ADELE IN MUNICH
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to be manually loaded and reloaded over the course of the show. FFP’s effects were used across four of Adele’s iconic songs. Rolling in the Deep , which closed the shows, saw the final chorus kicking in with a rapid sequence of 540 pyrotechnic jets chasing back and forth along the passerelle (catwalk) – ending with a huge explosion of white confetti through the last note of the show. Set Fire to the Rain started with a tsunami low-fog effect paired with strobing pyrotechnics. The storm on the video screen then blended and distorted to become a full display featuring all 60 of the arena’s flame heads in action. CONNECTING THE DOTS When it came to production, the concert series was led by manager Paul English and sought expertise from a variety of disciplines within Clair Global, all of which was overseen by its account executive Andy Walker. “A great thing done by Andy was getting the IT team on board to supply fantastic internet across the whole site. It made our lives much easier throughout the entire backstage area, which is an immense space over 600m long,” says English. “This was linked to the comms system, so we could go everywhere with a Bolero pack – and worked perfectly, providing exactly what we asked for. “When it came to audio, the shows in Munich sounded phenomenal; in the stadium, it was amazing from one side to the other, front to back. It’s a pleasure to work with Adele’s audio team and have Clair as our supplier.” Walker comments: “This compelling project has been a lengthy undertaking
of Clair’s global resources from our UK, North America and mainland Europe locations. It has enabled the production to use a singular supplier for multiple services, including audio, comms, radios and production IT. This included an interdepartmental network and 150 Wi-Fi access points for site-wide IT support and fibre distribution.” Clair Global also deployed a control package that mirrored the Las Vegas set-up: Digico Quantum 7 consoles at both the front-of-house and monitor positions for the star’s long-time mixing engineers Dave Bracey and Joe Campbell. While Adele has long been cemented as one of the world’s best live performers and her production values are always first class, the scale-up in Munich was considerable – from both a PA system and monitoring/RF standpoint. Systems engineer Johnny Keirle mapped out a sprawling 36-hang, 14-delay-tower, L-Acoustics K1/K2/L2 design, covering the entirety of the large urban site in perfect clarity. This included carefully considering the amp positions and signal distribution to ensure that the almost 800,000 fans in attendance each received optimal sound quality. SEISMIC SYSTEM DESIGN Keirle describes his high-stakes undertaking: “The shows in Munich are an example of a completely different approach to system design. In Las Vegas, we worked with an immersive L-ISA system, while Munich instead utilised a traditional L/R-dual mono system. “This PA design was a complex process. There was a huge emphasis on creating a clean visual experience, with stage
NO LONGER A WALLFLOWER Covered with 4625 sq m of Roe Carbon 5 Mark II (CB5 Mk II) panels in both concave and convex configurations, the LED background wall earned a Guinness World Record for being the largest continuous outdoor LED screen (temporary).
Special effects company FFP was behind this impressive display of airborne pyrotechnics during the show’s finale
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