroy! Incredible bassist and super nice guy.

[@amclmusic]

Great video! Incredibly informative into what teching is like on the high end shows

[@LiamGaughan]

Great look behind the scenes. Thanks!

[@alanblumlein]

Fantastic insight in to the progression of stage monitoring and breaking down each topic with great explanation - Thank you 👏👏

[@mober5969]

Exceptional coverage, truly appreciate the insight!! Cheers!! 😀

[@gilesmoss5860]

What a great video! Absolutely fascinating. Great to hear from the musicians themselves too, there's plenty written about the tech for arena gigs but rarely have I seen such a good balance of tech and personal. Outstanding.

[@FlatDerrick]

Done local crew for TT a couple of times. Recognise a few faces in this video, the FOH engineer particularly and the musical director. One of the best touring crews in the business, although sad to see the big lass (that I think did lights) doesn't appear to be with them anymore. One point though, at 5.03 the musical director says 5-10 years since they last used sidefills and stage monitors - he had me put them up at one of their german gigs in June 2019, so I'd take his lower estimate as closer to the mark!

[@roryglobalactivites4054]

Amazing insight into the technical aspects of running a show. Cheers

[@paullowe4072]

Amazing video! Fantastic insight into what goes into making concerts such an amazing experience!!

[@TheDaern]

A genuinely fascinating video, thank you.

[@matthew17020]

I went to see them live and as a musician, I was trying to spy the backline! So this was amazing to watch

[@etienne869]

Excellent and insite full BTS video. How things have changed!! I used to be a arena monitor engineer at Sun City in SA for many international bands. Wedges and side fills were the norm. If you didn't know your frequencies and how to quickly adjust the graphic eq, feedback would be a song killer.. 2K and 4K especially. Thanks for sharing!

[@enlimila]

Really interesting behind-scenes visit Christian. Thanks v much. I would have liked to know a bit more about the technicians and how they came to have those roles, what sort of training did it take to get there etc. These people are the hidden army that keep the well-oiled machine going. :)

[@analogaddict]

Great stuff! If You want the old school side fills, wedges (and ringing ears!), it's still used at the medium sized rock festivals in Central Europe. It's nice to move air, but getting back to basically having PA systems on stage feels a bit like when people were smoking indoors at clubs... ;) I'm glad to have seen both eras as a touring musician.

[@bassManDavis1953]

Fantastic........how I wish I could be a part of a massive show, looks great

[@TheOnjLouis]

Since playing online using Jamulus for the last four years due to Covid, whenever I now do a gig with standard monitors I’m so annoyed. I’ve become spoilt by having my own personalised sound and knowing exactly how it sounds and how to make it the way I want. When we took our online band offline and played four gigs around Belgium earlier this year, we took a Zoom L20 mixer with independent headphone outputs and basically emulated the sound we were used to having in our living rooms, but on-stage in-person. It was wonderful. In-ears and a personalised setup is the way to go.

[@krg1965]

Another wonderful video, Christian, thanks. I've been in bands, played live and roadied/tech'd a bit, so I know a fair bit of the language, but this is just presented so well giving background and information for an audience with such a spread of experience. As a drummer, I always struggled in the days before IEMs, trying to hear the clicks in my cans as well as the rest of the band in wedge(s). I love the clean stage and I guess that means, as they said, they can get on with playing (performing) their parts and not worry about all the minutae of the tech. Like both you and Donovan said, I always preferred the feel of playing an acoustic kit and "moving air" was always an important part. I did once play a gig on an electric kit, but it didn't feel the same and I was just nervous that if the 12V power supply croaked, I'd be silenced. Thanks to you, Christian and to all the guys on and offstage for a great entertaining and informative video.

[@OldWiseMan]

That was quite simply an awesome watch. A peek behind the curtain and see how the real pros use the stuff we use/want/dream of.

[@Pytchblend]

Stunning in every way. Thanks for sharing!

