Winter is coming for thousands of fans across North America as HBO and Live
Nation take composer Ramin Djawadi’s music from Game of Thrones on a 24-city
arena tour through the beginning of April. The Game of Thrones Live Concert
Experience featuring Ramin Djawadi is an epic in-the-round presentation that brings
Westeros to life through lighting, video and sound production, including three DiGiCo
digital audio mixing consoles, provided by VER.
The statistics associated with the production are on a scale that rivals the sweeping
landscapes of the Seven Kingdoms. A set featuring two connected circular main
stages—dubbed King’s Landing and Winterfell—with five satellite stages is
illuminated by 250-plus pieces of lighting equipment with sound reinforcement
provided by over 130 loudspeakers. More than 800 linear feet of video wall, moving
multi-tiered screens suspended above the two main stages plus four IMAG screens
are used to create scenic backdrops and display footage from the first six seasons
of the popular HBO series. Everything is transported in 15 semi-trucks, which, along
with eight buses for the musicians and crew, will have travelled nearly 12,000 miles
by the end of the six-week tour.
There is a DiGiCo SD7 at FOH, manned by engineer Greg Collins, with a second SD7
for monitor engineer Adam Stuart. There is also a DiGiCo SD11, says Beau
Alexander, VER sales/accounts. “The thought behind the SD11 is to be able to do
what we need to do with the PA and tune the rig before the front-of-house console
is tied in, because originally front of house was going to be isolated in a separate
room.’
But those plans changed during production rehearsals, he adds: “Now Greg is
located just off the big King’s Landing stage.’ Sound reinforcement is provided by
eight flown arrays of Meyer Sound LYON boxes and an earth-shaking 32 ground-
stacked 1100-LFC low frequency control elements.
The DiGiCo desks were chosen for several reasons, continues Alexander. “Number
one, it’s an engineer preference. Number two, the production is at 156 inputs.’ The
production features a 65-piece orchestra and choir comprised of touring and local
pick-up musicians, plus eight traveling instrumental and vocal soloists, conducted
by Djawadi. The show features nearly a dozen unique instruments designed
specifically for the show, including the 12-foot Wilding horn.
The tour is carrying five DiGiCo SD-Racks, split between inputs and outputs at FOH
and monitor world and also supporting Pro Tools HD playback. “The whole show is
run off timecode,’ says Alexander. “All the counts and everything that the conductor
sees is all mapped to timecode and everything is clocked from Pro Tools. Since Pro
Tools is running at 48 kHz, the whole system, including the desks, is also at 48k.’
The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience wrapped up in Portland, Oregon on
April 2, and HBO recently announced that the show’s seventh season would premier
on July 16.
For more details on the tour and its stops, visit www.gameofthronesconcert.com. VER Tour Sound can be found online at www.ver.com.
