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Marquee Give with Aspect at New Carling Academy

The latest addition to Academy Music Group's impressive live venue estate is Carling Academy Newcastle, the North East's newest live music venue. In October, the company behind other Academy venues in Brixton, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Islington and West London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, will open the 2,000 capacity venue that was previously the Gala Bingo Hall on Westgate Road, in Newcastle city centre.

Originally built as a Picture House (The New Westgate) in 1927, the new Carling Academy Newcastle site will also house a secondary stand-alone 400 capacity ‘Academy 2’ venue in addition to its main room for gigs and clubs, which follows the same concept as it's sister venues in Liverpool and Birmingham.

Both venues are production complete with system integrators, Marquee Audio, building on the high specification model that they had delivered to Carling Academy venues in Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Islington and Glasgow. The new venue will also act as the first major installation showcase for the radical new Turbosound Aspect loudspeaker system.

"We invest heavily in PA and lighting equipment at all our venues and set high production values so that all AMG sites can offer the same high quality, in-house production as standard to not only international touring acts, but also talent on the way up looking for a high class, professional environment" says Group Property & Development Manager, Archie McIntosh.

"We have worked with Marquee Audio on several installations from the first one in Birmingham in 2000, through to the openings of Academy venues in Glasgow, Liverpool and Islington. This Turbosound Aspect system for Newcastle is now a really exciting development for us as a group."

Marquee Audio Project Manager, Scott Wakelin praises the open-mindedness of McIntosh and AMG. "As a group they like to be kept informed of new ground-breaking equipment such as Aspect and they set getting the specifications right as their top priority."

Commenting on the investment, McIntosh explains "Marquee Audio always deliver exactly what we're after and after seeing the Aspect at PLASA last year, I knew it would be perfect for our Newcastle project. This is by far one of the most exciting pieces of kit we've ever bought."

Scott explains that AMG had been eager to do something special with the sound system in Newcastle. "Since leading PA companies have been using Aspect on tour (and at Glastonbury), it seemed entirely logical. As the Turbo TQ series has been functioning well in the small Academy rooms, this maintains the continuity."

He emphasises that the radical Polyhorn™ design employed in the Aspect enclosures produces a smooth coverage pattern. “The high and mid frequency ranges are delivered from multicellular horns which ensure a phase-coherent wavefront. The drivers are all Turbosound designs and the point-source principle on which Aspect is based is rapidly re-gaining acceptance.” Turbosound translated venue drawings into design detail using its GigMate™ acoustic modelling software.

The system design consists of four trapezoidal TA-880H Aspect enclosures flown either side of the proscenium arch, with three per side on stage, while 16 Turbosound bass units take care of the bottom end in the form of 12 x TA-890L Touring Aspect bass cabinets and four TSW-718 2 x 18” subs … all ground-stacked.

Six Turbosound TQ-315’s form the balcony and under-balcony delays and four further Aspect TA-880HM high-mids provide the dancefloor fills, underpinned by four TA-880LM low-mids.

While the speaker management and gain settings are handled respectively by XTA DP226 and DP224 devices, Marquee have provided front end RF remote control in the shape of the CUE Guide-SRF. “There are various operating parameters including a default format for concerts, and another that will introduce the four additional surround enclosures for dance events,” Scott explained.

The secondary room, Carling Academy 2 Newcastle, will be able to take feeds from the main venue or operate as a stand-alone venue, broadcasting through a Turbosound TQ-445/TXD-121/TXD-218 combination.

AMG pioneered the use of industry-standard monitoring a number of years ago, giving visiting bands high-level stage reference. This continues to be based around the Yamaha DME 24 (8 x 8 DSP unit), Soundcraft MH3 32-channel multi-mode console (a 40-input version also resides at front-of-house) and the famous Martin Audio LE400C standard floor monitors.

Continues Scott: “We have designed a top-spec monitor control system which is flight-cased so it can be used upstairs or down as required.” Marquee have also specified industry-standard kit in DJ booths for both the main Academy and Academy 2.

Finally, Marquee Audio have provided three switchable 42in plasma screens for use in the main space (with a further two upstairs in Academy 2) — with individual front end source control operated under CUE systems.

And so, this autumn, AMG’s £4,000,000 investment to create Carling Academy Newcastle is set to be a welcome addition to the UK’s touring circuit and strengthen the North East’s heritage with live music. Originally built as The New Westgate Picture House in 1927, the impressive art deco building achieved notoriety in the early 1960’s when, as the legendary Majestic Ballroom, it hosted concerts by many of the first generation beat groups including The Beatles and The Kinks.

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Marquee Give with Aspect at New Carling Academy

10th August 2005

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