Once Martin Audio's line array system had been chosen by the band's FOH sound engineer, Gary Bradshaw, the rental company took the unusual step of having its entire W8L Longbow fleet (including complementary WS218X subs) finished in black, to create stage uniformity; at the same time they purchased eight further enclosures.
All of which received unconditional approval from Gary Bradshaw. Two days into the show, the sound engineer reported, "It is still early days but I'm very pleased with the results we have been getting with the Martin Longbow system, which is very smooth but very powerful."
Since Production decided to dispense with large delay towers in favour of smaller ground stacks at the rear of the field - and flown delays hung from the stadium roof - the PA needs to cover a much larger area than usual, he said. "But the Martin Audio Longbow system is able to project rich and clear sound at a greater distance than any other system I have used. It is very flat and there are no peaks for me to smooth out - this means that apart from high pass filtering the vocal channels have remained virtually flat, even with five mics out in front of the PA on the B Stage."
Of the new-look inventory, Cap Sound account manager Martin Connolly, confirmed, "All our W8L's have been stripped, sanded and refinished, with new grilles fitted and new rigging - so that it now travels on dollies. For an arena or stadium tour this places less wear and tear on the system."
Capital Sound's general manager, Paul Timmins, says the decision to overhaul Longbow is part of a strategic move as the company ponders its next move in inventory development.
"This is a significant investment in our Longbow rig," he stated. "We have no intention of offloading it - in fact we have seen a significant resurgence in the desirability of Longbow in recent years, no doubt helped by its use on the main stage at Glastonbury for the last four years.
"We are of course evaluating the more recent entrants in the tour sound loudspeaker market and we will invest in a new system when we find one that has significant benefits. But for the time being Longbow still has an unparalleled combination of power and dynamics."
(Jim Evans)
