HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/interview/williethumb.gif[/SIMG]
By Roland Schulte
Two words: Organic LED. Willie Williams, U2?s incomparable show designer who brought the world ZooTV, PopMart, and the Elevation Tour, may be one of the first to show us this new flexible TV screen technology. And if past successes are any indication, others will surely follow. On top of inspiring millions of rock and roll fans through his designs, Willie has also inspired his peers. His numerous awards include ?Best Lighting Designer 2003? from the UK?s Total Production Magazine, and ?Most Creative Stage Production 2002? from Pollstar USA. The man who designed the heart shaped stage talks to Interference.com about going for the jugular on future tours. Read on to get a glimpse of the future from the show designer who brought U2 closer to us all.
Interference: What is the most important element of show design when considering a live show?
WILLIE: The audience?s experience. Even now I will often go to shows and get into the thick of the crowd to fully remember what the experience is like. After that you have to decide what kind of show it is that you want to do, then take it from there.
Interference: What is the process that transpires of designing a tour, and how long does that process normally take?
WILLIE: It depends entirely on the scale of the project. For a stadium-sized show, which will tour for a long time, the general rule of thumb is to allow about a year. That would be from the initial head scratching and abstract conversations right through till the first show. For an arena (indoor) tour, perhaps half that time, a musical in a theatre also takes about six months.
Interference: What piece of work are you most proud of?
WILLIE: Hard to say - its a little like having several children which you love for different reasons. ZooTV was the most astonishing tour I have ever done, but purely on a design level, I felt PopMart beat the pants of it. In a funny way though, I think the one I am most proud of is R.E.M.s ?Up? tour in ?99. I made a forest of signs and symbols out of rope light, which completely filled the stage. It looked like Tokyo gone mad, but the entire thing fitted in half a truck and cost $12,000. The Kronos Quartet ?SunRings? show is way up there in my affections too. I am reworking that design for when they play the Brooklyn Academy of Music in October so by then I will probably have fallen in love with it all over again.
Interference: The satellite stages and heart-shaped runways add a great interactive element to the shows. Who came up with this idea? Can the idea be improved upon even further?
WILLIE: Ever since about the Unforgettable Fire tour, Bono wanted a runway into the crowd, but safety problems were always cited to squash the idea. However, when we shot ?Rattle and Hum? in Arizona, there was this huge camera platform that ran right into the audience. After that Bono just refused point blank to take no for an answer, having seen it done once, so the ZooTV runway was the result.
More recently, it was a really interesting series of meetings and discussions which resulted in the heart stage for Elevation - quite a pure collaboration. Mark Fisher and I discussed lots of ideas before proposing anything to the band. I was keen to have a long stage which extended into the house so, for a joke really, I drew up a rendering which had the PopMart arch laid down on the floor of an arena. The middle was filled in, but the colours were the same as the arch had been - it was even the same size, 33m long. Bono looked at the drawing and added to lumps on the back end, making the heart shape, after which Adam suggested taking the middle out again so Larry wouldn?t be left stranded miles from the audience. It took a lot of logistical wrangling to make it work practically, but that was where the idea started.
It worked so well - largely because all Bono had to do was walk and there was immediate drama. The ramp became lower as it progressed, so as he walked he descended into the crowd and there was never a moment when he had to stop and turn around, he could just keep going.
Interference: Has design started for the next U2 tour? Can you tell us anything about it?
WILLIE: Nothing has happened on any official level yet, but of course I have been thinking about it for a while. I honestly have no idea yet which direction we will head in, but I am aware that all options are open. What I am struggling with is that every other live rock show now looks like a cross between ZooTV and PopMart. There are huge video screens running annoying graphics and always a runway into the crowd. This format is obviously very successful, which is why it?s everywhere now - so much so that it?s hard to remember that there was a time when rock shows didn?t have big video screens.
