Category: Martin Audio

If there is a single festival that defines the English summer, it has to be Henley, which this year celebrated its 40th anniversary with an eclectic mix of music, comedy, art and grade A fun.

Production managed by John Harris, Henley is a festival unlike any other, with the main stage placed in the River Thames, backed by a fleet of boats of all shapes and sizes. The site features a variety of other venues ranging from intimate comedy to cabaret and dance bands.

RG Jones has been providing audio at Henley since 1983—most of it based around Martin Audio PA—and in a relationship surviving that long, the level of trust and commitment is obviously at its highest. Over the years, the style of the event has changed somewhat from the original, fully classical programme to what is now a much more commercial line-up, but with no less determination to deliver an unforgettable experience. This year’s artists (on the main Floating Stage) were as diverse as Sir Tom Jones, Craig David, Katherine Jenkins, Jack Savoretti, The Script and Pete Tong with the Ibiza Classics Orchestra.

The Floating Stage sound system was manned by the experienced Mark Edwards, using an established design by Simon Honywill. The site is very unusual as it is around three times wider than it is deep, and three arrays each side of the stage structure are required to deliver the requisite coverage; the outer arrays feature nine deep hangs of Martin Audio’s MLA Compact, the forward facing comprise seven deep MLA Compact, and the inner coverage this time was provided by four deep Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Mini (WPM), plus some W8LMD frontfills. “It’s a tricky system to get right,” says Honywill, “as some seats are extremely close to the stage. But years of working on this site go a long way to guaranteeing a first-class audience experience.”

Elsewhere, top comedians were doing their very best to keep everyone laughing in roasting temperatures in The Comedy Club – Andy Parsons, Milton Jones, Maisie Adam and Russell Kane were among the fantastic line up. For RG Jones, The Comedy Club was operated by Sam Liddiard and featured a Martin Audio W8LM/WLX system.

Rosie Tarrant could be found in the Bedouin Bar with a Martin Audio DD12/SXC118 system for a varied mix of world and folk music, and in the Jazz Tent Olly Wickes was tasked with a stream of different acts—handled more than capably by an MLA Mini system.Finally Dan Langridge was anchored in The Riverside Restaurant, mixing the resident dance band on a W8LM/WLX system.

A highlight of this year was the appearance of Boney M in the Big Top.With a fantastic 9-piece band and a raft of backing singers supporting original member Liz Mitchell, they smashed through their massive list of enormous hits to the rapturous delight of a crowd of very up-for-it festival goers.Mixed by Simon Honywill on his first serious Martin Audio TORUS adventure, the sound engineer stated, “the result was one of those one-off joyous things which make you realise why you still do this for a living.” Complete with stage invasion, this extravaganza was a huge success.

Another big success was Honywill’s partnership with LIPA student Sheridan Burns, who came under his tutelage as part of Henley Festival’s new RISE programme. The Festival was set up in 1982 as a charity, its mission being to stage a music and arts festival for the local community. To coincide with its 40th anniversary, they set up RISE to support emerging talent, both in front and behind the spotlight—and Burns was selected by RG Jones to fulfil their RISE quota.

As for TORUS, speaking of his first experience with the system, Simon Honywill stated, “This is a great product; it has great flexibility while maintaining the musical, signature Martin Audio sound that I love so much.

“We had to redeploy the system into a 270° DJ system after Boney M finished … and it totally rocked!”

John Harris also added his own plaudits, both on TORUS and the sound set-up in general: “Henley Festival is proud of its long association with RG Jones and is excited to see and hear the developments in technology that they introduce to our stages.”

Background music systems have been shown to have a huge influence on people in just about every situation. However, an area that has been overlooked is the effect that the quality of the music has on human behaviour.

Research has highlighted the way that music can affect consumer habits in a retail environment, employee focus in a workplace and relaxation in a hospitality setting. The first studies into the effects of music on shoppers were published more than 30 years ago and these results have been confirmed and refined time and again since then. Findings by PPS PRL[1] showed that two-thirds of UK adults say that the type of music a shop or business plays influences what they buy. The same survey also found that classical music encourages restaurant diners to order expensive items on the menu and that more than two-thirds admit to leaving a venue after realising that no songs were playing.

