Neil McDonald was production manager and Johnny Dodkin stage manager, working with Adlib's Sam Proctor who specified a Coda PA system and was joined on the road by systems tech George Puttock and PA techs James Petch, Richard Cook and Michael Madsen.
Coda Audio was chosen as the "Most suitable" option for two primary reasons - its light weight meant more boxes could be flown in the centre of the rooms, and the proprietary HF planar wave drivers ensured they could get clarity and detail into every corner of the room.
The venues all varied slightly, but the average set-up featured eight hangs of Coda, each comprising 12 x LA12s and four ViRAY downs per array, all flown on their own individual points.
The Coda speakers were driven by proprietary C10 amps, and Whitehall used an IEM system so the stage was kept completely clear for optimum sightlines. Utilizing IEMs also made for slick and easy communication between audio crew and artist if necessary.
Four Adlib AA1214 speakers driven by Labgruppen PLM 20Ks were positioned discreetly on the floor around the stage, used as fillers for the front rows of seating.
Whitehall's voice is "very strong" elucidates Proctor. He uses his own directional DPA headset mic - chosen by Adlib - which "Worked brilliantly" in the arenas, rejecting any reflections and enabling maximum gain-before-feedback.
Adlib also provided a concealed DPA4060 lavalier mic as a spare, which saved him having to wear a second headset. In the event of the main mic going down this would have allowed a smooth and trouble-free transition.
A number of ambient mics were positioned around the stage to capture the reactions of the first few rows of audience, which were fed into Whitehall's IEMs.
Proctor mixed the show - and monitors - from one console, a Midas PRO2, with a Soundcraft Vi1 toured as a rock-solid spare.
Both consoles fed into one of Adlib's standard Lake processing racks - with three LM44s at FOH and three LM26s at amplifier world - giving a total of 36 zones of PA and a high degree of control in all the different rooms in which they played.
Mixing in-the-round produced its own set of challenges, especially for a comedy show, where the clearness and tonality of the spoken word and vocal expressions is absolutely fundamental to the performance ... and the public's enjoyment and understanding of the act.
The tour's lighting was designed by Adlib's Pete Abraham based on an initial idea from Jack Whitehall's management company, based on a boxing match style appearance, complete with the video cube above the stage and stark lighting beaming down at a sharp angle.
Twenty Martin MAC 301 LED wash moving lights and 12 x Clay Paky Sharpies were hung on two lighting trusses rigged either side of the octagon truss holding the screens.
Also part of the Adlib package was an Altair wireless comms system used by the whole crew, the follow-spot ops, stage management and techs from every department including pyros which were supplied by BPM.
UK Rigging were the tour's rigging contractors, and supplied all the motors and rigging needed for sound, lighting and video.
(Jim Evans)
