SSE Hire, a company that has a long and happy association with UB40, supplies the sound system. Front-of-house engineer Tom Wiggans has been with the band for a little over two years and his first experience with the D5 was at Live 8 in Hyde Park, where they first toyed with the idea of changing console. Although the frenetic atmosphere of Live 8 wasn't the best place to assess how the D5 performed sonically, its other features were attractive enough to awaken Wiggans' interest. "So we decided we'd give it a go in rehearsals for this tour. The band loved it instantly and now I know that it's sonically really good, too," he says.
Since then, the D5 has proved itself in many ways, from its small footprint through to the ability to carry all necessary data on a USB key. "We do gigs all over the place," continues Wiggans. "So the less gear we have to ship the better. If we have to ship the console, it gives us a significant weight saving - we've lost a stage box because of the gain tracking facility and that's saved us 180kg and the small footprint means more seats for sale."
"We've had the D5s for a couple of months now," adds audio crew boss and monitor babysitter Neil Heathcote. "Using the DiGiCo's has been a great opportunity to clean things up in terms of the way the stage is wired and the whole system in general. It gave us a fresh start and the band have appreciated this opportunity after so many years of legacy mixes from previous monitor engineers and the audio quality is great."
Both Heathcote and Wiggans found that once they'd got over the initial, inevitable learning curve required with a new product, the D5 gave them a host of advantages. "The D5 assumes nothing," says Heathcote. "It lets you make all the decisions which, with time to plan, gives you immense freedom. Once you acquire the right thought processes, you're rocking and it's a breeze to mix on."
(Lee Baldock)
