Liverpool-based Adlib supplied an L-Acoustics K1/KARA sound system, plus some new K2 as side hangs at London’s O2 Arena, for Ellie Goulding on her recent UK tour, working with engineers Joe Harling (FOH) and James Neale (monitors) and production manager Rebecca Travis. Tony Szabo (KSE) was the systems engineer for the K1 system as specified by Joe Harling. Michael Flaherty and Steven Montgomery were the other audio crew-members.

The main system for the two-week tour comprised 14 K1 speakers a side with four KARA downs at the bottom as the main left and right arrays, with side hangs of eight K1s and four KARA downs, together with a centre cluster of four KARAs.

The front fills were two KARA and four ARCS cabinets per side. They also toured four ARCS IIs, which were flown on their sides as an upstage hang to cover the 220/230-degree seating angle.

The subs were 16 L-Acoustics SB28s, arranged in a left-centre-right configuration.

The system was designed to be adaptable so it could be individually tailored to each venue on the itinerary.

At the largest arena, the O2, the front hangs were increased to 16 K1s with the same four KARA downs. The side hangs were both made up from six K1s with 12 K2s underneath.

For delays at the O2, they utilised two hangs of V-DOSC, positioned level with the FOH mixer position to cover the top level of seating. L-Acoustics LA8 amplifiers drove all the elements.

Adlib uses all the latest Lake technology in its control and processing racks so they ran LM 44s at FOH as a matrix and LM 26s either side of stage distributing signal to the requisite amp racks left and right via Dante – keeping the signal in the digital domain from the DiGiCo SD10 console at FOH to amp world.

Credit: Louise Stickland

At FOH, Harling had a Waves server interfaced with the DiGiCo SD10 to manage his Waves effects, and a DiGiGrid MADI to Cat 5 interface, which was used for recording and playing back the show, primarily to provide a source for virtual sound checks.

Adlib bought two DiGiGrid MGB interfaces especially for the tour to allow both Harling and Neale to record each performance.

Neale mixed the monitors using a DiGiCo SD7 console. He had eight band member mixes plus Goulding, all of whom used IEMs with their own JH Audio custom moulds.

Adlib supplied a Sennheiser EM 3732-II radio system with SKM 5200-II handheld microphones and MD 5235 capsules, which was combined with the band’s own mics, including Sennheiser SKM 2000 handhelds. Goulding’s mic was fitted with a DPA d:facto II vocal mic capsule.

A four-way Sennheiser 2000 IEM system was provided for the backing singers complete with Westone UM PRO 20 IEM headphones.

www.adlib.co.uk