A typical configuration of the rig, as at Birmingham, involved a three-wide, three-high main hang each side, comprising six Aspect TA-890H touring mid/highs and three TA-890L touring LF cabinets, all used in horizontal orientation. Britannia Row augmented the main hangs with an additional two-by-two hang of TA-890H cabinets each side. A single TA-890H was used on the front edge of the stage each side, as extra fill for the first few seating rows, while a ground-stack of three TA-890H cabinets - with their waveguides rotated to a vertical orientation - plus three TA-890L units, provided the middle-distance coverage.
Mike 'Bunny' Warren, mix engineer for the tour, commented: "The Aspect system's performance throughout the tour was simply superb. The boxes proved very easy to fly, and the whole concept worked very well indeed. In fact, I've never heard so many compliments about the sound quality, from the public and promoters alike - a particularly important result, bearing in mind the critical nature of the audiences. The Aspect design is extremely flexible, and gave us superb coverage, from small venues and theatres, up to the largest auditoria and arenas. The design's compact size was also a great benefit, and we could not have done this one-truck tour without them. Overall, I have nothing but praise for the Aspect, and this was reflected by comments from everyone in the production team."
Roger Searle, the tour's production manager, said at the end of the tour: "Our two prime criteria in selecting a system for this tour were sound quality and truck-packing convenience, and the Aspect design scored highly on both counts. From a practical standpoint, it worked very well indeed - very efficient on truck packing, with no wasted space. By using Aspect, we managed to fit an entire arena system, with lights, backline and everything, into just one truck! As Aspect is not a line-array design, you can pick and choose exactly the number and type of cabinets required for each venue, and leave the rest in the truck. This ability to use just parts of the system according to the venue makes for very efficient set-up, obviously saves time, and provides great flexibility - we were handling 5,000-seat arenas one night, and 1,000-seat proscenium theatres the next. We had good reactions to the sound quality throughout the tour, including one visitor to the NIA in Birmingham who told us 'it was like having The Shadows in your front room!' Ultimately, it's the audience's perception that counts, and if we can achieve that kind of result in a notoriously difficult venue, then job done. I have experienced many different systems over many years, but this one worked very well indeed, and I'd be happy to take it out again anytime."
(Lee Baldock)