Further research, published by JAMA Network [2], notes the implications that music can have in other hospitality settings, such as hotels and spas. This research shows that music can make a positive change in health-related quality of life, which highlights the important role that a commercial audio system plays in therapeutic settings such as spas.

A slightly more contested area is the use of audio in the workplace. This is a subject that has seen a large amount of research, with results that have often been contradictory. Some papers have found that listening to music with lyrics while reading or working can decrease concentration or cognitive performance (Shih et al., 2012 [3];Liu et al., 2021 [4]). On the other hand, a number of studies have shown oppositely that natural-occurring sounds such as white noise, or highly composed sound such as classical music, can be beneficial for increasing focus and can even improve learning outcomes (Davies, 2000 [5];Chou, 2010 [6];Angwin et al., 2017 [7];Gao et al., 2020 [8]).

Following the success of the inaugural South Facing Festival at the Crystal Palace Bowl last year, Festival Director, Marcus Weedon, requested the same formula for this year’s 10-day event. And that included Martin Audio’s ground-breaking MLA loudspeaker array, supplied once again by Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK group).

This perfectly served the requirements of a top-class bill, including London Grammar, Bombay Bicycle Club, Jungle, Becky Hill and Richard Ashcroft.

Two other key developments helped boost the quality of the sound, as Solotech Project Manager David Preston—who was working alongside production manager, Julia Bruns, and site/production specialists, LS Events—explained. Driven by the excellent feedback, and absence of complaints from neighbours last year, he noted that levels within the bowl were raised from an SPL of 96dB(A) to 98dB(A) for this year, while the tech team still managed to stay within offsite thresholds.

The second advantage for Solotech was the extended space on the floating platform which housed the stage. Last year a lack of space at the front precluded mounting a broadside MLX cardioid subwoofer array across the front.

But with no such problems this year, 10 MLX subs were arced across the front of stage, with MLA Compact enclosures deployed as frontfills. David Preston explained: “Having the extra couple of metres along the front of the pontoon meant that we were able to get to a broadside cardioid array and provide more even sub coverage across the venue, and this also gave us greater control in the lower frequencies.

“The event is in a natural amphitheatre which seems to really help us with the audio coverage; the clarity at the back was similar to that at the front—which was great. As for MLA Compact, these provided a more robust option for front fills and could throw effortlessly across the nearby pond to hit the front of the audience.”

Preston led a Solotech team comprising Rayne Ramsden (System/FOH Tech), Isabella Di Biaise (Monitor Engineer), Harry Garcia and Diego Ternivasio (Stage Techs).

Ramsden programmed the DISPLAY software so that the sound tapered off at the site perimeter, thereby ensuring minimum bleed and maximum containment.

Once again, MLA was a hit with visiting sound engineers, among them Richard Ashcroft’s sound engineer, Al Davies. He has been using the PA since shortly after its launch over a decade ago, when with girl group Neon Jungle he said it was the best sound he had ever heard in Brixton Academy.

At Crystal Palace, despite the mix position being off axis he said the sound was balanced, the coverage even throughout, and the rear rejection impressive, with no backstage bleed. The subs also sounded great and non-granular. “Some have a tendency to sound ‘notey’, but the bottom end was balanced beautifully.”

He added, “Richard likes to be loud, so I was mixing at 97.5dB, almost up to the threshold, without ever struggling. He was really impressed and congratulated me afterwards.”

In conclusion, David Preston stated that Crystal Palace is now becoming one of the favourite festival sites he looks after during the summer calendar. “It’s a great space for concerts,” he said. “Working with Julia and the LS Events team is always a pleasure, and I look forward to 2023.

“Martin Audio’s MLA proved yet again that—noise control wise—it can do things that no other box on the market is capable of. For suburban festivals, with tricky noise limits set by local councils, that’s the important factor, to ensure the license for the festival can be granted again for the following year.”

