58 l September 2012
www.prosoundnewseurope.com
livefeature On the road 23rd July
PLAN B, ILL MANNERS ALBUM LAUNCH, LONDON
Tonight’s show is in an underground car park near London Bridge. Everyone involved, since we were told the gig would be in a tunnel, said it would be terrible… Good start!
We loaded in at midnight, the night before the show. Everything had to be brought in, as the venue had no toilets, electricity or lights, so it was a full production. I decided to overcome some very bad acoustics by pure power, so we installed as big an [L-Acoustics] V-DOSC system as would fit under the arch, and brought in a [Soundcraft] Vi6 as the desk of choice; and WOW, did it work!
With Louis Oliver’s six projectors and more lights than you can shake a stick at, plus a sound that took everyone’s heads off, the night was considered a huge success, even though Louis’ strobes managed to make the guitarist collapse on stage. History was made as this was the first album launch show to be broadcast live over the internet.
26th July
ELIZA DOOLITTLE, OLYMPIC TORCH SHOW, HYDE PARK, LONDON
This one was a really early load in, lots of rain, and we had to go through two security checks because of the Olympic connection.
We were on in the afternoon and after a very easy set up, Eliza took to the stage for a 30-minute set. Unfortunately, we were again the victims of the noise police, and I was given a 93dB limit; yet another show ruined by over-zealous loudness control! I was glad to be using a Midas XL8 though, I have to say.
Eliza Doolittle at Hyde Park
After the show I had to dash over to the Tate Modern for a showcase with Stooshe for some Warner label executives. The show was basically for billionaires and multi-millionaires involved in the music industry. We did one song – just vocal to track – and it was their hit single Black Heart. This time I was on a Yamaha LS9. It couldn’t get more extreme in one day, to be honest!
27TH JulY STOOSHE, CAMP BESTIVAL AND VICTORIA PARK part three
PSNEurope has been keeping tabs on the working weeks of several internationally renowned sound engineers. In this final part of the series, we welcome back Plan B’s mix master John Delf, and FOH engineer-cum-tour manager, Jon Sword, writes Paul Watson
Arrived at Camp Bestival after an early start. Our slot was some time in the middle of the afternoon. This was definitely one of the girls’ biggest shows to date, and they really delivered. It was a very friendly family crowd, and the sun shone for the duration of their performance. I had loads of fun with a Midas H3000, and then we all piled back into the van and drove to London’s Victoria Park for a show at 11.30pm. We were on after the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Once onsite, I got to see the first 45 minutes of the opening ceremony on a screen backstage before we got a sound check. The show went without a hitch as we played in front of an unsuspecting crowd on their way out of the park. A good show though – oh, and those fireworks were for us, honest!
29TH JulY
KING CREOSOTE AND JON HOPKINS, CAMP BESTIVAL
Back to Camp Bestival in Dorset. Today’s show was a lot different from the kind of stuff I have been doing this year though, as it was very acoustic based. We were on the main stage and all we had was an acoustic piano, a harmonium, an acoustic guitar and a vocal – not the easiest of combinations for a show like this, but it all went swimmingly well.
They did not have the choice of mics I wanted for the piano, so I got the PA company to put up two different stereo pairs so I could choose which ones I liked best during the show. Remember, there are no sound checks at festivals, so I ended up using a blend of both plus a fifth mic which I positioned in the sound hole. Again, another successful show, and it was back in the car to London!
30TH JulY PLAN B, THE 100 CLUB, LONDON
Essentially for this gig we attempted to put on a huge festival-sized show in a very small space!
We were trying to put a big production into the tiny 100 Club in London’s Oxford Street. It was a HUGE squeeze, plus the whole show was going to be broadcast live over the internet. Tonight, the house PA was replaced with a ton of d&b Q boxes and a [DiGiCo] SD8 desk for FOH mixing. Again, as with the [Plan B] album launch show, the acoustic issues were overcome by blowing people’s heads off! The system sounded fantastic and the atmosphere was absolutely wicked. I LOVED it.
Squeezing into the 100 Club 4TH August
GORILLAZ SOUND SYSTEM, SUDOESTE FESTIVAL, PORTUGAL
A ridiculously early load in for this one – and my first experience working with these guys, which I was particularly excited about...
Another flight from Heathrow, this time to Lisbon. It was a three-hour drive to the festival site and a load in at 4.30am – yes, I said AM! Line check was at 6.30am for the show. There was a massive LED screen at the back and a voile at the front for projections in front of the band. In most of Europe they don’t have any noise police so the show, at 2.30am was LOUD! I mean REALLY loud – and it goes off an absolute blast. We all had a really great time and the audience went absolutely nuts.
JOHN DELF’S MONTH
John Delf’s current role is FOH for Plan B and Stooshe, but he has worked with many major artists including The Script, Lily Allen and Lana Del Rey. In his 22 years in the business, he’s travelled around the world an incredible 25 times!
Camp Bestival
John Delf Plan B, London Bridge mixing Gorillaz
A loud Sudoeste Festival
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