RSG transforms theatre into HOW

Originally from Brixton in South London, Ruach Ministries is one of the fastest-growing churches of its kind in Europe. The organisation purchased Kilburn’s landmark Gaumont State venue in December 2007, 70 years to the day after it first opened. Most recently in use as a bingo hall, its opulent interior has hosted an unbelievable array of stars from Frank Sinatra and Buddy Holly in the 1950s, the Rolling Stones in the 1960s, to Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the 1970s.

The extraordinary site, said to be inspired architecturally by the Empire State Building, includes a huge auditorium seating over 4,000 on two levels with a fully equipped stage, workshops and dressing rooms. Its listed Art Deco interior is being precisely restored, and its musical heritage is safe in the hands of church leader Bishop John Francis, a renowned gospel singer.

The Bishop is one of the pioneers of the whole gospel scene in Britain, with his Inspirational Choir landing major label record contracts and making TV appearances when gospel was still thought of by the British record industry as a quaint novelty. His exacting standards of performance are reflected in the specification for the Gaumont State’s new sound reinforcement systems, which have been delivered by design company SFL Ltd, a specialist in installations for HOWs.

‘As a former professional singer, the Bishop has an excellent understanding of media, equipment and sound quality – he has definitely got the ear!’ said Roger Russell, who is responsible for the Ruach Ministries’ A/V requirements. ‘With his support, we have cut no corners in terms of the audio specifications for the Gaumont State, choosing L-Acoustics loudspeaker systems and Roland digital infrastructure and mixers for front-of-house and monitoring applications.’

Working closely with SFL project manager Matt Sales, the Ruach Ministries team picked Roland’s M-48 Personal Monitor Mixers for the 8-piece band, allowing them to control their individual mixes. Mr Russell and the musicians themselves had learned valuable lessons from the church in Brixton. ‘This was an opportunity to reduce the noise levels on stage, and for the band to do more loops, clicks and tracks,’ he explained. ‘For the FOH engineers, it takes away the worry about individual monitor mixes. We can get what they need at soundcheck, and save the settings for each musician; then we leave them to fine-tune themselves on stage, communicating directly with Nicky Brown, the musical director.’

As well as two Roland S-4000 Digital Snakes running under the stalls floor and through the old orchestra pit, Roland’s M-400 digital mixer is being used at FOH, its compact frame dwarfed by the huge auditorium. ‘It was chosen for the future as well as the present,’ added Mr Sales of SFL. ‘With the Gaumont State renovation occurring in several phases, we have to consider future expansion and the M-400’s remarkable versatility means it can be relocated anywhere on the site.’

Currently handling all the audio channels plus feeding groups for video, the M-400 is fully utilised and considered by Mr Russell and his church to be outstanding value for money.  ‘With L-Acoustics loudspeaker systems in the spec, we were aiming for the upper end of the performance bracket,’ he concluded. ‘The M-400 does everything at front-of-house, and through a simple user interface that our volunteer sound engineers can learn easily and quickly.’

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