German technology service provider, EBV Veranstaltungstechnik, has invested in Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision technology, with the purchase of a WPM line array from territorial distributors, Audio Technica Deutschland.

Based in Hettenleidelheim in the Rheinland-Palatinate, EBV is a family business with a long tradition. Elmar Breitwieser founded the company over 40 years ago and focused primarily on regional musical events, which he initially equipped with sound and lighting systems before adding stage technology.

In 2018 Christian Breitwieser, son of the founder, took over the company and expanded the business from concert and festival events to corporate functions, conferences and more.

THE OPTIMISATION OPTIONS MAKE THE SYSTEM FEEL AT HOME ANYWHERE—WHETHER IN A ROCK CONCERT OR AS A SPEECH REINFORCEMENT SYSTEM.

Needing to adapt and upgrade the audio equipment to the new requirement he opted for Martin Audio, stating, “I had already been familiar with the brand for a long time.”

His interest was rekindled, first when he became aware of the DD6 and CDD-LIVE series, and he initially expanded the company’s hire inventory by adding these two series, complete with a combination of SXP118 and SX118 subwoofers.

Justifying the purchasing decision, he said, “Both series have an asynchronously radiating horn—even as a self-powered coaxial system in the CDD-LIVE. The resulting performance is outstanding, the systems work very homogeneously and still sound extremely pleasant even at higher levels.

At the same time, he had also planned an investment in a line array, but this had to take a back seat due to COVID. “Fortunately, we now have a large number of events once again where a line array is needed. And for that reason we made an immediate decision to go with the WPM.”

Like the other members of the Wavefront Precision family, the smaller 6.5″ WPM system offers scalable resolution and very precise control capabilities thanks to the DISPLAY optimisation software. “The WPM fits perfectly into our portfolio due to its flexibility, EBV’s managing director continues. “The optimisation options make the system feel at home anywhere—whether in a rock concert or as a speech reinforcement system.”

An additional benefit of investing in Wavefront Precision had been its immediate availability, he confirmed. “We decided to make this investment at short notice in April and were pleasantly surprised that Martin Audio were able to deliver within a few weeks. This meant that the` system was already in use by the beginning of June.”

Long-standing Martin Audio rental partner, SWG Events, has upgraded its pro audio inventory with the acquisition of 24 of the large format Wavefront Precision WPL enclosures.

These form part of a Martin Audio package, along with 12 SXH218 subs and 24 XE500 floor monitors. Powering the WPL in 2-box resolution are Martin Audio iKON iK42 process-controlled, multi-channel amplifiers, part of an order for 17 iK42’s, which will also be assigned to the XE500.

Stated SWG Events’ Head of Audio, Simon Purse, “Everything came along at the right time, with me joining the company [from Martin Audio]. This coincided with SWG looking to buy a bigger, state-of-the-art system as an upgrade for their trusty W8LC, to put us back at the top end of the touring market, with higher tier acts.”

The acquisition was sanctioned by SWG managing director, Alister Pook, in light of the fact the company had been forced to cross-hire during this summer’s crowded outdoor season. “SWG has always been a Martin Audio house, and the fact that they were able to supply immediately from stock, plus our familiarity with the system, were major selling points,” stated Purse.

On arrival the new system was deployed within 48 hours, enabling their sub-hired MLA to return to base. This was at the Rhyl Event Arena for a package show that featured James, Tom Grennan and Jack Savoretti. It then moved onto CarFest North on the Bolesworth Castle in Chester.

Purse said that the choice of system size ticked a number of boxes. “A 12-box hang per side generally fits where we are at, giving us coverage for 5,000 up to 10,000-cap venue sizes.

“The Southwest has now got to the point where there is local availability to cross-hire so that we can scale up to a full arena system.”

He said he was particularly pleased with the XE500. “I believe we are one of the largest stockists of the XE500 and I’d be happy to put these in front of anyone.”

In conclusion, Martin Audio UK sales manager, Peter Codron added, “SWG has been a loyal, and long-serving customer of Martin Audio for many years. Their ongoing support is further reflected in this latest investment in our new technology, and being part of the ever-increasing UK Wavefront Partner Network. It is also gratifying to know that they already have a number of events earmarked for WPL.”

