Concert organisers The Sanctuary Group gave members of Iron Maiden the night off from their current world tour (for which ML Executives are providing sound equipment worldwide) to play the small but exclusive Embassy Club in London's Mayfair district alongside stars Kim Mazelle, Matt Sage, and Paul Rodgers of Bad Company.
Iron Maiden's own sound engineer, Doug Hall, was flown back from the tour for one night only to take his place behind the console. MLsoundadvice opted for a small L-Acoustics dV-Dosc system, with two DV subs and three DV- Dosc per side.
"We've worked regularly at The Embassy but nothing with production values this high," says MLsoundadvice director, Gareth Jones. "It's a tough place to stage a corporate event with a large band. It has a tiny capacity (about 200) and a set of stairs which is every production manager's nightmare. Doug is a big analogue fan so we chose a Midas Venice, the smallest analogue desk we do. However all was well with 12 Stage Miracles' crew to get it all down the stairs for us."
With the large number of top-end artists and multiple changeovers, the use of a digital console with a recall facility onstage was essential. Julian Bishop used a Yamaha M7-CL to drive Lab.gruppen powered L-acoustics floor monitors. Other contractors included Neg Earth on lights, Blackout for drapes and John Henry, backline.
"MLsoundadvice really scores where the mainstream artist meets the private environment. The system though physically quite small delivers super fidelity and a great punch" says Jones. "The Task Brasil show proved the point that, in demanding a major artists' set up, we brought the disciplines they require into the private world and delivered with a degree of style."
(Chris Henry)
