Having investigated the sound level problems further, he has stressed that the PA system and highly skilled technical team were in no way responsible or at fault for the complaints.
Unusual meteorological conditions caused abnormally high off-site noise measurement levels which needed to be reduced swiftly in order to comply with the terms of the licence. This led to the sound engineers on the Pyramid Stage being directed by the authorities to dramatically reduce the sound level for the Killers as the fastest route to attain this. The directive was implemented immediately, as compliance with the terms of the event licence was essential to ensure the future of the festival.
Responsibility was taken seriously by the engineers, despite chants from the crowd to "turn it up" and the devastating effect they knew it would have on the performance and ultimately the enjoyment of the audience. The eventual decision to turn it up during the latter part of the set was reached by the sound crew who had become concerned for crowd safety stemming from the frustration of the Pyramid audience.
Festival sound co-ordinator Chris Beale commented: "The crew that worked on the Pyramid Stage sound system were second to none - in fact one of the fastest, most organised and professional teams that I have ever had the privilege to work with. The press reports about the sound levels on Saturday evening for the Killers are unfair to those people and to the system. The environmental team were limiting sound levels all over the site but the main stage system was restrained to the point where it was unworkable."
He added: "The Who's sound on Sunday was 103dBA at the console and carried loud and clear to the rear of the arena, whilst the offsite levels were 5dBA lower than they had been the previous evening."
Miti Adikhari, BBC Sound Supervisor and senior mix engineer for the festival, commented: "I had a listen to the system at several points over the weekend and I thought it sounded great, some of the better FOH (front of house) engineers really did it justice."
In general, a fair balance has to be struck between achieving acceptable sound levels for festival audiences whilst respecting local residents' concerns about noise. Glastonbury Festival will continue to work with everybody involved, including the local authority, to ensure that this balance is maintained at future events.
• Despite the mud and the driving rain, the Pyramid Sound technical team were delighted to be back at Glastonbury Festival. A statement issued on behalf of the sound team said: "We were pleased with the performance of the PA system, which worked flawlessly throughout. The reduction in sound level for the Kooks and Killers sets on Saturday night was a circumstance completely beyond our control and it would be a tragedy to allow this unfortunate incident to detract from the reality of an otherwise successful result. This is corroborated by the support and many positive comments we have had the pleasure to receive."
(Lee Baldock)