Popular Richmond, VA live music venue, The Broadberry, has taken delivery of a new Martin Audio TORUS constant curvature array, supplied by locally based rental partner, Soundworks of Virginia.

Soundworks has been working with the 550-capacity venue, owned by Lucas Fritz and Matt McDonald, providing sound for their outdoor concerts since the Spring of 2021.

Explaining the rationale behind the venue upgrade, Fritz says they had been making do with the old system that was in the venue when they took over in 2014. “We were well overdue for a PA overhaul, especially given the calibre of artists we were continuously bringing to the market. We had been working with Soundworks and knew they wouldn’t lead us astray.”

The venue’s production manager Justin Lewis confirms that the previous system had been poorly deployed—and he had a firm idea in mind for its replacement.

WE ARE EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT OUR NEW TORUS RIG.

“Due to the shape of our room I wanted a box with a relatively narrow horizontal pattern. All the line arrays I looked at were too wide and point source didn’t provide the flexibility we wanted in vertical coverage.”

He looked at a number of systems and consulted his crew, ultimately deciding constant curvature would probably be the best for our room. “We chose TORUS mainly due to Soundworks’ existing relationship with Martin Audio, and the cardioid feature of the SXC118 was also a positive influence on our decision.”

Taking up the story, Soundworks’ CEO, Steve Payne, adds, “Their trust in the Martin Audio name, and belief that anything with that badge on it would be a quality solution, was reinforced by the [Wavefront Precision] WPL and WPC systems Soundworks had been routinely providing for their outdoor concerts.”

And while he admits the Wavefront Precision series remains his “hands down favourite,” for an installation situation he needed to look no further than TORUS. “I think this system, with its variable horizontal coverage and choice between 30° and 15° vertical angle is a better solution than a short hang of WPS,” he says, concurring with Justin Lewis.

The pair of three-box hangs comprise two T1215 and a single T1230 at the base, to eliminate the desire for front fills. The arrays are supported by TORUS fly bars hung from Unitruss, which spans the structural roof girders. Four SXC118, ground stacked in a central cluster under the stage, provide the low end, and all processing is via the onboard DSP in the Martin Audio iKon multi-channel amplifiers.

Soundworks’ project manager Bryan Hargrave masterminded the installation, in conjunction with Martin Audio US Technical Support Engineer, Joe Lima.

Summing up, Justin Lewis says, “The coverage and sound quality are just about perfect now, and the rig is a vast improvement over our old one. Our crew is pleased, and we’ve had generally good responses from guest engineers.

And Lucas Fritz is equally effusive. “We are extremely excited about our new TORUS rig. The room sounds better than it ever has,” he exclaims.

Photo credit: Ashley Travis

Martin Audio’s MLA system for the first time on the main stage of Radio 1’s Big Weekend that took place at Memorial Park, Coventry, with the popular music festival finally returning after the hiatus caused by Covid-19.

An audience of 40,000, and an array of premiere acts that included Harry Styles, George Ezra, Ed Sheeran and Calvin Harris, played across two nights in the city of Coventry’s beautiful, historic park. The show was new to RG Jones, who tendered successfully for the event. The production company were delighted to get the chance to flex their sonic muscles on such a high-profile project while re-connecting with long-standing clients Dick and Frankie Tee from EnTEEtainment, and reminding Festival Republic, who managed the event, what the company can do.

Being an urban site, noise management was of the highest priority, but Coventry’s status as 2022 City of Culture has also meant that throughout the year events of all shapes and sizes are taking place and the city council are keen to make the most of the opportunities that City of Culture affords. A generous offsite limit of 75dBA Leq15was relatively straightforward to achieve for MLA and its ability to control offsite noise, despite some strange acoustics surrounding the nearest houses.

