Backstage @ The 53rd GRAMMYs: What It Is REALLY Like

One of the audio mix control rooms
backstage at the 53rd GRAMMY Awards

Yesterday, the day before the 53rd GRAMMY Awards, I was lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour of what it takes to pull off this one-of-a-kind live music broadcast. Robbie Clyne, President and CEO of Clyne Media, provided access to the inner workings of the entire setup at the Staples Center, and it’s nothing short of spectacular.

You might think that it’s a total celebrity “hang” back there, but think again. The operation it takes to execute what music producers claim is the most complex live music telecast in the world is so masterfully detailed that what really happens backstage is a case study in the most comprehensive multitasking and coordination effort I’ve ever experienced. The truth is, the artists have to stay out of the way until their call to take the stage – and even then, it’s on and off, and out of the way. With dozens of the biggest acts in the music biz, you get a real appreciation of what it means to say “the show must go on.” Egos and attitudes take a backseat because this broadcast waits for no one. Doesn’t matter if you’re Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Usher -- or yes, even Justin Bieber – you don’t get in the way of keeping this thing off the ground. Or “off the air” I should say.

One of the things I found particularly amazing is that the entire show is actually scripted from start to finish. Yes, that’s right… scripted. I got a glimpse of the script in action as Justin Bieber and Usher were rehearsing. In a mobile trailer unit powered by NEP's Denali Broadcasting, the executive producer is looking at 20 live camera feeds and aggressively calling out camera shots to a switcher operator who presses buttons to bring up the preferred camera. There are about 10 people in this room, it’s hot, loud, and intense. Seconds before the producer calls out each camera shot, a woman (known only to us a “Christine”) is actually calling out every single action in the script so that the exec producer knows exactly what is about to happen next. Now think about this. The script for the entire GRAMMY Awards show is in a binder that is about 5 inches thick. “Christine” knows every word of every song, every movement, every action of every singer, dancer, musician, visual graphics, pyro technics – you get the idea. Watching these guys rehearse the show was jaw dropping – and then Justin Bieber’s stage director runs into the room with changes. Christine rips out a page from the middle of the binder, places the new page in it and keeps going without missing a beat. Come to find out, changes from all the acts are coming in all day long during the three days of rehearsals before the event. Each act only gets 1 hour of rehearsal time prior to the show. It’s only today, Sunday, the morning of the telecast, where they do a full run through of the entire Awards Ceremony starting at 10 am. No changes are allowed today – or I think someone might actually die!



Backing track room.  Pro Tools session
for Justin Bieber's Never Say Never
on the computer screen.

We got to check out all of the technical areas – for example, there is one room dedicated solely to backing tracks. This is where artists come in with their studio recordings done in Pro Tools and two operators have to sync these digital files up to the live stage performance to enhance, per the artists’ requests, any live performance with pre-recorded material. It’s another spectacle, considering how attentive these guys have to be. Hit the play button 2 seconds after Katy Perry starts singing, and, well… not good.



 

The "mic" waiting area.  Eminem's mic is

second from the bottom on the right.

Another interesting tidbit is the staging area for lead singer wireless microphones. Every singer usually has a preference of the mic they use – and because there are over 50 wireless mic systems running in the venue, they need to keep the mics shielded from one another when they are not in uses so that they don’t cause interference and introduce glitches to the signal processing. So at the base of the backstage stairs where each artist will access the stage sit a couple of 8’ folding tables with about 50 tinfoil meatloaf containers – each with a microphone resting inside. Yes, that’s right – Eminem’s microphone (and everyone else’s) is resting quietly in a $0.25 tinfoil meatloaf cooking pan waiting to be snatched up for 3 minutes of use before heading back to its shiny, crinkled resting place. Batteries are replaced twice a day in every mic from Thursday to Sunday regardless of how much juice they have.



In the bowels of the Staples Center is a sea of countless self-contained risers on rollers with the band equipment and any set design to be used during each performance. Every drum, amplifier, etc. is already mic’d and sound checked – essentially the risers are rolled on stage, cables plugged in, and the band starts to play. When they are done, the riser is rolled out the other side of the stage to make room for the next, and in most cases, when the gear leaves the stage it is rolled right out of the Staple Center and into the artist’s truck. By 11pm EST, with only 30 mins left in the show, the sea of risers will become a ghost town.



Drum kit for Katy Perry.



Stage pieces for Katy Perry.



Moving a piano riser to the stage.

 It’s hard to capture all of the elements required to produce this incredible event in a blog post, but it really is an amazing spectacle of coordination and effort. I guess it’s not that surprising when you think about all of the acts that will perform tonight, but thinking about it and seeing are very different. More to come…