latest news headlines
ADLIB are In The City
ADLIB Audio supplied sound, lighting and staging for 10 live venues at the three-day 2005 ‘In The City Live & Unsigned’ event, part of the ITC international music convention and showcase held in Manchester last weekend.
ITC was founded in 1992 by Yvette Livesey and Factory guru Anthony Wilson. It is a meeting point and a vital networking opportunity for all those who matter in the music industry, and a lively and high profile platform for cutting edge new bands and creative talent. Bands who’ve appeared first at ITC include Oasis, Coldplay and the Stereophonics.
Over 160 bands played in multiple venues across the city. For the largest stages of the event, organiser Phil Saxe wanted to up the production values this year, and called on Adlib. He asked them to take care of the setting up of a workable and appropriate technical infrastructure for the major live hotspots. Adlib last worked on In The City in 2000, when it was held in Liverpool, since which the whole event has grown in stature and reputation.
“The best thing about using Adlib Audio,” says Saxe, “is that they removed any anxieties from the pre-production right through to the events themselves, which ran like clockwork. We knew there would be absolutely no worries! “
ADLIB’s production management and logistics were handled by the unflappable Mark Roberts, who’s also the company’s general manager. He worked closely with Adlib’s lighting’s manager, Peter Abraham, and hire manager, Dave Jones, on his team. They were joined by an enthusiastic troupe of 20 plus Adlib engineers and technical assistants – one sound and lighting tech per stage - to run all the stages.
Roberts’ advanced work on ITC included collation of all the various band specs and contacting them with any queries. From there, he decided what equipment was needed and to go where. He worked with backline suppliers STS and Handball who supplied all the local crew. Bands wanting to bring in any elements of their own rigs were allowed to as long it was minimal and properly negotiated with Roberts. “The idea was to keep the changeovers slick, quick and simple,” he says. “And it was also good for everyone to have a level playing field.”
The smallest stages featured 3k Adlib FD PA systems compete with a 16 channel mixer and four wedges on two mixes, ranging up to the larger systems with two stacks of Nexo Alpha per side, a Soundcraft Series 4 desk complete with eight wedges on a 4-way mix.
Lighting was designed to give basic stage illumination and to brighten up and lift the performers. It consisted of six intelligent lights ccomplete with 12 PAR cans for the larger stage rigs, tailing downwards to basic lighting kits for the smaller spaces.
The major live music venues were the Life Café, Squares, Bar 38 and Lloyd Street Up & Down . . . all downtown Manchester landmarks.
The main challenge was to ensure everything was in the right place at the right time, said Roberts. “Individually they are all simple sound, lighting and staging systems, but when you start fitting the whole event together you realise how involved and complex it is.”
That all said and done, from the ADLIB angle, everything went exactly as it should, and even the weather smiled with them.
18th October 2005
HEADLINES
news archive
search stories
FOOTNOTE: Select the news type you require in the red band above; this will enable you to see the current news stories from that section
© 1999 - 2012 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories
