www.psneurope.com
June 2013 l 37
livereport Curtin is utilising one DiGiCo
SD-Rack at FOH and there are a further four on stage. Flexibility is key on this show, he says, and much of that stems from his DiGiCo set-up. “I have one local SD-Rack and there are three on stage which we’re using as inputs; then there’s a fourth SD-Rack which is mainly used for the support stuff and a few extra bits and pieces,” he explains. “The flexibility of DiGiCo is what drew me to the consoles in the first place; everything is simpler and more intuitive, and compared to other manufacturers, there are fewer steps to go through to get to where you want to be when mixing.” The PA for the tour is by d&b: two hangs of 20 J-Series enclosures with eight cardioid- configured flown J-Subs per hang constitutes the main L/R; a further 16 J-Series make up the side hangs; and 12 Q-Series boxes make up the centre clusters. There are an additional
Stephen Curtin, FOH engineer Arno Voortman, system tech
nine J-Subs per side on the floor and a scattering of d&b M4 wedges on stage, should the in-ears go down; the bassist and drummer are using Pearl Throne Thumpers. System tech Arno Voortman
uses Rational Acoustic’s Smaart and Morset Sound’s WinMLS software to tune the PA, though he admits this venue didn’t need much tweaking. “The process at the O2
Arena doesn’t take long as it’s very similar to an American
arena, which I’m obviously used to,” Voortman explains. “I use Smaart for the low-end timeline and WinMLS for everything else.” Voortman, who also worked on Madonna’s last major tour, is a big fan of d&b for its ease-of-use and versatility; and as far as processing goes, he lets the speaker do all the talking: “I find DSP is often being abused these days, as in over- processed, which can actually make it a detrimental thing;
suddenly systems sound worse instead of better! If a system is a good system, why should you tweak the hell out of it?” From your correspondent’s position at FOH (sat next to Mr Carter – AKA Jay-Z), the system sounded like it was being driven very hard, but any slight distortion enhanced the experience. And always, intelligibility and boundless energy from Beyoncé’s voice. After opening with Run The World (Girls), a two-hour set
left the crowd mesmerised, and Mrs Carter was right on the money – she didn’t seem to break a sweat, despite dancing throughout! One highlight was the moment the singer was zip- wired to FOH to perform the latter part of the show from her ‘Bey Stage’, (above the mix position). The second was the über- spectacular finale. As Beyoncé came to the end of her hit, Halo, lighting designer LeRoy Bennett’s unbelievable ‘Wall of Inferno’ (including 450 SGM X-5 strobes and 220 Clay Paky Sharpys) provided an incredible ‘wow’ moment as more than 1,000 fixtures lit up the entire arena, making it (we think) the brightest show ever to be seen on a concert stage. I’ll put my hand up, like the
lady asks: this was truly a night to remember. n
www.dbaudio.com www.digico.biz www.sennheiser.co.uk www.shure.co.uk
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