MLA gives clarity to IDLES at Ally Pally
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It was the band’s first full production tour in support of the A Beautiful Thing: IDLES Live at Le Bataclan CD recorded a year ago. The band’s long-serving FOH sound engineer Chris Fullard requested Martin Audio’s MLA loudspeaker, supplied by Capital Sound.
This was rigged at the 1,900-capacity Barrowlands in Glasgow, but more notably at Alexandra Palace’s 10,250-capacity Great Hall.
Capital project manager David Preston, a self-confessed IDLES fan, had first met Chris Fullard when he was house engineer at the Scala in London, and was aware of his love for MLA.
“MLA had sounded really good at the festivals I had done,” confirms Fullard, “and so I called David at Capital. I had a choice of two PA’s but I knew exactly what I wanted. I chose MLA firstly because it sounds great, but also because I knew the coverage it would give.”
At Barrowlands production featured eight MLA Compact per side, four Martin Audio DD12 as front-fills and six SX218 subwoofers, in L/R stacks on either side of the stage.
At Ally Pally they upgraded to the full-size MLA, with 10 MLA enclosures underpinned by two MLD Downfill elements per side. L/R delays comprised eight MLA Compact, while a further 12 MLA Compact provided a beefy front-fill component, along with four DD12. Equally beefy was the sub frequency reinforcement, provided by 18 MLX in a cardioid broadside array across the front of the stage.
“Because of the volume the band plays at - peaking at 105dB(A) - I knew we would need a lot of front fill power,” notes David Preston. “With MLA we would be able to control the sound, and Liam Sexton, the production manager, was extremely happy.”
So was the house acoustician, as the tour’s experienced system tech Ben Turnbull reports. “He was very relaxed when he saw that we were flying MLA. He admitted that he had seen IDLES previously and was concerned about keeping within the limit, but knew immediately that we would be fine having worked with other shows using MLA.”
Of his optimisation, Turnbull adds: “It’s all about having the right boxes to keep the energy exactly where the audience is going to be at Alexandra Palace. Any spill on to the walls and roof and even empty audience areas can add up to some horrible sounding reflections, so it’s always a good thing when a great band such as IDLES packs the place out. MLA provides the control to avoid all the other surfaces.”
With David Preston responsible for designing the system and managing the project, other technicians involved included Tim Paterson (crew chief at Ally Pally only), Olly Fallon, PA Tech, Sergio Maschetzko (monitor tech), and Luca Consonni (monitor / stage tech).
(Jim Evans)
