The sound design and spec was an open brief and Adlib's James Neale was asked to demonstrate his multiplexing abilities by designing and tech'ing the system as well as taking on FOH/monitor engineering duties.
Neale decided on a JBL VerTec PA, primarily because of its ease of use as a combined flown and ground stacked system. He knew that in the City Hall shows, he would have to split the arrays into these two positions to preserve the site lines and ensure that the seats around the sides of the stage had uninterrupted views - and this was the biggest challenge of the tour for him.
It was the first ventriloquist act for which he's mixed sound but he found dealing with Dunham's voices relatively straightforward, "His projection is excellent" he remarks, although this also meant keeping a sharp ear out to control the sibilance when he was talking through his teeth, and tweaking the EQ constantly as Dunham swapped between puppets, who talked both on and off mic.
The system consisted of 20 VerTec 4889 cabinets, 10 a side, powered by Camco amps. Four L-Acoustics ARCS a side were used for in and out-fills, together with four dV-Dosc front-fills and two L-Acoustics SB28 subs a-side. All the L-Acoustics elements were powered by Labgruppen PLM 10000Q amps. He used a DigiDesign SC48 mixer - chosen because it's a quality product and ideal for a tour of this size and these venues, using an expedient left and right mix and two monitor sends. Dunham's specified mic is a Shure KSM9 radio.
Neale worked with PA tech Michael Flaherty on the tour and for the O2 Arena show, they were joined by Tony Szabo and Marc Peers.
Adlib's Ian Tomlinson designed the lighting rig around the basic spec that was sent over from the US, and Andy Rowe went out and operated on the road.
It was a 3 truss rig. On the front were 10 ETC Source Four profiles with 19 degree lenses and 10 Martin Professional MAC 700 Washes. The mid truss had eight MAC 700 profiles and a front projection screen that was flanked by two black legs. On the back truss was a full black drape backdrop.
The backdrop was highlighted with nine PixelPAR 90s, sitting on the floor and skimming up the cloth. Rowe ran everything from a Road Hog console, and was joined by technician Mike Summerfield on the tour and Alan Harrison at the O2, where they flew an extra truss to accommodate a larger screen. Adlib also supplied two Lycian follow spots. The video elements were supplied by XL Video.
(Jim Evans)
