Richy Nicholson is The Script's FOH engineer. Last autumn for their theatre tour, he used an L-Acoustics V-DOSC system that was also supplied by Adlib, and for this one, he specified the new K1 system, of which Adlib now has a substantial quantity.
Nicholson worked alongside an Adlib team, consisting of Tony Szabo as systems tech, crew chief Marc Peers who also oversaw monitor world, plus PA techs Ian Nelson and Alan Harrison. Bob O'Brien managed all aspects of the production with Ian 'Quinner' Quinn as TM.
Says Adlib project manager Phil Kielty, "The Script are easily one of the most exciting and talented bands of the moment. It seems wherever I go from LA to Glasgow their tunes are always following me around. The band alongside the crew create such a family atmosphere on the road and they are so creative and specific on their live experience, it's a genuine privilege to be involved."
With all the shows completely sold out, and the larger venues like the O2 providing seating to 270 degrees, it was essential to have good coverage absolutely everywhere.
The main system (in its largest configuration at London's O2 Arena) consisted of main left and right hangs with 16 K1 elements and three Kara down-fills per side, and side left and right hangs of 14 V-DOSC, each with six dV-DOSC downs, complete with a hang of 8 K1 subs flown beside each of the main hangs. There were then further upstage side hangs of 8 x Kudos, and at the O2 , left and right delays of 8 K1s two thirds of the way down the hall, all helping to fill the voluminous back and upper levels of the venue. Further bottom end boost came from 8 L-Acoustics SB28 subs per-side on the floor, increased to 12 a-side at the O2.
For in-fills and out-fills, a series of ARCs and dV-DOSC speakers were used, with everything driven by the proprietary L-Acoustics LA8 amps.
Nicholson's FOH console was an Avid Profile with capacity for 96 inputs, although they were only using 48 channels on this leg of the tour. It's the console that he has used most over the last year and so finds it a familiar and easy interface with which to mix.
The system design included using the latest Lake LM26 system processors - four at the stage end and three at FOH, connected by fibre - and a Dante audio-over-Ethernet system to keep the signal digital and to provide a solid network for control over the LA8 amps.
Szabo spec'd a Meyer SIM 3 for time alignment and system set up, his current choice for its accuracy and precision.
For monitors, the band have their own mics which are primarily Sennheiser based and a 6-channel Sennheiser IEM system (including feeds for the backline technicians). Nicholson commented that "the support from Sennheiser has been second to none."
On stage ADLIB supplied a Soundcraft Vi6 console for monitor engineer Paul 'Mini' Moore which he loves for its straightforward set up and ease of use. Adlib also supplied a ProTools 7 set up for recording each show, and this is being toured worldwide.
(Jim Evans)
