This year sound engineer Hilario Benìtez introduced a new PA system to the event at two of the venues on Gran Canaria. "I've tried the Q-Series loudspeakers from d&b audiotechnik several times on the mainland in recent years," he said, "and I've always believed it would prove an ideal system for this event. Small, unobtrusive, easy to use and great detailed sound; just what you need for the intensity of the musicians who play here and the highly critical audiences who come to hear them."
Benìtez placed a simple Q1 loudspeaker rig, with a Q7 and four Q subwoofers each side of stage for the Plaza de Arucas, an open-air venue where Pee Wee Ellis performed, producing 'spectacular sound with great bass' according to the local press.
El Paraninfo, a university venue in Las Palmas, was trickier. An awkward shaped stage placed the band, in this instance Ivan Lins, slightly downstage of the Q1 loudspeaker stacks on each side. "It was also a very wide listening area," said Benìtez, "so I placed Q7s as out-fills. The Q7s ensured proper coverage everywhere and I used E3s as front-fills, enabling me to give the audience a proper sound image. Lins' sound engineer asked me after the show where he could obtain d&b equipment in Brazil; what better endorsement could you ask for?"
(Jim Evans)
