Last week we had a look at the classic 1997 album; IQ's Subterranea. We discussed the history of the band, the development of the album and the various tracks on it in Part One. Now, in Part Two, we take a closer look at what the concept of the double CD is all about, where it originated and how the band translated it into a marvellous multimedia live show.

The first question you might ask is 'why did IQ choose to do a concept album ?'. Peter Nicholls explains: "I think, right back at the start, I'd personally reached a point where I wanted to do something a bit different live because I think people coming to an IQ gig sort of had an idea of what tracks we might play. I thought it would be good to do something totally different. From the very early days, we'd always talked about doing a big visual show, something that wasn't a rock gig as such, but was more theatrical and like a film, almost.
We knew that in order to stage a new show, we'd need a whole lot of new material so I went through some old rehearsal tapes and found lots of stuff that we'd never used, and slowly the idea began to develop of doing a double album. We still haven't used most of that material. The majority of music on Subterranea was written specially for the album.
There obviously had to be a story to hold it all together and what was nice for me was that, as the music was being written, the story was also being put together. [And the visual ideas as well].
So the whole thing was a much more organic process. In the past, it's tended to be more divided where I would go away and write the lyrics to match the mood of the music we'd written. It felt more natural this way and much more exciting because everyone was involved."

The story of Subterranea was heavily influenced by the history of the enigmatic Casper Hauser. Peter Nicholls: "The initial idea I had was a German folk story of a guy called Kaspar Hauser who was found wandering around Nuremburg in 1828. He had no idea who he was and all he knew was that he'd been kept locked away all his life and had never seen anyone else. His food was pushed through his door late at night when he was asleep. He had no language so he had to be taught how to speak, and he became something of a celebrity. In the end he was murdered so no-one ever really knew who he was. There was a theory that he might be the illegitimate offspring of some royal figure and he'd been hidden away somewhere to avoid embarrassment."

When Casper Hauser was found in Nuremburg he was 16 years old. He appeared to have never seen everyday things like fire and when he was taught to speak, told of having been raised all his life in a dark room. In 1833, when he was 21 years old, an attempted murder on the 14th of December eventually led to his death on the 17th. His grave can be found on the Johannisfriedhof in Ansbach (Hic iacet Casparus Hauser. Aenigma sui temporis. Ignota nativitas. Oculta mors).
Suzanne Vega also wrote a song about Casper Hause; Wooden Horse (Caspar Hauser's Song)..

Peter: "I just thought it was an intruiging idea for a story but to put it in a modern setting, to give it more urban environment and make it less progressive rock.
So we just developed this idea of him being part of some experiment which kind of brings it in line with modern conspiracy theories, that sort of area of interest, but the focus of it still being this guy's emotions and how he reacts to all these new experiences. I still think, in a story, the thing you connect with is how the central character reacts to what's going on and what that person's emotions are. Although the story does have a fantasy element it's still the emotional core of it which is the important aspect as far as I'm concerned.
I remember when we were writing Infernal Chorus we said it would be great if the song could just stop and he realises he's got a knife or a gun in his hand. It was really good because the stop combined all three aspects: musical, story and visual. I found the whole writing process very enjoyable and we really were writing as a band. The strength of IQ still comes down to what we all contribute."

So, the Casper Hauser incidents of the 19th century influenced the writing of the story of Subterranea, but what exactly was the story that evolved from that ? The following has been pieced together from various interviews and conversations with Peter and Martin.

Subterranea is about a guy who's been the subject of an experiment. He's been held captive, almost like sensory deprivation, throughout his whole life and he doesn't have any contact with the outside world (Provider). At the end of Provider there's this grating sound, which is where he escapes or is let loose.
Actually, it's not quite clear of the subject really escapes or is let out on purpose, as part of the experiment. Band members have given various explanations. Martin: "As part of the experiment after all the sensory deprivation, he's let loose in the outside world. So he goes of into the outside world, all the time being monitored by these people.". Let's assume that it was indeed an intentional release.
The central character doesn't know why he is imprisoned. He doesn't know why he's released and he is exposed to all this sensory overload, all these sights and sounds and smells and stuff that he's never experienced before. He has to digest all these things (cars, buildings, television, etc) in one overwelming sensation (Subterranea).
After some hard times among homeless and hobo's (Sleepless Incidental) he gets involved with a religious cult who try to take him in, because they see him as being easy prey. They try to give his live meaning because he doesn't know what the hell is going on, but he refuses to be converted by them (Failsafe).

He meets a girl - this is probably 'Maya', who is mentioned several times at the end of the album - and falls in love with her. He has a deep friendship/romance with this person (Speak My Name) but in the end she is taken away from him (Tunnel Vision). According to some explanations she is killed by the people who held him prisoner.
There's a lot of anger at that point and than he realises that he's being followed. All the time he's being watched and he manages to get hold of this person. And he kills him, because he's so pissed off, but not before he forces him to reveal the name of the man who is responsible for his misery (Mockenrue) (Infernal Chorus).
He just can't handle it all so he retreats into his own mind, which is basically what King of Fools is all about. Then there's a period of quiet reflection, The Sense in Sanity, where he tries to work out what's happening, and a big rush back to reality with State of Mine.

On the second disc of the album he comes to realise that he's part of some form of experiment. That he's been kept in away for some reason, so he needs to know why that's happened. At a certain point he takes on a 'disguise' to be able to find out what's behind all of this (Capricorn). Along the way he also realises that life in the outside world is much harder than his earlier, controlled life (Unsolid Ground).
As the story moves on, he realises that he's not the only victim of the experiment (Somewhere in Time); there are others who all carry the same mark, the strange symbol which is a recurring theme on the CD sleeve; the square IQ logo. Noticed the tattoo on the arm of the man on the Sleepless Incidental page ?
Mockenrue's victims decide to team up and take revenge (High Waters), but their captors being rather good at this are too clever for them, they herd them all into an old building and set fire to it in an attempt to destroy the evidence (The Narrow Margin). In a dramatic confrontation he meets the person responsible for locking him away. In the final scene, the central character is the only survivor and he kind of resigns himself to going back into the same isolation where he started, so the whole thing comes full circle.
Whereas the album starts with him being on his own and not knowing why he's there or what's going on. The album ends with him at peace with himself because he's experienced, himself, so many terrible things and he wants to be alone again. So he returns to a place of isolation, which isn't specified.

Peter: "The focus of the album is very much the central character's feelings and reactions to all these new experiences. He goes through a whole range of emotions, from confusion and fear through love and anger to eventual acceptance."

Months before the album was actually released IQ and their crew had already worked very hard on translating the concept of the album into a multimedia live show. One of the things that was designed was a retractable gauze screen. This piece of equipment that hangs above the front of the stage had been developed by Assistant Lighting & Projection Coordinator Martin 'Oggie' Ogden, although various people had told him that it couldn't be done. Now IQ is the only band with such a device.
The thing basically consisted of a piece of gauze textile attached to an old sewage pipe which was connected to a small motor that could be used to rotate the pipe. As a result the screen would roll up or down when the motor was turned on.
The retractable gauze device played a very important role in the show. When the stage was unlit the screen functioned as a movie screen and the projector at the mixing desk in the hall could display film footage on it. When lights on the stage are turned on the screen practically becomes transparent and you could see right through it. Both features can also be combined so that you could see the band play behind the screen while films are projected in front of them. This proved to be a very spooky effect, used during songs like The Narrow Margin, but more about that later. All in all the device was brilliant in its simplicity and proved to be very effective during the show.

At the back of the stage a second white sheet was pulled up. On this one additional films could be projected when the gauze screen had been rolled up. In front of the screen and just behind Martin's and Paul's instruments an elevated walkway was build which Pete would use quite a lot during the show. Combined the walkway and screen could create some nice effects. For instance, during Sleepless Incidental the metro station picture which can be found in the middle of the CD booklet would be projected on the back screen, turning the walkway into a platform.