Interference: The set list for a U2 show seems to be predefined in most cases. What do you do when Bono or the band decide to improvise? How much chaos do the guest guitarists and fans pulled onto the stage present?
WILLIE: Contrary to what you might imagine, I put a lot of time and energy into trying to avoid locking the show down too much. All shows naturally want to pull themselves towards a stable, consistent shape which is repeated night after night. The effort required to stop a show settling into a predictable format is immense, but I think it is incredibly important to keep the show alive. Conversely of course, a hi-tech show comprises so many different elements that to some degree everybody has to know what?s going to happen, but what I strive for is to have parts of the show which are set in stone, then other parts where anything goes. Then if things start to fall apart you always have a fallback position. The chaos is the best bit, anyway.
Interference: You have said that ZooTV went for the mind, and PopMart went for the emotions. What will the next tour go for?
WILLIE: I?d add to that Elevation which went for the spirit. We didn?t consciously design it that way, but that?s just what happened when U2 played indoors for the first time in 10 years. It was incredibly intense some nights. Next time - who knows? I guess we?ll have to go for the jugular.
Interference: Does the presence of general admission (vs. assigned seating) affect how a production will be completed?
WILLIE: Absolutely. The two produce totally different environments, and there are pluses and minuses in both cases. With the design of Elevation, I felt that we could have the best of both worlds - the more energetic punters could stand on the floor and move around, jump up and down, mosh, etc., whilst the grown ups could have a seat, a good view and buy a programme.
Interference: U2 have always had a great relationship with their fans. As a designer, what is the largest difference between a stadium atmosphere and an arena atmosphere in capturing the essence of the relationship between U2 and their fans? Which type of venue do you prefer, or does it change from tour to tour as the music and the band evolves?
WILLIE: Again, the two are entirely different design challenges, each with their own charm. In a stadium the sky is, quite literally, the limit - well, the sky and the budget. You can produce incredible things, but the show has a different atmosphere to an arena. The indoor shows have more restrictions, but you benefit from everyone being so much closer to the stage. Also of course you are all under one roof, as opposed to a stadium where the band are in this huge building and the audience is effectively in the car park.
Interference: What piece of new live show technology are you anxious to exploit?
WILLIE: Organic LED. Sadly I don?t see this being ready till late 2006, so it may have to wait for the tour after next.
Interference: How do you see the future of rock and roll touring?
WILLIE: Honestly, I see it becoming more homogenized, more formulaic, more packaged - in short, more boring, sadly. It already is for the most part. Audiences - and more importantly the bands themselves - don?t see enough shows to realize how similar they are all becoming. It?s very rare you see anything truly groundbreaking in a big rock show. It takes time and effort to really pull off something new and the financial rewards just aren?t there - after all, the audience has already bought the tickets so if a stage some whirling lights, cheesy video and vocal playback will fill a couple of hours then most bands will take the easy, cheaper option. That?s why the exceptions are so wonderfully rewarding. I saw Radiohead four times on their current tour and loved it every time.
Interference: You have had the luxury of working within some large production budgets. Is there anything you wanted to do that budgets did not permit?
WILLIE: No one believes this, but the financial pressure actually increases with the size of the budget. Largely because if you overspend you can overspend to spectacular proportions so everything is scrutinized and vetted to extreme detail - I don?t just mean U2, its like this with all the big acts. Also of course the expectation of production value is much higher so we are constantly reaching for the impossible. I don?t think I have done a tour yet - let alone a U2 tour - where parts of the original design weren?t eventually abandoned due to costs. The original proposals for both Zoo and PopMart would have blown your mind.
Interference: What is the wildest show idea you never used?
WILLIE: The giant inflatable pissing baby which was to float over the stadium during ZooTV was one of the best. That, and the light aircraft with scrolling message boards under their wings. The PopMart mobile disco, comprising light towers and video screens on trucks which were to drive around the stadium was a pretty wild one too.
Many thanks to Mr. Willie Williams and WillieWorld.com!