[@allanstelmach]

Reassuring to see the gaffer taped set list! Fascinating video, hope to see more like this

[@Althekeys]

What a brilliant inside. Hooked the whole way through

[@dcallan812]

Sunderland empire has the bad rake.👍👍 Great video 2x👍👍

[@ChristiensenClaireMendoza]

Take That were really the best and a top notch to all other boybands combined

[@radioflyer2030]

It's so beautiful to see musicians that learn, grow and progress with the technology. Amp modelers and cabinet IRs give you access to every famous amplifier in history, all in a little box that you can carry around in a back back (or on a laptop / pc if that's more your style). In-ears give every musician their own personal mix, and are so much more clear and accurate than any floor monitor could ever be... never mind the bonus of nearly eliminating the possibility of feedback in live performances. Last month I was contracted by a venue to provide a system & do sound for a couple young bands (late teens to early 20's). When I told one of the bands they were going to have to use in-ears (the kids from rich families), I swear, they nearly cried. I don't own or use floor monitors on my personal system, and the kids were not in a position to convince the venue to contract someone else, so in-ears it was, with much moaning & complaining 🤣🤣. By an odd twist of fate, I had to work with the same complaining band the very next weekend, but at a venue with installed sound that includes both floor monitors, and the option for up to 4 in-ears packs. Imagine my shock when the kids started arguing about who was going to get the 4 in-ears packs (there are 6 members in the band). Yes boys & girls, ladies & gents, they really are that good that you will go from never having used them to always wanting them in a single gig... as long as your SE knows what (s)he's doing...

[@leighrandle2736]

Very cool to look behind the scenes and see some of what goes into making sure everything goes well on the night.

[@n1knunya903]

Fantastic video. Very interesting, thanks for the time and effort put Into this.

[@ambientview6512]

Thank you so much Christian for sharing this with us. Nice to see how the technology can also be followed by the older people in and around the band. And of course it's nice that the drummer just plays his drums in a nice analogue way, despite the technology. I love Gaffa tape

[@AndreaGiordaniComposer]

Waaaah! Totally enjoyed this! You know you're a nerd when you want to watch it again! 😅 Thanks for sharing this with us, brilliant stuff. Oh, and on the IEMs - I started using them as my go to headphones for walks, flights etc. I would recommend it to anyone who is working in sound. They're so precise and still wired, which is always a better way than bluetooth. Listening to any type of music, or narration with IEMs will help your mix!!!

[@Pete_Sam]

Great video and interesting to see how things changed since my engineering days in early 90s

[@jeg1972]

Incredibly informative, I knew some of it, but so good to get it explained explicitly!

[@matthewbushkes420]

Wonderful more of this knowledge please. Will use this whole video to centrepiece music tech with my students.

[@GeorgeCockerill]

What a great and fascinating video.

[@clist9406]

Amazing how the crew setups and tear downs is so little time .

[@Nick_Barre]

Just thinking, 'hang-on-wedges? Surely they're all using ...' And on to the in-ears section. Really nicely put together film.

[@DubArchaeologist]

Take That played pretty much right next door to me the other day. Loud and clear in my garden. I'm not into the music so much but thanks to these guys ^ it sure did sound great. 😃

[@ken7neth]

Absolutely brilliant video great insight into live music 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@RLeaguer_Saint]

Fascinating! Thanks for this. Question: how is the sound transmitted to the in-ear pieces? Is it wi-fi? How do they make sure it's reliable? Amazing how much the tech has freed up the performers from wires and cabinets.

[@user-yg9ug3fl6e]

Radio frequency, it’s very solid and reliable. You can scan frequencies when you arrive at a venue to see which frequencies are the best/free to use depending on surrounding RF traffic and noise.

[@wyshwood]

Wow! BRILLIANT insight into all that these guys are. Champion stuff!

[@alancooper7018]

Wonderful insight into a high level setup. Thanks

[@MichaelGeorge161]

This is like that video of the Formula 1 car at the pit stop. Everybody doing their bit creates one big effect.

[@tatangakarvel8667]

Thank you so much for the cool tour. A person with a fancy boom-mic would help the audio a little. Still a great job considering that it was a hard place to record in! The long version has some weird mic reverbs. Maybe not mixed as the short version. Like 2 mics are open at the same time or something. Still AWESOME JOB. 🙂 Inear-Systems came a long way. Still.. when I work with multiple bands on stage, and everyband got another inear-system it's madness. Since it's not 1 setup you can control and test beforehand so many things can go wrong. Like the littlemulticore they have has many dead channels that they didn't check themselfs since the last gig makes you spin around the stage over and over. In the middle of the gig the system loses the guitar - and you are glad you have your extra mics with you that you can just place in no time and get everything back on track. 😅 I know why I still put down some wedges to save the day. If people don't check their gear crazy things happen 😉

[@ruperterskin2117]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@1966LADYBIRD]

Matey that was amazing vid. Watching things like this make me wish I’d gone into sound production leaving school rather than working in an office. Stuff like this fascinates me. Have the synths but this is on another level. Do a vid on lighting?? Everyone is using Main Stage these days.

