Adamson Systems Engineering recently placed its first Energia E15 system in Latin America with sound company and new Energia Beta partner C. Vilar Amplificacion Professional. (Take our slideshow of the event.)
During Sir Paul McCartney’s last leg of the “On The Run” tour that had started in the U.S and Canada last year, and then headed to Europe and the UK before landing in South America, front of house engineer Paul “Pab” Boothroyd found out a new E15 system was available, along with a significant quantity of Adamson Y18, Y10 and T21 Subs to support the stadium show in Bogota. He jumped at the opportunity.
Ewan McDonald and Leo Vilar of C.Vilar provided a system design with left and right main hangs, each made up of 15 x E15 above two SpekTrix 5-degree enclosures and two SpekTrix W 15-degree enclosures.
Side fill hangs were comprised of 12 x Y18, with an underhang of four Y10 per side. Sixteen T21 Subs on the ground took care of the low end, and four Y10 per side were stacked on top of the subs for front fill. Finally, four SpekTrix enclosures were evenly spaced across the stage as lip fill.
Six delay stacks were distributed around the edge of the stadium to cover seating areas. Four risers held four stacked E15 each, two facing left and two facing right, while the other two delay stacks of eight Y10 each were loaded on scaffolding facing out toward the middle of the seating area, where most of the audience was concentrated.
“This was one of those shows that it is a privilege to work on,” states McDonald. “Sir Paul and band put on an amazing show, but from an audio perspective this was a fantastic performance by all parties involved. C Vilar proved that you can receive world class gear and service in Latin America and Pab’s mix was impeccable in every way. Chris Nichols (McCartney’s systems engineer) ensured that mix was delivered to the PA as Pab intended it to.
“As for the E15, it definitely delivered in the way we knew it could. Stadiums can be a challenging environment, but the PA had absolutely no issues in delivering the performance as intended; with clarity, punch, headroom and the throw was effortless. A great result by all.”
Boothroyd notes, “The delivery was fantastic, really in your face. I sometimes get frustrated at shows when the sound is all the way down far away by the stage rather than coming at you, enveloping you. Obviously the way the (E15) has been designed, the physics of it delivers very, very efficiently and in a very uniform way.”
He explains that he prefers a PA that he can to tune, rather than being ready out of the box. “The problem is sometimes a PA loses too much headroom, punch, and clarity in the process, so I still like a PA that I can shape, and bring the PA to my mix“.
The first E15 show for C.Vilar received positive reviews all the way around: “Everything came together that night. The E15 has gone to the top of my very short list of things I ask for around the world.” Boothroyd says.
“With a band and a mix engineer of their caliber, it is truly fantastic what can be achieved when given the opportunity to do so,” adds Jesse Adamson.
Also, take our slideshow of the event.