This year's star-studded line-up included Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Usher, Katy Perry, Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, The Wanted, Flo Rida and many more, kick starting the Summer with an action packed day of pop music and vibes.
Adlib's crew line up of 17 was chiefed by Marc Peers. Key people included systems tech Tony Szabo, RF co-ordinator Dave Kay, presenter console operator Ian Nelson and patch by Michael Bernard Flaherty all intent on delivering a precisely planned mission involving some superlative teamwork.
Peers worked closely with Production North's sound supervisor Ant Carr and their event production manager Sarah Hollis on the advance logistics ensuring all the requirements of the acts performing were met.
"We have an extremely harmonious relationship with Production North on these shows," comments Peers. "A vast amount of detailed ground-work in the months leading up to the event is needed in order for things to run smoothly on the day," comments Peers.
It's the second time the Liverpool based company has supplied audio for the Summertime Ball and it also currently services the Jingle Bell Ball winter version - again under the auspices of Production North - at the O2 Arena.
The sound system was L-Acoustics K1, with two 16-speaker arrays for the main hangs, with side-hangs of 15 x V-DOSC speakers left-and-right and an upstage hang of five V-DOSC a-side.
Two sets of delays - with another 10 x K1s in each - were located just behind the FOH mixer position. To cover the top tiers of seating, Adlib integrated the venue's house system speakers into theirs.
The subs were 16 L-Acoustics SB28s a-side ground stacked, and the entire system was processed through the standard Adlib Lake set up with the audio transported back to the amp racks via a Dante optical backbone.
Three Avid Profile consoles were provided for the FOH mix, two were used for the live acts and one for the video play-ins which featured heavily throughout the show, this console was also used for all the presenter mics.
For monitors, Adlib supplied two Yamaha PM5D consoles and 24 of their new MP4 low profile wedges, which feature upgraded drivers from the original MP3 wedge. The stage was approximately 60 feet wide, 100 feet including wings, and the side fills comprised three L-Acoustics ARCs and two SB28s a-side.
The entire monitor system was powered by Lab Gruppen PLM 10000s, for which the wireless remote was invaluable for tuning and EQ'ing.
Many of the bands performing brought their own mics and stage cabling, all of which had to be integrated into Adlib's line system with over 65 channels of mainly Sennheiser and additional Shure wireless to meet the band's specs.
Sennheiser also provided additional support on the day, "Thanks to Mark Saunders and Tim Sherratt, we always have Sennheiser's invaluable support on these shows," confirms Peers.
(Jim Evans)