By Roland Schulte
Two words: Organic LED. Willie Williams, U2?s incomparable show designer who brought the world ZooTV, PopMart, and the Elevation Tour, may be one of the first to show us this new flexible TV screen technology. And if past successes are any indication, others will surely follow. On top of inspiring millions of rock and roll fans through his designs, Willie has also inspired his peers. His numerous awards include ?Best Lighting Designer 2003? from the UK?s Total Production Magazine, and ?Most Creative Stage Production 2002? from Pollstar USA. The man who designed the heart shaped stage talks to Interference.com about going for the jugular on future tours. Read on to get a glimpse of the future from the show designer who brought U2 closer to us all.
Interference: What is the most important element of show design when considering a live show?
WILLIE: The audience?s experience. Even now I will often go to shows and get into the thick of the crowd to fully remember what the experience is like. After that you have to decide what kind of show it is that you want to do, then take it from there.
Interference: What is the process that transpires of designing a tour, and how long does that process normally take?
WILLIE: It depends entirely on the scale of the project. For a stadium-sized show, which will tour for a long time, the general rule of thumb is to allow about a year. That would be from the initial head scratching and abstract conversations right through till the first show. For an arena (indoor) tour, perhaps half that time, a musical in a theatre also takes about six months.
Interference: What piece of work are you most proud of?
WILLIE: Hard to say - its a little like having several children which you love for different reasons. ZooTV was the most astonishing tour I have ever done, but purely on a design level, I felt PopMart beat the pants of it. In a funny way though, I think the one I am most proud of is R.E.M.s ?Up? tour in ?99. I made a forest of signs and symbols out of rope light, which completely filled the stage. It looked like Tokyo gone mad, but the entire thing fitted in half a truck and cost $12,000. The Kronos Quartet ?SunRings? show is way up there in my affections too. I am reworking that design for when they play the Brooklyn Academy of Music in October so by then I will probably have fallen in love with it all over again.
Interference: The satellite stages and heart-shaped runways add a great interactive element to the shows. Who came up with this idea? Can the idea be improved upon even further?
WILLIE: Ever since about the Unforgettable Fire tour, Bono wanted a runway into the crowd, but safety problems were always cited to squash the idea. However, when we shot ?Rattle and Hum? in Arizona, there was this huge camera platform that ran right into the audience. After that Bono just refused point blank to take no for an answer, having seen it done once, so the ZooTV runway was the result.
More recently, it was a really interesting series of meetings and discussions which resulted in the heart stage for Elevation - quite a pure collaboration. Mark Fisher and I discussed lots of ideas before proposing anything to the band. I was keen to have a long stage which extended into the house so, for a joke really, I drew up a rendering which had the PopMart arch laid down on the floor of an arena. The middle was filled in, but the colours were the same as the arch had been - it was even the same size, 33m long. Bono looked at the drawing and added to lumps on the back end, making the heart shape, after which Adam suggested taking the middle out again so Larry wouldn?t be left stranded miles from the audience. It took a lot of logistical wrangling to make it work practically, but that was where the idea started.
It worked so well - largely because all Bono had to do was walk and there was immediate drama. The ramp became lower as it progressed, so as he walked he descended into the crowd and there was never a moment when he had to stop and turn around, he could just keep going.
Interference: Has design started for the next U2 tour? Can you tell us anything about it?
WILLIE: Nothing has happened on any official level yet, but of course I have been thinking about it for a while. I honestly have no idea yet which direction we will head in, but I am aware that all options are open. What I am struggling with is that every other live rock show now looks like a cross between ZooTV and PopMart. There are huge video screens running annoying graphics and always a runway into the crowd. This format is obviously very successful, which is why it?s everywhere now - so much so that it?s hard to remember that there was a time when rock shows didn?t have big video screens.
Interference: The set list for a U2 show seems to be predefined in most cases. What do you do when Bono or the band decide to improvise? How much chaos do the guest guitarists and fans pulled onto the stage present?
