Depeche Mode have relied on Britannia Row for their tour production for more than a quarter of a century. Currently on a stadium tour that began in Europe and concludes in 2018 in South America, FOH engineer Antony King has chosen an L-Acoustics K1 system, supplied by BritRow.

With the Depeche Mode Global Spirit Tour playing more than 90 dates in stadia and large-scale venues around the world, King specified a main system comprising 14 K1 per side with four K2 as down fills. Side hangs are a further 14 K1 plus six K2 down fills, to account for the throw distance needed and the large amount of vertical coverage required. There are a total of 46 KS28, with 12 of them per side flown next to the K1, while four hangs of 12 K1 are used for delays. The FOH sound is mixed using an SSL L500 Plus console.

The band’s set design always includes a thrust that sits to one side of the stage – and because of its asymmetrical construction and the position of camera platforms, there are restrictions to where the groundstacked subs can be placed. The solution is to have 18 of the remaining KS28 configured as six stacks of three sitting in front of the stage, arrayed as a sub arc. Three ARCS per side are stacked on the outermost KS28 stack and four stacks of two Kara each on the innermost KS28, which are deployed as front fill. Two Kara per side are used for stage fill and, whilst the band are all on in ear monitors, a further two KS28 per side are sited on the stage to provide them with a little movement. Delays are four hangs of 12 K1.

‘There was originally talk of flying some K1SB as well as the KS28,’ explains Terence Hulkes, FOH tech and crew chief. ‘However, because of rigging points and weight loadings, that wasn’t possible, but the flown KS28 spread the power around the venue better and keep it above the heads of audience. For overall low end and extra register the KS28 is amazing and it’s incredible how much the low end will travel.’

‘K1 itself isn’t lacking in the low-end department, so in this instance we went for resolution rather than moving the air,’ adds senior systems technician Richard Trowe. ‘For the really trouser flapping stuff, the KS28 is the one.

‘Antony wants consistency,’ he continues. ‘He likes to have a similar volume at the furthest seat as at FOH and he likes to walk the arena from top to bottom to make sure he’s got that. That’s where the FIR filters and LA Network Manager really help; when you’re a distance away from FOH and you need to increase the HF with the air compensation, you can do it using a tablet. Obviously, we can’t always achieve perfectly even coverage, in these large stadiums but we get pretty close. For example, there were legal noise restrictions in Switzerland, but even there we had 0.7db difference between the front row and FOH and the same between FOH and the back of the arena, which is next to nothing.

‘The rigging on the KS28 in particular is very fast,’ Hulkes adds. ‘The way it goes up and down is the fastest of any PA I’ve rigged. Because the stages are high enough, we have big amp carts that hold all the LA12X amplifiers, mains, controllers etc, there are 32 LA12X on one side and 33 on the other, in two carts that roll in under the stage. We plug in the mains, link the audio networking inputs into it and away we go.’

The newly launched LA12X has made a noticeable difference to the sound of the system, particularly when it is being driven hard. ‘Running the system on LA12X gives us so much extra headroom and great sound, all the way from the beautiful round low end to the precise and crystal clear highs,’ Hulkes adds.

‘For me, K1 is the only serious choice for stadiums, given its superior throw capability and high directivity control,’ King concurs. ‘K1 on the new LA12X amps takes the system to a new level.’

To make life easier, L-Acoustics’ David Brooks provided plans for venues that they did not have information on: ‘Having David send the plans so we can prepare the design using L-Acoustics Soundvision in advance enables us to do a better system design, as well as be a bit more relaxed and better prepared,’ Hulkes says. ‘The combination of the system’s ease of use and sound quality, along with the help that L-Acoustics has given us is making the tour a breeze, which is exactly what we like.’

The tour is now heading over to the US. Brit Row will continue to provide sound for this, and all legs of the tour, which continues into 2018.