Creamfields marked its 25th year by launching a second edition – Creamfields South in early June at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and attracting 50,000 dance music fans – as well as holding Creamfields North in the village of Daresbury, its home since 2006.
The largest EDM event in the UK with 250 artists appearing over four days, the festival comprised 12 stages, two of which were serviced by Capital Sound. All performances were DJ playback and, as is customary, each of the stages changed name on a daily basis. Working alongside Production Director Ian Greenway of LarMac Live, Solotech was responsible for Stage 3 – a large TFS structure – and the outdoor Stage 8 Runway Stage, which saw the introduction of a new ‘concept stage’.
Stage 3 began as a Silent Disco, as did all opening stages, changing to Catch And Release Stmpd Records and MK Presents on successive days. The key nights saw Martin Garrix headline and when MK revved up the audience hosting his own line-up.
Capital Sound fielded 11 MLA elements with an MLD Downfill at the base on both sides of the stage; further front fill was provided by four Martin Audio DD12, while an array of 13 MLX subwoofers in cardioid ran across the front. Set back in the rear of the compound were two delay masts of ten Martin Audio MLA Compact enclosures, ground stacked on risers. Overseeing this for Solotech was system tech and crew chief, Olly Fallon.
Stage 8 came alive as Paradise on the second day, transforming into Trick and Solid Grooves on following days. This stage was designed as a unique self-supporting, eight-leg truss structure, from which a WPL PA was flown. The upstage goalposts (left and right) supported WPL, and delays consisted of two hangs of eight Martin Audio WPS, were flown from the last goalposts of the truss structure.
Rayne Ramsden, crew chief and system tech on this stage, reported that as the first time WPL had been used in this context it was a fantastic success. ‘The coverage was exceptional, from the front to the very back,’ he reports, adding that dance fans surged in to extend the area back some 40m beyond the FOH position. ‘Even with that extra capacity, WPL catered for the extended throw distance with no trouble at all.’
The complement of speakers that made that possible were hangs of 13 WPL with a further three WPL fills down on each side of the stage upstage from the main PA hangs. These were supported by an additional four Martin Audio DD12, providing extra front fill, and a broadside array of 13 MLX subwoofers, providing LF extension.
Solotech Senior Project Manager, Martin Connolly, described the event as ‘an outstanding success’, and the experiment with the eight-legged free-standing structure ‘a revelation’.
‘We know Solotech well, and their willingness to adapt and overcome at Creamfields is more important than ever as we start to migrate to newer and more unique structures,’ Greenway says. ‘With two Creamfields festivals a year now, we’re looking forward to further developing the relationship.’
