Adlib sent one of their A-Team crews to do these high profile shows, consisting of Tony Szabo (systems engineer), James Neale, Richie Nicholson (monitor babysitter) and Kenny Perrin.
The system was similar to the one that the band has toured with for the last 16 months. JBL's VerTec line array was chosen for its power and directionality. And plenty of it was needed, especially at the new O2 arena.
Adlib supplied a total of 72 VT4889 elements, six VT4888s and 28 of the new high power VT4880A subs. The main hangs comprised 16 89s a side plus eight subs, and the side-hangs were 14 89s a side. These are augmented by a further offstage hang each side of six 89s and three 88s - required because the seats had been sold to 270 degrees around the stage. The remaining 12 subs were ground stacked - 6 a side - filling the side and front areas. At the O2, they also hooked into the VT4888 house delay arrays.
The system was processed using six of the new Dolby Lake Processors, which are now part of Adlib's standard VerTec set up - along with two of the older Lake Contours. Amplification for the main boxes was Camco Vortex 6s, with Crown I-Tech 8000s driving the subs.
Kay mixed using a Soundcraft Series 5 console, run in tandem with a Soundcraft Vi6, the latter used as a recording desk. Outboards included dbx 160 compressors on the vocal and bass, and a BSS 901 on Jake Shears' vocal, plus BSS 402 comps and Drawmer DS201 gates.
Onstage in monitor World, Ben Booker was overseeing his domain with a Yamaha PM5D console, complete with 24 mixes. It's been his desk of choice for many reasons, one being that he's been able to source one in virtually every corner of the world they have visited throughout the tour. Then he simply uploads his show and is ready to go.
(Jim Evans)
