38 l August 2013 livereport UNITED KINGDOM Hyde Park to Hide Park
Martin Audio’s MLA tackles the sensitive issues of dispersion in London’s Hyde Park, with Phil Ward listening in
WHEN LUCIANO Pavarotti used to sing here, with a huge PA, none of the neighbours complained. But if a rock or hip-hop act produced the same or even lower SPLs from the temporary stages erected each summer, tongues wagged in regulatory ears. It was known in PSNEurope circles as ‘Speakers Corner’, in honour of the bastion of free speech associated with
Ronnie Wood makes the big screen during two dates for the Roling Stones in Hyde Park
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boxes deployed in the new setup
ad hoc gatherings of tub-thumpers in another part of the park; now it seems – thanks to a very specific technological breakthrough – the critics of Hyde Park’s musical promotions may have to pipe down themselves. The problem was always the
same: if you turn it down to assuage public concern, you run the risk of disappointing paying customers. Despite the best efforts of professionals including Vanguardia Consulting to mediate sensibly, the ideal compromise always proved elusive and, this summer, wholesale changes to the infrastructure of Hyde Park’s concerts have been introduced as the quest continues. Rebadged as ‘Barclays British Summertime Hyde Park’, the gigs have a new promoter, AEG/ Loudsound; a new rental supplier in Capital Sound; and a new PA system for the main stage – which is orientated at a different angle to before and now presented as the ‘Great Oak Stage’, featuring more fake plastic trees than a
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