Germany - Following the successful Las Vegas production Weekends with Adele, the British singer took on the challenge of a month-long residency in a Live Nation-backed, purpose-built, 80,000 capacity open-air arena in Munich.
The singer, who has sold over 100m albums to date, told fans via her Instagram: "A one-off, bespoke pop-up stadium designed around whatever show I want to put on? I couldn't think of a more wonderful way to spend my summer."
The ambitious concert series was led by production manager Paul English and sought technical expertise from a variety of disciplines within the Clair Global organisation, overseen by account executive Andy Walker.
"A great thing that Andy did was get the IT team on board, supplying fantastic internet across the site. It made our lives easy throughout the entire backstage area, which is an immense space – over 600m long,” says English.
“This was linked to the Comms system, which meant we could go everywhere with a Bolero pack, and it worked perfectly, giving us exactly what we asked for.
"When it came to audio, the shows in Munich sounded phenomenal; in the stadium, it was absolutely amazing from one side to the other, front to back. It's such a pleasure to work with Adele’s audio team and have Clair as our supplier of choice. We use Clair for Internet, Comms, PA and Control in Las Vegas too, and I have to say, they're a one-stop shop when it comes to supplying multi-service such as this."
Clair Global’s Andy Walker comments: "This compelling project has been a lengthy undertaking of Clair's global resources from our North America, UK and mainland Europe locations. It has enabled the production to use a singular supplier for multiple services.
“This included 150 WiFi access points [managed by Clair IT engineer Kevin Lehmann] and inter-departmental network for site-wide IT support and fibre distribution. I’m very proud of the global team’s efforts and strong knowledge of specific skillsets that allow us achieve huge feats as part of complex live events, such as this exceptional vision from Adele and her production team."
Clair Global deployed a control package mirroring the Las Vegas setup – DiGiCo Quantum 7 consoles at both front of house and monitor positions for the star’s long-time mix engineers Dave Bracey and Joe Campbell.
To ensure the 800,000 fans attending heard optimal sound from every seat, systems engineer Johnny Keirle mapped out a sprawling 36-hang, 14-delay-tower L-Acoustics K1 / K2 / L2 design, covering the large urban site with clarity, carefully considering amp positions and signal distribution.
"When the PA sounds this good, my job is easy," says Dave Bracey. "We’ve used the L2 which Clair purchased especially; the way they work with the rear rejection makes them the perfect delay speaker. To have a company like Clair supporting us is an important thing. It's an extremely comfortable place to find yourself. So, I'm very contented, I can't imagine being happier than I am now."
Keirle further explains this high-pressure undertaking: "The shows in Munich represent a completely different approach from a system design perspective. In Las Vegas, we work with an immersive L-ISA system, while in Munich used a traditional L-R/dual mono system.
"This PA design was a complex process. There was a huge emphasis on creating a visual experience that was as clean as possible, with stage design central to the show. This required finding solutions for high trim heights at the main stage end, and finding discreet, tidy audio solutions within the audience areas. The main stage system was flown incredibly high to clear the video wall, with flown K1SB / K1, flown KS28, and adjacent K2 down-fill hangs to achieve nearfield coverage without introducing destructive interferences or losing HF integrity in the main K1 system."
With the stage thrust extending 100m into the audience, and a passerelle (catwalk) looping from stage R-L, the team had to place delays beyond the golden circle and passerelle, relying heavily on the main stage K Series.
The main stage system comprised six positions: main L-R, side L-R, and outer L-R. Two rings of L2 delay speakers pick up coverage outside the passerelle, the first ring has six positions, the second eight.
On a live production this large, challenges were also presented to the experienced monitor team. "A key difference working in this venue is the long distances over which we have to transmit and receive RF for the in-ear monitors and radio microphones," comments monitor engineer Joe Campbell. "We're using RF over fibre for the first time with this artist and have opted for a Wisycom system, which has been superb."
Clair deployed 20 x Wisycom MFL RF antennae, overseen by monitor and RF system designer, Thomas Chip Valentino, who worked with four RF nodes in different positions around the passerelle; one at the B stage, one central to the thrust, stage left and stage right.
A vital aspect for the show’s connectivity was hidden networking. Clair event support engineer, Laurie Fradley elaborates: "We had to feed all our equipment positions for PA, Comms and IT – some situated in the middle of the large audience – ensuring there were no clear cable runs. We took the decision to deploy a multistrand fibre network throughout the site for both our team and other departments that needed to service these areas. In total, we ran around 1,200 fibre cores throughout the entirety of the site."
Navigating a Riedel Communications Artist-128 digital intercom network on AES67 audio networks was communications system designer, Patrick Taghavi. With reliable communication and audio signal distribution needed for 230 crew, Taghavi outlined that a main reason Comms were employed was for departmental communication and to enable the show director to call cues correctly and safely.
"A comms system such as the one we built allows for crystal clear communications in a busy live environment. We simply couldn't run a show of this size without a robust, clean system – it's critical to everyone’s safety."
