Clair Global reinforces Keith Urban at inaugural ICC Sydney concert
Published: ASIA
AUSTRALIA: With construction recently completed, the doors have opened at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) and the first headline act was New Zealand-born Australian country musician Keith Urban. JPJ Audio supplied its newly acquired Cohesion PA system from Clair Global for the gig, as Mr Urban reportedly favours Clair products, of which he is a long-term user.
‘The new Cohesion system is a totally different animal to anything else Clair has produced. It’s also totally different to anything else that I have mixed on,’ reported Kirk Kelsey, Keith Urban’s FOH engineer. ‘Cohesion just keeps going – it never compresses itself, has tons of headroom and it throws a very good distance. The clarity and vocal intelligibility of it is outstanding whether you’re in a theatre, arena or stadium.’
The main hang was formed of 16 Cohesion CO-12 cabinets, while a further 12 were deployed as side hangs. ‘The side hang is a 120-degree splay and the main hang an 80-degree splay,’ noted Mr Kelsey. ‘We also have a centre hang which consists of four Cohesion CO-8 cabinets and that covers the thrust that comes out from the centre of the stage. We also have CO-8s stacked in various places across the subs or the stage to fill out little gaps.’
Due to a large amount of low frequency in the hanging PA, Mr Kelsey noted that there was no need to fly subwoofers. Meanwhile, 12 Cohesion CP-118 self-powered sub bass loudspeakers were laid out onstage in a cardioid pattern comprising two block of six.
The FOH engineer utilised an Avid Profile to mix the show. Phil Wilke mixed monitors on a pair of Midas H3000 analogue consoles. Mr Urban typically uses an IEM, while his band makes use of wedges.
‘There’s not a lot of processing in the Cohesion as I believe that Clair wanted to give engineers raw power,’ concluded Mr Kelsey. ‘One thing I learnt with the Cohesion PA is that you have to build your show in this system for it to be able to work. I can’t just come in after a show with another manufacturer, and plug into the system. The Cohesion system will show all the flaws in the mix so you have to undo everything.’