While rental / production company Capital Sound were fielding no fewer than 170 enclosures at the perennial Proms in the Park (Hyde Park), over in the east at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Prince Harry inspired Jaguar Land Rover Invictus Games Closing Concert also featured MLA.
The five hour extravaganza combined a celebration of medallion presentations to the wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women who competed in the Games, backed by a full concert line up headlined by the Foo Fighters with supporting acts including Kaiser Chiefs, Ellie Goulding, Ryan Adams, Bryan Adams, The Vamps, Rizzle Kicks and James Blunt.
A full house of over 25,000 people heard Prince Harry deliver a heartfelt speech that roused the spirits of the crowd, culminating in a Mexican wave, before introducing the Foos for the band's triumphant return to London.
The event was promoted by AEG Live, with Capital working for site managers, Loudsound, with whom they have enjoyed a long relationship (most recently at British Summer Time in Hyde Park).
But unlike Hyde Park where sound leakage is at its most sensitive, there was optimism MLA would be able to show off an even bigger sound. "This was a totally new situation and the promoters were keen to see what we could get out of it, sound wise," commented Paul Timmins, Capital Sound account manager. "[Loudsound site production manager] Dan Craig really understands audio and was confident he could achieve proper rock and roll levels."
With the closest residence still within 250m of the stage and with Vanguardia measuring propagation at four separate offsite locations, the production team was still able to hit the FOH SPL's demanded by the Foo Fighters, playing at well over 100dB(A) as the level ramped up incrementally through the day; at the same time the sound comfortably tapered off below the offsite restriction of 75dB(A) at the nearest measurement point - and recorded values as low as the mid-60's.
The main front facing PA comprised two hangs of 14 MLA per side and two MLD Downfills, while for side-fills, because of the site topography, Cap were able to field 12 MLA Compacts on one flank and 16 on the other - an asymmetric solution that worked particularly well. This enabled the shorter hang to fire into the VIP grandstand without straying beyond into the large block of flats behind.
Two Martin Audio W8LCs were deployed for centre front- fills and there were two masts of delays, set 75m back from the stage (midway from the site perimeter), each containing eight Martin Audio W8L Longbow enclosures. These banana-shaped hangs formed a shimmering silhouette alongside the now iconic 114.5m tall ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture in the night sky. Meanwhile, 12 Martin Audio LE1200 low profile wedge monitors were provided as floor monitors onstage.
The real customisation came in the 32-enclosure MLX sub array. In order to meet the Foo Fighters tour spec they deployed Philip Reynolds, who has worked extensively with Martin Audio US partner Delicate Productions, and therefore built familiarity with MLA.
Along with Martin Audio R&D director, Jason Baird, and Capital Sound technical manager, Ian Colville, Reynolds adapted the sub array into a Left/Centre/Right design which included cardioid elements to contain coverage, whilst bringing even more chest thumping transient attack to the central section.
The planning of the event was to throw a final curve ball at the Capital Sound team as Paul Timmins explained. "Although we had designed the audio for the closing concert, since we had the infrastructure already in place, at short notice we were asked to also handle the Invictus Games Opening Ceremony. We had to come up with a system we could change in a day, and throughout t