Peter: "I'm always slightly reluctant with lyrics and stories with themes and things to explain them in detail. Because I think the most important thing, and the most interesting thing of them is for people to make their own interpretation. Similarly with this show we use a lot of visuals, there's a lot of visual information. We use slides and projections. And in some ways I think that's slightly limiting because when you listen to an album you have your own visual interpretation of what's going on. You get images in your head, I mean I certainly do, I'm not sure if people listening to the album will do that. So when we present the show on stage and we have images it's not an attempt by us to say this is what's happening, but it is an attempt to say this is what we were thinking about when we wrote the songs. But now it's up to you to interpret it how you want to interpret it."

Between the screen at the front and the one at the back a rig with six expensive looking lights had been set up; Golden Scan 3s. These machines were able to create light beams and move them around by means of reflection in a rotating mirror. Also, the colour of the light could be changed and the beams could be shaped in various patterns, creating circles, triangles and other figures on the stage.

Another nice gadget was the extra microphone and camera in the wing of the stage. These would be used during King of Fools. Pete's head could be filmed and projected right back on the gauze screen while Martin and Mike would play the keyboard parts of the track, resulting in a huge spooky head floating above the stage.

The show had it's premiere in Bury, where the band played it twice (September 5th and 6th) to coincide with the release of the album. During both nights IQ played straight through the entire 103 minute album, non-stop.
Before playing the Bury gigs, Peter Nicholls said: "Essentially, we wanted to do more than 'good evening, this one's from' ... etc, exploiting our back catalogue and so on. This is the whole double album performed straight through, with possibly a couple of surprises at the end."

Even though the concerts coincided with a Fish gig on the 5th and the funeral of Princess Diana on the 6th, the gigs were well attended and very well received (especially considering the fact that the audience had never heard the 100+ minutes musical piece before).

Here's an extensive description of the Subterranea show:

The sounds of the tuning orchestra filled the venue. A couple of taps from the conductor and Subterranea hit people right in the face ! As the first bombastic notes of Overture were played a tower in the middle of a field was projected on the rolled down gauze screen. Inside the tower a man in white clothes (Pete) held his head in his hands and rocked to and fro. With fear in his eyes he looked around, opened the door and ran away from the tower. The up-tempo part of Overture kicked in while he fled away from his confinement, all the time looking back as if someone was following him.
Provider. Projections on the gauze screen faded. Yellow light on the stage behind it was turned on. Pete, dressed in white clothes, could be seen through the screen, kneeling with a light pattern projected on the screen behind him, which created the effect of a barred window. The sound of the iron gate opening. He was free. Free to wander off into ....
... Subterranea. The gauze screen was rolled up while the band went into the title track. Mike, John, Paul and Martin were all dressed in black clothes with square IQ logos, contrasting the outside world with the innocence of the character Pete was playing.
While he stumbled across the stage footage of the city shot across the back screen. London, Tower Bridge, Traffic, High Buildings, enough to make Pete dazzle and fall to the ground. Stunning acting performance; Pete really 'lived' his role.
Sleepless Incidental. A metro station was projected on the back screen, turning the walkway into a platform. [During later performances of the show, Peter wore a white blindfold during the first verses of Sleepless Incidental]. Martin's splendid keyboard solo set the mood for the priest/cult leader to arrive.
Failsafe. Mike's guitar solo. Wonderful patterns were produced by the light projectors. Pete came back on stage wearing a black cloak and round sunglasses, playing the religious leader. When the answer came ('Leave me alone ...') he flung off the cloack. Wooden religious statues and leaded lights were projected on the back screen.
Speak my Name. This wonderful resting point of the album was played in atmospheric lighting. [Later performances featured the woman's face from the CD booklet projected on the backdrop].
Tunnel Vision. More moving lights. [During later performances the song featured footage of Pete being rolled around in a wooden box. This showed a striking resemblance with a video by one of Pete's favourite vocalists, Tori Amos]. At the end Mike went over to an extra keyboard by the side of Martin's rig to play the transition into Infernal Chorus. Pete came back on stage. He had changed his white shirt for a black one and a black jacket; 'Something happened inside ....'. The decay had begun with him killing one of the agents following him. The stage light turned red. [Later shows in 1998 actually featured both Peter with a creepy leather SM mask and the agent appearing on the walkway and manipulating Peter like a puppet on strings before being killed by Pete.]
King of Fools. The gauze screen came down again. Mike went back to the keyboard to play the menacing opening of King of Fools. He and Martin could be seen through the screen in the blue stage light. Then suddenly an eerie face appeared in front of them, floating above the stage, projected on the gauze screen; Pete, wearing small round sunglasses singing King of Fools. Very spooky, very effective.
Sense in Sanity. The gauze screen was retracted again. Pete came back, standing singing by the side of the stage while Mike and Martin played the keyboards and beautiful light effects were made. [In later shows Pete would be sitting on the walkway in a director's chair].
State of Mine. Fast-forwarded footage of traffic shot across the back screen. A couple of seconds of silence.
Laid Low. Martin and Mike played this beautiful opener of the second disk.
Breathtaker. Another rocking track with effective lighting. While Pete's clothing slowly changed from white to black the other band members changed their clothes from black to white, bit by bit and one by one. Probably as a symbol for the lost innocence of the main character compared to the outside world.
Capricorn. Martin played the saxophone bits on the keyboard. The screen showed raindrops falling into puddles. [Some of the final performances featured sax player Tony Wright live on both this track and Subterranea].
The Other Side. Moving clouds flew across the back screen while Mike and Martin performed this instrumental piece. During Unsolid Ground the Gold Scans were also used to their best effects.
Somewhere in Time / High Waters. Two other songs with great lighting. At one point the square symbol (IQ logo) which was used to mark Mockenrue's testing subjects appeared in huge form on the back screen.
'Clank-Tingy-Tingy-Clank-Tingy'. The Narrow Margin had begun. One of the highlights of the show, played perfectly and with amazing effects. During the middle section ('Every one of us is herded ... ') the gauze screen came down and a tunnel-like pattern with sparkles of light around a big hole was projected on it. Pete stepped back on the elevated walkway, standing exactly in the center of the circle. When he sang the words 'and the kerosene's ignited', projected flames shot up on the gauze screen. As a result Pete could be seen standing in a sea of fire.
The lights on the stage were turned of while the projected flames remained and the sound effect tape was started. The fire sequence, very eerie.
The band went into the up-tempo part while the screen was rolled-up once again. Mike and John took center stage to 'do their thing' while images of moving trains (looking a lot like the old Supertramp footage for Rudy) were projected on the backdrop. At the end the screen came down again, Pete once again kneeled in the middle of the walkway. He was now fully dressed in black, while the rest of the band wore white. The barred window pattern was projected behind him once again. He was back in his confinement. The iron gate closed and the lights went off. Darkness. Subterranea had ended.

The band performed the full Subterranea show 16 times in front of an audience. Shows that were played in between and after the Subterranea tours included a selection of songs from the album and as many of the film footage and effects as the band could take along.

In the second lapse of the Subterranea performances (1998) several new bits of footage and theatrics had been added to the show.

During the last lapse of the Subterranea shows (1999) Pete was still adding bits and pieces to the theatrics of his performance. Some of it (the blindfold in Sleepless Incidental) made it into the actual shows, while other bits (a pair of white gloves with mirrors on the fingertips) where discarded.

It's now more than five years since the audience got their first 'glimpse' of Subterranea during live shows in the end of 1994. After Subterranea the band releases two items with older material, Seven Stories into '98 (featuring a completely rerecorded plus the original version of their debut cassette album Seven Stories Into Eight) and The Lost Attic. The latter was a rarities album that also included two left-overs from the Subterranea sessions (Eyes for the Blind and Universal Scam).

Written by Ed Sander

For more IQ information check out DPRP's Lush Attic IQ Pages.

Sources for Part 2:
• Collected Underground article.
• Living a Life in a Day ... With IQ article.
• The IQ FAQ.
• Various articles on The Lush Attic.
• Various Subterranea reviews in the DPRP Concert Review Archive.
• Paperlate interview (IQ Newsletter #39) & IO Pages interview (It All Posts Here #369).
• Various Official Fan Club Magazines and Fascination magazines.
• Live pictures by BJ van der Vorst.