Unlike many bands, Coldplay aren't playing a conventional 'tour'. While there are strings of dates arranged, the band is apt to play one or two dates at different places in the world at comparatively short notice. As a result, a close relationship with their audio supplier, Wigwam, is vital to the smooth planning and execution of the shows.
"It's fairly fast and furious with Coldplay at the moment, they jet off here there and everywhere," says Wigwam's Alex Hadjigeorgiou. "They do a pretty good job of moving their kit around, but they do get to the point where it's physically not going to make it from point A to point B as quickly as the band and the backline, so we sometimes have to provide a duplicate system.
"It means a lot of investment on our part, but you really don't mind when you have a good relationship and people are nice about it. When you see the end result it's worth it, you don't mind pulling out all the stops."
Another factor is that Coldplay are at a level where they can demand that everything in the system is exactly as they want it.
"With a band like this, there's no getting away with 'nearly' products," says Hadjigeorgiou. "They know what they want, especially with their Front of House engineer Dan Green being involved with the album side of things. He's got a very definite idea of how he wants the shows to sound.
"It makes our job easier, because they know what they want. They give us a clear product brief which really aids us in doing a good job for them."
One request received by Wigwam was for three XTA DP548 dynamic audio management processors.
"Dan did a blind A/B test of the DP548 against processors by another manufacturer and he preferred the XTA. It was pure audio choice," says Hadjigeorgiou. "It was great news for us because we've always found XTA gear to be tremendously reliable, as well as having great backup from them. We have a really good relationship with XTA, Richard Fleming is always very supportive and there are never any issues."
Hadjigeorgiou does the band's FOH mix on a DiGiCo SD7, with the company's latest SD-Racks. While he is happy with the console, again it is important for Wigwam to have full confidence in the manufacturer's backup.
"Because of the major investment we have to make as a company and the high profile of a client like Coldplay, the quality of product support is very important," he says. "I'm the guy that gets the phone calls from these chaps when there is a problem, so when those calls come I need to be able to sort things out very quickly.
"We can buy as much gear as we like and put it all out on the road, but if the support isn't there it becomes very, very laborious. We have had a great relationship with DiGiCo over a number of years and the company seems to go from strength to strength. They employ genuine specialists, people who are there to help configure systems, offer advice, sort out any issues and are always available at the end of the phone. We are very happy with the service that we are getting from them."
(Jim Evans)