[@vornamenachname255]

Cool. Christian 👍 Thank you, Sir! 🙌

[@KazuH72]

Thank you for this. Amazing BTS and I really enjoyed it.

[@jmfarrell5]

Excellent video…

[@stevesm2010]

Thank you so much for this insightful video. I learned a lot!

[@n1knunya903]

I was surprised to see the band be so helpful and explain all the minutia involved in the sound, being famous and all. Then I googled take that and it's like a boy band well a middle aged man singing group and it makes more sense. Not to subtract from all these great pro's but they're hired guns so it just makes more sense to me. Still a great and informative video. Now I gotta.go subscribe and go through the rest of the vids here.😊

[@ElBeeEss]

Hurray, Studio One for the win! I started using it back when I needed punch and roll for recording voiceovers and no other DAW offered that at the time except Adobe Audition, which I couldn't afford the exorbitant subscription for. Feels kinda gratifying to see it used for stadium gigs and have it affirmed I made a good choice. I really love it, but I rarely hear anyone other than S1 nerds mention it when they're jawing about DAWing.

[@chriswoods562]

Fascinating video. Thanks!

[@danielstobbs7366]

Love that they use studio one v6 ! Its really an amazing DAW 😊

[@cornerliston]

Have to appreciate your sense of humor. Well done. Not going to write the name of the font since it's already on the paper-but I approve the choice of typographer/foundry : ) (Bonus: I can tell you how to get the ampersand ‘working’ as well.)

[@delzmusique7934]

Well done video ..plz do more of these

[@uksmudgesmith]

Great quality content. Nice one

[@fredfred2363]

Very interesting. It has become a lot more complex- and a lot simpler in other ways. I'd guess that it has become a lot more person dependent, where if an individual controller person 'goes down', then there could be a problem?

[@JohnnyMotel99]

Brilliant insight

[@MACEASY2]

Very interesting, Christian. The one thing you didn't ask I was curious about is whether the risk to hearing is better with IEM's. I do worry about prolonged exposure to high volumes with IEM's because they are so close to the eardrum.

[@svenlakemeier]

The custom molds isolate you very well from the noise in the venue so in ears are usually run at a much lower volume than wedges have to run to mask out audience noise, reflections of the PA in the venue, guitar cabinets on stage and so on. In ears and amp modellers are big steps forward for healthy ears for musicians.

[@morph-]

​@@svenlakemeier Correct, iems are often a lot quieter, by comparison to traditional foldback. They are mixed carefully to make sure that people don't get deafened by in ears, by people who know what they are doing. Loads of artists are quite deaf because of traditional foldback.

[@MartinJG100]

0:16 Hilarious as always, Christian :).

[@matthew-herman]

So informative!

[@mattwoodmanmusic42]

I just got back from Take That and was wondering about all of this, so this couldn't have been timed any better 😄

[@Markrspooner]

fascinating stuff. Just shows how professional it all is these days

[@vitaminfian]

Lee Pomeroy was excellent with It Bites

[@paulhazel]

Fantastic insight. Thanks!

[@jimsanger]

Absolutely fascinating

[@1.21gigsalot5]

Interesting to see Studio One in the driving seat over Ableton

[@tobiaslofi]

Thanks very interesting! I really thought the entire show is run from a laptop but obviously it’s just backing tracks, clicktrack and automation cues.

[@bmerd1969]

Love this video. Keep doing it..

[@ShiningHourPop]

Very, very interesting thanks.

[@iosmusicman]

Ace! Thanks Christian. Cheers. Lee

[@JulesStoop]

18:55 “You’ll see there is a lead, going into that stool, and that just provides eh, the bottom end.” 😂 “They stand on things that gives them vibrations to enhance bottom end.”