WILLIE: Contrary to what you might imagine, I put a lot of time and energy into trying to avoid locking the show down too much. All shows naturally want to pull themselves towards a stable, consistent shape which is repeated night after night. The effort required to stop a show settling into a predictable format is immense, but I think it is incredibly important to keep the show alive. Conversely of course, a hi-tech show comprises so many different elements that to some degree everybody has to know what?s going to happen, but what I strive for is to have parts of the show which are set in stone, then other parts where anything goes. Then if things start to fall apart you always have a fallback position. The chaos is the best bit, anyway.
Interference: You have said that ZooTV went for the mind, and PopMart went for the emotions. What will the next tour go for?
WILLIE: I?d add to that Elevation which went for the spirit. We didn?t consciously design it that way, but that?s just what happened when U2 played indoors for the first time in 10 years. It was incredibly intense some nights. Next time - who knows? I guess we?ll have to go for the jugular.
Interference: Does the presence of general admission (vs. assigned seating) affect how a production will be completed?
WILLIE: Absolutely. The two produce totally different environments, and there are pluses and minuses in both cases. With the design of Elevation, I felt that we could have the best of both worlds - the more energetic punters could stand on the floor and move around, jump up and down, mosh, etc., whilst the grown ups could have a seat, a good view and buy a programme.
Interference: U2 have always had a great relationship with their fans. As a designer, what is the largest difference between a stadium atmosphere and an arena atmosphere in capturing the essence of the relationship between U2 and their fans? Which type of venue do you prefer, or does it change from tour to tour as the music and the band evolves?
WILLIE: Again, the two are entirely different design challenges, each with their own charm. In a stadium the sky is, quite literally, the limit - well, the sky and the budget. You can produce incredible things, but the show has a different atmosphere to an arena. The indoor shows have more restrictions, but you benefit from everyone being so much closer to the stage. Also of course you are all under one roof, as opposed to a stadium where the band are in this huge building and the audience is effectively in the car park.
Interference: What piece of new live show technology are you anxious to exploit?
WILLIE: Organic LED. Sadly I don?t see this being ready till late 2006, so it may have to wait for the tour after next.
Interference: How do you see the future of rock and roll touring?
WILLIE: Honestly, I see it becoming more homogenized, more formulaic, more packaged - in short, more boring, sadly. It already is for the most part. Audiences - and more importantly the bands themselves - don?t see enough shows to realize how similar they are all becoming. It?s very rare you see anything truly groundbreaking in a big rock show. It takes time and effort to really pull off something new and the financial rewards just aren?t there - after all, the audience has already bought the tickets so if a stage some whirling lights, cheesy video and vocal playback will fill a couple of hours then most bands will take the easy, cheaper option. That?s why the exceptions are so wonderfully rewarding. I saw Radiohead four times on their current tour and loved it every time.
Interference: You have had the luxury of working within some large production budgets. Is there anything you wanted to do that budgets did not permit?
WILLIE: No one believes this, but the financial pressure actually increases with the size of the budget. Largely because if you overspend you can overspend to spectacular proportions so everything is scrutinized and vetted to extreme detail - I don?t just mean U2, its like this with all the big acts. Also of course the expectation of production value is much higher so we are constantly reaching for the impossible. I don?t think I have done a tour yet - let alone a U2 tour - where parts of the original design weren?t eventually abandoned due to costs. The original proposals for both Zoo and PopMart would have blown your mind.
Interference: What is the wildest show idea you never used?
WILLIE: The giant inflatable pissing baby which was to float over the stadium during ZooTV was one of the best. That, and the light aircraft with scrolling message boards under their wings. The PopMart mobile disco, comprising light towers and video screens on trucks which were to drive around the stadium was a pretty wild one too.
Many thanks to Mr. Willie Williams and WillieWorld.com!
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...thanks again...
).
