The first of the venues, The Flying Handbag, is designed to be fully versatile, with bar and servery and the facility for live acts, DJ driven club nights and much more. The installation of sound and lighting was handled by Fylde Stage Lighting Support Ltd, assisted by Community UK in the design of the audio system.
The main stage and dance floor system utilises a pair of CPL42-94 along with a pair of SBS22 subwoofers, two STS26s are mounted on the ceiling to provide discreet monitoring for performers on the stage with a further two STS26s employed for in-fill off the dance floor. The pool table area is covered by two CPL27s, and the conservatory by four CPL23s, whilst Cloud 4 ceiling speakers are installed in each of the toilets. The entire system is powered by KIND KDL and DQX amplifiers and controlled by a BSS Audio Soundweb 9088.
Commenting on the system Dave Fielding of FSLS said that having installed a vast array of systems over the years he was amazed by the clarity and quality from the Community speakers in combination with the KIND amplification - both when used for background music during the day and at full-on club levels during the evening. He added that the tight and musical sound of the SBS22 subs is just awesome for the size of driver and enclosure - enough to warrant steel fire doors to keep the sound in!
Adjacent to The Flying Handbag is ITP's second development, and the jewel in their crown - The Flamingo. Located in the old Odeon cinema in Blackpool, the cinema first opened in May 1939 and remains the largest Odeon ever built with a seating capacity of over 3,000. It closed in 1998 and was subsequently acquired by ITP who converted the front section of the building into the famous burlesque showbar and restaurant "Funny Girls" and "Bar B", a separate club where show-goers could continue to after the finale. The remainder of this enormous building has now had the ITP touch applied, resulting in The Flamingo, a stunning 2000-capacity live and club venue split across 4 levels. Whilst it has been a vast transformation, the character of the building has been preserved and the wonderful original Art Deco lights remain, having been updated with colour changing LED lighting.
Working to the audio quality brief from ITP, Fylde Stage Lighting Support Ltd were again assisted by Community UK in the design of the audio system. The main room system uses four flown SLS920H, two SBS25 bass and four TLF218 subs for the main front of house, all powered by KIND XT Series amplifiers. The second level delay line again uses four SLS920H and two SBS25 powered by KIND XT Series amplifiers. Under balcony in fill and the third level delay line used a total of eight STS 26 in landscape configuration, powered by two KIND KDL3000 amplifiers. On stage there are four XLT46E stage monitors powered by two KIND KDL 2200 amplifier. The complete system is run through a BSS Audio Soundweb 3088 Lite to enable full control of every amplifier and tailor delay times and equalisation to suit the large multi-level venue.
A background music system is deployed in the VIP area using four CPL23's, whilst the acoustically isolated 60's/70's club on the fourth level utilises four CPL42-94 and two CPL55 dual 15-inch bass cabinets, powered by KIND XT2000 and KDL2200 amplifiers.
The system at The Flamingo is "Seriously impressive", says Fielding. "In additional to superb quality we had good headroom within all frequency bands to enable us to balance the system well for the venue acoustics and the zones created by the split-levels. Bass response in such a large area is remarkable with the option of going for tight fast responsive bass as well as the less in-your-face bass required on certain theme nights in the club. I cannot fault Community for their fantas
