Guetta's FOH sound engineer is Hassane Es Siahi, who came onboard last August at the start of a festival tour which was also serviced by Adlib. However, this is the first full DJ set production tour in terms of touring the equipment, as Guetta's action-packed performance schedule normally consists of large one-off gigs worldwide using local productions.
Adlib's account manager Phil Kielty says, "David Guetta is by far one of the most innovative producers in the dance world and his live performances are always show-stopping. Hassane's creative talents are really shining through in producing a great sound, and of course it's good to be working with Alan Green & his team again".
Es Siahi conferred with Guetta and they listened to several options before both selecting V-DOSC as the main system. Apart from the 'French connection', they liked the richness, delicacy and precision of its sound, even when driven hard and loud. "The V-DOSC has a real weight to it and you can get so much dynamics out of it," comments Es Siahi. "It's still one of the best systems around even though it maybe not be the newest."
The main left and right arrays were 12 V-DOSC elements a-side, with side hangs of eight L-Acoustics Kudo, all powered by LA8 amps. dV-DOSC cabinets were used for in-fills and out-fills at the front, with a pair as foot-fills at the centre of the stage and the subs were eight SB28s per-side ground stacked.
Guetta's current and optimum monitor set up has evolved since Es Siahi started working with him. Having tried numerous combinations and configurations, this is the one he likes and that works best for his unique live style.
It consists of a dV-sub and three dVs a-side, powered by LA8s. An output feed from Guetta's mixer goes straight into the amps enabling him to tweak the levels of the rig as desired.
Adlib is supplying Guetta's DJ mixer of choice which is a Pioneer DJM 800, which he uses in conjunction with 4 x CDJ 2000s for all his source material, together with an effects unit. He also has a vocal mic going into his mixer, and a Pioneer DJM2000 mixer as backup.
Es Siahi receives a left and right feed from Guetta's mixer into his Soundcraft Vi1 console at FOH, which he specified because he wanted to try something new. "It's stable and sounds great," he comments.
David Guetta's production manager Alan Green stated, "This UK tour has been an outstanding success on many different levels. I'm really happy with the exceptional sound the Adlib guys achieved at each show."
(Jim Evans)
