From an understated debut tour of theatre-sized venues in 2011, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have built climbed to the heights of a world tour in 2016. Unsurprisingly, the size of the venues has increased. The current tour includes six UK arena dates, concluding at the Brixton O2 Academy – all using an L-Acoustics audio system provided by Britannia Row Productions.
Front-of-house engineer Dan Lewis has worked with Gallagher since 2002: ‘My relationship with Noel started as system tech for Oasis, after which I became their front-of-house engineer,’ he says. ‘Since then I’ve been FOH engineer for both Noel’s High Flying Birds and Beady Eye. I started using L-Acoustics with Beady Eye in 2011 and have used it ever since.’
For the High Flying Birds arena shows, Lewis specified an L-Acoustics rig, comprising 14 K1 elements per side for the main system and four K2 as underhangs. Nine K1 and four K2 were flown outside the main system as side hangs. ‘K1 is great for the top-end; it’s ideal for HF projection to the back of arenas,’ Lewis says. ‘I also specified it for the sides because we still needed cabinets that would really project the sound off-axis into those hard-to-get top seats.’
The system also features three groundstacks of three SB28 subs per side, with two Kara boxes on top. ‘Noel’s not a great fan of sub-bass on stage, so we ran them in cardioid mode,’ Lewis says. ‘We were surprised how much rear rejection we got up close to the back of the stacks. Cardioid subs can sometimes have the unwanted side effect of giving the monitor department a hard time, as they are in the firing line of the rear facing divers, but this arrangement worked really well and the expected grumbling didn’t happen.’
One of the advantages of using L-Acoustics systems is the seamless tonality within the company’s loudspeaker ranges. This is very apparent in the sometimes-challenging acoustic environment of larger venues. ‘The whole L-Acoustics range relates up and down the boxes,’ says Lewis. ‘In March last year we did London’s Rivoli Ballroom with Kara, and it translated very nicely. We did the Royal Albert Hall with K2, which worked well, and we did Brixton with K2 as well.
‘The Panflex system with the variable dispersion really helps to minimise the famous Brixton echo, keeping the mid and high energy off the walls upstairs. I would go as far to say it’s the best sounding thing I have heard in there yet. Working with Brit Row and their L-Acoustics system is always a pleasure.’