Main PA hangs of 14 MLA elements were boosted by a central cardioid sub array of 22 MLX, asymmetrically steered to help with offsite C-weighted levels. In addition, MLA Mini and DD12 provided frontfills, MLA Mini and MLA Compact outfills, and there were two delay positions of 12 MLA Compact, and a single central position of eight MLA. Most impressive was the MLA Mini outfill—with a hang of 12 enclosures covering about 75m and easily keeping up with the stage right MLA.

The RG Jones crew featured a blend of seasoned A-team regulars and some newbies. “It’s so crucial to have the right team on these shows and bringing some new faces into the circle of trust is both exciting and invaluable,” believes Simon Honywill. At FOH were RG’s regular Damion Dyer, and the experienced Chris Pyne, running the twin DiGiCo SD12 A/B desk system.System tech was Matt Besford-Foster, who was fresh off MLA training and getting amongst his first MLA system, having spent many years travelling the world with Muse and Elbow.

His verdict on MLA could scarcely have been more positive. “I was very impressed with the tonal signature across the MLA range,” he said. “MLA Mini seemed to defy physics with their ability to sit alongside MLA as a side hang and hold their own.”

On stage were Mark Isbister, in his regular role as patch master and interface with the BBC, assisted by Chris Lambert and RG’s own Rosie Tarrant.Looking after monitors were Martin Dineley and Sam Manigley.

Simon Honywill was responsible for system design and used Martin Audio’s new 3D prediction software – DISPLAY 3 — to generate a series of plots for environmental sound consultants, Vanguardia. “For me it was interesting to actually deploy a system that was mapped in DISPLAY 3 for the first time. I worked hard to design a system that would deliver the best possible experience for the audience of course, but also looked into restricting coverage on the house right side of the arena, where there was a large bar and toilets, and beyond the perimeter fence was the closest noise monitoring point.

“I had some reservations about using 12 MLA Compact on the outfill that covered that area, but in fact it was the right choice as the crowds thinned out significantly there and we were able to control coverage very effectively and run the headliners at a comfortable 98dBA.”

Frankie Tee was also fulsome in her praise for the sound coverage. “It was a real pleasure to be back working with RG Jones again after so many years. We knew they would deliver a great service to the Radio 1 event, and we only had positive feedback from the clients, broadcast and artists, proving we were in safe hands.

“The site faced some challenges with nearby properties, but Simon and the team were able to very accurately not only predict offsite noise levels, but stick to them too. I very much look forward to hopefully many more events together!”

With artistes ranging from the Rolling Stones to Elton John and the Eagles gracing the new supercharged stage and fascia at this year’s American Express presents BST Hyde Park the quality of sound literally needed to raise the bar at AEG Live’s flagship event.

Martin Audio rental partners Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK group) have been the exclusive suppliers of the manufacturer’s ground-breaking MLA since the event’s inception in 2013, and were able to respond by providing enhanced site coverage. This year, with its expansion across three weekends, the event broke all records, selling 530,000 tickets across the nine shows.

Taking note of the additional 5-metre height gain of Star Group’s new Titan stage (which now reaches 19 metres off the ground), Solotech extended the two main PA and sidefill hangs and streamlined the 11 delay towers, introducing their recently acquired WPL scalable line array—the largest in the Wavefront Precision family.

This resulted in no fewer than 182 Martin Audio line array elements being deployed at the event as well as 44 subwoofers.

Stated Solotech Senior Technical Advisor, Robin Conway, “Had we used the original plot, the hangs would have been out of proportion. So I looked at issues such as trim height, and both visually and performance wise, by increasing the box count we managed to achieve better results, with more energy at the front.“On top of that, we also managed to achieve the trim height we wanted, with the main hangstrimmed this year at 16.2m from the ground (as opposed to 12.5 previously, and the sides at 17.5m, compared to 14.5m.”

Aesthetically the stage design also had to work around a newly-created tree, the central focal point of the stage, while mechanically a wrap-around video screen was introduced for the first time—also masterminded by Solotech.

The main PA this year was increased by four elements, and comprised 19 MLA and a single MLD Downfill each side, with 15 MLA and an MLD Downfill as side hangs (two each side larger than previously). Arranged in a broadside cardioid array were 32 MLX subwoofers while six pairs of MLA Compact provided front fills.

