Prosound provides Meyer and Midas for Bloc Party In The City concert
Published: MEA
SOUTH AFRICA: Prosound provided the design, staging and structures, as well as the audio, lighting and large format LED screens for the recent In The City concert in Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg. The event was headlined by indie band Bloc Party and attracted a reported 10,000 fans.
The main PA comprised 22 Meyer Sound Milo 90 arrays with underhangs made up of four Meyer Milo 120 speakers. However due to an influx in ticket sales the intial fence lines were moved, increasing the width of the venue substanitially. To solve this, additional out-hangs of Mica arrays were set up to provide an even coverage across the entire area. Meyer Sound UPQ speakers were selected for front fills and for immediate in-fill areas – and all speakers were supported by a number of 700-HP subwoofers. Meyer Sound M’elodie curvilinear array loudspeakers were flown for delay systems including the VIP and sponsor areas, and system management and signal distrubution was handled by the manufacturer’s Galileo 616 digital processors.
FOH and stage control for both support and the main acts was via networked Midas Pro9 and Midas Pro2 mixing consoles. Using multiple digital stage boxes meant that there was limited physical patching between acts, ensuring quick and easy change overs between acts. For stage monitors, a number of IEM and Electro-Voice stage wedges were used.
‘I've got to say the Midas console blew me away,’ commented Bloc Party’s FOH engineer Dan Macbean. ‘We didn't have long to set up so it was kind of a chuck up mix and I can safely say that the Midas desk saved the show for me! Everything had that Midas analogue sound straight away, which I'd kind of forgotten about by using a plethora of other digital boards. It felt a bit like coming home and from then on the gig was a joy to mix.’
‘The network comprised the Pro9 at FOH with a DL451 for pre and post show DJ inputs and for remote feeds to the delay towers,’ explained Prosound’s Mark Malherbe, system designer and engineer for the show. ‘Onstage and linked to the Pro9 /DL371 were the DL351 and 2 DL251 stage boxes and the Pro2. This meant that everything could be pre patched and the band changeovers, in terms of inputs, was a simple scene change on the consoles. The entire event ran smoothly from start to finish.’
Due to the threat of rain the decision was made to install an Orbit 18m x 20m stage roof, the supply of which was handled by Prosound’s long time staging partner SS Stage Structures.
Meanwhile, the lighting supply was based on a festival plot with specifics as per Bloc Party’s requirements. A large roof system comprising multiple moving heads (both spots and washes), 12 strobes and generic support from ETC Source 4 and the ETC Seledor range were also used.
‘We had a substatial floor pack made up of additional intels,’ furthered Mr Malherbe. ‘Atmospherics were handled by a selection of Unique Hazers and Vipers, and all dimming was via ETC smartpacks.’
‘A lot of people have huge misconceptions on rigging and lighting in domes, but if you follow the contours and apply your fixtures correctly you get fantastic results and depth in your rig,’ said Prosound’s resident LD Daniel ‘Chenn’ De Wet.
‘We had a very tight load-in schedule and coming off back-to-back gigs we couldn't afford any technical issues,’ said Donovan Calvert, Prosound’s rental division manager. ‘The quality and build of the equipment was 100 per cent reliabiable, making the get-in and show smooth.’