LIVERPOOL, U.K. – Laughing in the face of inclement winter weather, Adlib supplied sound and lighting for comedian Russell Howard's recent 10-date arena tour throughout the U.K. Howard is the star of Mock The Week and Russell Howard's Good News.
Adlib's Marc Peers served as audio crew chief and also mixed monitors for the tour, while James Neale shared system tech duties with Richy Nicholson at FOH.
The crew chose the JBL VerTec PA system for its versatility and fast rigging capabilities. The main hangs consisted of 14 VerTec 4889 elements per side, with side hangs of 10 x 4889s. There were four VerTec 4880A subs on the ground to add body and fullness to the sonic mix.
For front infills, Neale used four L-Acoustics dv-DOSC cabinets, with two L-Acoustics ARCs a side for outfills.
The VerTec was powered by Camco Vortex 6 amps, with Crown I Tech 8000s for the subs, LA8s for the dV-DOSCs, the outfills and the three ARCs per side which were used as side fills.
Striving to deliver clear sound to every seat in each arena, including such sonically challenging environments as the 16,000-capacity MEN Arena in Manchester for the first night of the tour, Neale and Nicholson tuned the system carefully for each show.
Neale used a Yamaha M7CL as the FOH consol for its ease of operation and small size. Neale also used a Millenia STT-1 recording channel and a BSS DPR 901 MK 2 frequency conscious compressor. The Millenia was used as a high quality pre-amp on the main vocal for Howard, who might be shouting one minute and speaking very softly the next.
Neale used a BSS 901 to control the low end when Howard was speaking quietly and to take out the harsh frequencies when he shouted. Apart from the vocal channels there were also several sets of CD and video channels for the playback of intros and incidental music.
The size of the FOH area, which included audio and lighting control and camera positions, was kept as tight as possible to allow for extra seats to be placed back on sale on the morning of each show.
Peers also used a 12 channel Yamaha LS9 – also chosen for its compact footprint – and it proved well-suited for the job in hand. In keeping with the clean look of the show – cable bridges helped provided clear sightlines – monitoring consisted of three flown ARCS per side. Russell Howard's mic of choice is a Shure Beta 58 wired, set up each day with a fully redundant "hot" spare.
"Ten arena shows in ten days is a big ask, to which Adlib responded with a top class audio and lighting package," said production manager Andy Grey.
"The professional approach of Adlib's team, from the initial design stage and equipment preparation to the attention to detail in all aspects of technical production, ensured that the tour ran completely smoothly.
"The quality of the hardware supplied by Adlib is one thing, but their greatest asset has to be their crew, who's experience and knowledge combined with their hardworking and friendly approach helped to make the tour such a great success," Grey added.
Russell Howard was the latest in a long list of comedy tours serviced by Adlib throughout 2009, a trend that looks set to continue for 2010.
For more information, please visit www.adlibsolutions.co.uk.
