One of the loudest ever deployments of a Martin Audio line array came at the recent charity concert, dubbed ‘1000 Lights’, at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena (The NIA), in the UK. Organised by local promoter and studio owner, Jack Davis, 1000 musicians came together to honour the life of the US rock band Linkin Park’s lead singer Chester Bennington, whose final gig prior to his suicide was in Birmingham in 2017.
The concert on August 18 raised £135,000 for the Uprawr Mental Health Foundation, which Davis set up to offer free mental health counselling. The musicians themselves paid for the privilege of participating. Among the high-profile musicians were members of Creeper, Mallory Knox and Bullet for My Valentine, with the centrepiece being the Linkin Park Experience Tribute Band.
With a vast fixed channel count at the DiGiCo Q338 FOH console, spot mics on the floor and some ambient seating mics in position, Martin Audio’s partner 22live detailed hangs of 20 large format flagship WPL on each side, upping the original count from 16, and deploying them both as the PA for the audience and the monitor system for the musicians on the arena floor.
A further 16 Martin Audio XE500 wedge monitors provided artist reference sound; a pair each of TORUS T1215 and T1230 a side ensured balanced outfill sound while eight of the smaller footprint Martin Audio WPS provided front fill. The entire rig was powered from Martin Audio iK42 amps, and the event was recorded for YouTube and social platforms.
Ryan Bass, system tech, optimised the sound to the back of the room, avoiding any blow back on stage, and bounce off the roof, with assiduous use of the ‘Hard Avoid’ feature in the DISPLAY software.
Chris Wilcock, monitor engineer and crew chief, said: “When Spencer asked me to work on this gig it did raise an eyebrow. But to be asked to mix monitors and crew chief the show was a challenge I couldn’t turn down. I knew the monitor mix provided to the six drummers and 30 other musicians on stage were critical to the performance. Along with IEM mixes and 16 wedge mixes – plus the backline – the stage was loud. The XE500s delivered enough power and quality to get above the stage levels, and give everyone what they wanted in the mix.”
Spencer Beard, managing director of 22live, added: “No-one had any idea what it was going to sound like, but the whole thing blew my mind. WPL performed better than anyone could have expected, and the coverage from two hangs, and the levels we achieved, were unimaginable. I have never read so many favourable comments about the quality of sound on social forums, as this.”
Studio owner Jack Davis said that at the outset he had grave doubts about being able to pull the event off. But he was delighted with the results. He concluded: “We were very prepared to have 100 drummers playing out of time and 350 guitarists playing out of tune. Amazingly it turned out every player was fantastic and took it really seriously. Seeing everyone play in time was a spectacle and the sound matching it was equally impressive.”