The delay positions had also been extended, with longer hangs. Of the 11 masts, positions 1-5 were identically configured with seven MLA and an MLD Downfill; the Delay masts 6-9 behind the FOH mix tower comprised an extended 10 WPL and three SXH218 in a cardioid stack, while Delay points 10 and 11 were each populated with eight WPC elements.

All Wavefront Precision enclosures were driven by Martin Audio iKON multi-channel amplifiers in the optimum 1-box resolution, and the sound was again carried site wide on an Optocore fibre ring, which offered full redundancy.

The quality of the PA this year was once again exemplary, no better so than for Adele … a fact to which the many social posts attested.

Once again Solotech fielded a highly accomplished technical team, working through the event’s long-term production manager, Proper Productions’ Mark Ward, with Tim Patterson as crew chief, Johnny Buck (monitor engineer), Mike Warren (FOH engineer) and Joseph Pierce system tech. Martin Audio’s former technical director, Jason Baird, was brought in as consultant for the set-up.

Solotech senior project manager Martin Connolly, was delighted with both the onsite and offsite sound thresholds, which met the approval of acousticians / noise control consultants, Vanguardia. “Following propagation tests, we managed to achieve great level—an increase on what we have had in the past and with a bit more control,” he said.

This was particularly evident in performances by Elton John and Adele, as Connolly explained. “Elton John was 100-101dB(A) and Adele was 102dB(A) LEq (1 min) and 101dB(A) LEq 5 mins, with 75dB(A) offsite.”

He said the event had fully justified their decision back in Spring this year to invest further into Wavefront Precision—with an acquisition countenanced by Solotech. As a result, WPL and WPC now complement the WPS system they had earlier bought for the Tim Minchin tour.

Along with the two new WPs Solotech also purchased TORUS for their hire inventory—part of an order amounting to well over 100 enclosures. “Had we not done so, looking at our order book for the summer we would simply have had to sub-hire in,” stated Connolly.

As for the video displays, Solotech provided a near 1500sq.m screen measuring over 16m high for main stage including 4500 Saco tiles and 540 Roe CB5 LED panels on main stage screen. A further 300 Roe CB5 were deployed for delays, relays and for Stage 2.

Summing up the event, and the technical excellence of the sound reinforcement, production director Mark Ward said, “There were a lot of conversations about how to make the PA sound great and feel in proportion on Star’s vast new Titan stage. Solotech and Martin Audio got fully engaged in figuring out solutions and we more than achieved the result we were after—both sonically and aesthetically. It looked ‘right’ and sounded brilliant.”

Photography: Gus Stewart and Awais Butt

When Capital Sound, part of the Solotech UK Group, conceived the original design for Stereophonics’ homecoming concert at the Principality Stadium, for what would have been their ‘We’ll Keep A Welcome’ Christmas show, the idea of 23 Martin Audio PA hangs (covering both an A stage and 40-metre thrust to a B stage) was entirely achievable.

“The kit was already prepped and ready to go out, when the show was suddenly cancelled,” states Solotech Senior Technical Advisor, Robin Conway.

But when the gig was rescheduled for June, there was none of the luxury of pre-production time that had accompanied the original show. Not only did the B stage now need to function as a totally independent stage, with its own PA, (rather than simply as a delay stage), but Friday’s planned production/build-up day suddenly disappeared when the following night’s concert—which also featured Tom Jones—sold out; this resulted in a second date being added … on the Friday!

The support line-up also changed at the last minute (with Newport-based Feeder coming in), while back at London HQ the crew worked around the clock to deprep inventory returning to base from other festivals (in what has become a frantic summer season for all PA companies as the event industry strives to recover), before reprepping and trucking it down to Wales.

Of course, the crowd of 74,000-plus who filled the stadium under its closed roof were oblivious to this, and reveled in the kind of first-class, evenly balanced coverage for which Solotech and Martin Audio are renowned. There was no compromise to the sound despite the production company needing to make a late provision for the incoming film crew, necessitating them to provide a separate broadcast feed in addition to the sound in the bowl.

Thus there was plenty to occupy the minds of the band’s long-serving sound engineer Dave Roden, Crew Chief, Tim Patterson, and system tech Mark Cleator, working alongside production manager Dave Nelson. Not least of these was how to create 360° of coverage via the B stage system, with two hangs facing back towards the main stage, which obviously meant the audience had to turn around to see when the band performed there.

The main PA hangs from A stage comprised 18 MLA and one MLD (Downfill) enclosure per side. Behind them were two hangs of seven MLX subs in end-fire configuration, with side hangs consisting of 16 MLA per side. Front fills comprised eight XD12 and 16 WPS (set in pairs on a shelf across the front of the stage).

For the B stage Cap turned to their new Wavefront Precision (WPL). These hangs comprised 12 x SXHF218 in a single column, with 36 flown WPL—18 on either side of the subs—while outflanking these were two further hangs of 14 WPL and two hangs of WPC facing the main stage to complete the 360° coverage. The Wavefront Precisions were driven in 2-box resolution from 24 iKON iK42 multi-channel amplifiers in a flown amplifier cart directly over the B-Stage.

The ring delay system, meanwhile, comprised eight hangs of eight MLA Compact.

Robin Conway explained the processing rationale. “Without the luxury of time we used a Dante-enabled Soundweb BLU-806 to create a custom-delayed matrix. Any part of the PA system applicable to A or B stages had different delay taps (for instance the ring system had two different times programmed as the action shifted from A to B stages).” These delay taps allowed the FOH team to choose the entire system focus dependent on which, or how many, band members were performing on which stage at any given time.

“Overall, we got the result we wanted in the face of enormous challenges, and in fact this probably broke some kind of internal record. I doubt, in our history, we’ve fielded 23 separate hangs of PA for a one-off gig before.”

A major mural unveiling took place in downtown Minneapolis recently—heralded by a weekend of celebratory events—when a new 100ft high artwork of Prince, featuring three shots of the Minneapolis musician, was revealed for the first time.

This $500,000 ‘Crown Our Prince’ project, as it is known, has been under development for seven years, with the mural undertaken by Florida street painter Hiero Veiga.

For the Purple block party to coincide with the reveal, local company Slamhammer Audio were brought into handle production, including the sound reinforcement. Having been a loyal customer of Martin Audio for the past two decades, they fielded a combination of eight Martin Audio W8LC Compacts, eight WS218X subs and a pair of W8LM Mini for front fills. For delays—set at the FOH position, and shooting back towards the rear of the crowd—they turned to a pair of Martin Audio CDD-LIVE and CSX-LIVE118B subs.

The reveal party was a free event, which brought several thousand people flocking to downtown Minneapolis’s Ramp A on a perfect evening. The timing was also appropriate as Prince would have turned 64 on June 7.

According to Slamhammer sales manager, Cam Dickison, from a production perspective the main challenge was the small footprint of the bandstand location, and the timing that they had to work within—since the street could not be closed during the day. “With the stage itself needing to be constructed in a very small area, we opted to build sound wing platforms and mounted the PA on those instead of rigging from the stage,” he said.

However, the night had been “full of love, joy, and even some tears” he confirmed, with special appearances from both of Prince’s sisters and performances from Prince cover band Dr. Mambo’s Combo as well as DJ Mickey Breeze. The event was hosted by Chantel Sings and Walter ‘Q-Bear’ Banks, and the whole event was live streamed.

In conclusion, Cam Dickison said, “We love working with the Prince Organisation and honouring his legacy while showing the world that Minneapolis is more than just a fly-over city.

“We have done multiple events with the Organisation and the Minneapolis Downtown Council over the years, including the ‘Prince Live on the Big Screen’ events. These are the two main forces that turned this Prince mural and block party dream into a reality.”

The technical crew also managed to pull off a challenging task, he said. While Dr Mambo’s Combo brought in their own sound engineer, Slamhammer’s Brian Scocchera was on monitors, Matt Fradley mixed FOH for the rest of the show and Mack Swanson was behind the lighting desk.