The festival also merged with the conclusion of the week-long International Beatles Convention, which saw presentations, talks, seminars and markets dedicated to every possible aspect of Liverpool's best known export. Adlib were also responsible for servicing all the sound needs of the Adelphi Hotel, the Royal Court Theatre and the Barcelona Club where hundreds of the Best of Beatles bands from all over the world performed. Adlib employed over 40 crew, working around-the-clock in shifts at the various sites used by the two events.
Run by Liverpool City Council's Cultural Events Department in partnership with Cavern City Tours, the Mathew Street Festival started modestly with one stage at Chevasse Park on the Friday, and built through the Saturday to Monday, when four more major stages appeared at Water, Dale, Castle and Victoria Streets. Monday saw over 50 local bands perform including Elevation the U2 Experience, Rocks Off and the Stereotonics.
At Chevasse Park, Adlib supplied a JBL VerTec system, stacked to ensure even coverage whilst still containing the sound within the given area. Monitors were Adlib AP15s, and the consoles were; a Soundcraft Series 5, run by Dave Kay and Graham Smith FOH and a Midas XL3 onstage run by Kenny Perrin on monitors. Two of the city centre stages featured Adlib FD sound systems and at Victoria and Castle Street (the larger venues) Nexo Alpha Pas were deployed. Adlib's sister company ADLite also supplied lighting for the Adelphi and Royal Court stages.
Adlib was also responsible for sound in the Essential Mix Arena at Creamfields, the annual dance festival staged at old Speke Airfield. The system consisted of 16 stacks of Nexo Alpha powered by Crown amplifiers, an Allen & Heath Xone mixer and Mix Wizard, three Technics 1210 decks, two Pioneer CDJ1000 CD players, Behringer compressors and a Shure Premier radio mic system. Hassane Es Siahi and James Neale headed the Adlib crew of four. The tent saw a dynamic mix of sounds, styles and performances from Sasha, Timo Maas, Steve Lawler, Paul Bleasdale, Hyper and many more.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
