The lighting and visual elements for the new Marquee have been designed and co-ordinated by Dan Cook, who vacated his post as technical manager of the Ocean Music Centre in Hackney to take up the role of lighting manager. Cook designed a flexible lighting rig to cater for a diverse range of artists.
For its rock and roll credentials, Entec Sound & Light was asked onboard by Gary McGovern, Dave Stewart’s studio maintenance manager and the club’s technical consultant. Entec supplied the lighting equipment on a long-term rental basis to facilitate regular updates. Moving fixtures include Martin MAC 600s, High End Cyberlight SVs and Clay Paky Golden Scan HPEs. Added to that are Martin Atomic Strobes and a large variety of conventional fixtures, all controlled by an Avolites Pearl console, working in tandem with Avolites dimmers. Entec has also designed, built and supplied customized power distribution units.
Entec’s Adam Stevenson co-ordinated the supply, which also includes two legs of Tomcat ground support and two flown points for the lighting rig. Entec produced the rigging design and co-ordinated the installation of the hybrid flown/ground support system - a solution to the physical restraints of getting lighting rigging points installed around a complex air conditioning system.
The new club’s PA requirements, along with a provision for full TV broadcast transmission, have been serviced by none other than Marquee Audio. The Shepperton-based supply and installation company, which owes its own lineage to Harold Pendleton’s famous club and still bears its logo, were recommended to the project by several leading live concert touring engineers.
With colleague Scott Wakelin, Marquee designed a full concert spec system, in conjunction with Gary McGovern. The main EAW system, driven by Crest P Series amplifiers, comprises four flown KF750p enclosures and four EAW SB-1000e subs, with a further four EAW MK-2164 two-way enclosures providing rear-fill delays. A 48-channel Yamaha PM4000 is at FOH.
The entire system is processed by an XTA DP-226/DP-224 management system and controlled by Marquee Audio’s BSS Soundwebs (9088ii/LL matrix processor and a 9010 Jellyfish, stationed backstage). This enables the soundscape to revert to an all-encompassing directional dancefloor sound, when the venue switches to playback mode, via surround sound EAW AS-660i, and AS-460e enclosures, underpinned with four SB-1000e subs. Three of these will be anchored up on the VIP balcony and all are firing directly onto the dancefloor.
Marquee also provided a highly-specified FOH effects rack - based around industry-standard modules - and a DJ console. At the stage end, Marquee specified 10 EAW SM-15 wedges (eight discrete, one lissom wedge and one stacked on an SB150 15" sub for drum fill, while a further KF-650z provides stage sidefill. The monitor desk is a 40-channel Midas XL3 console.
From the EAW sound reinforcement to the Yamaha mixing desk, Spencer Brooks’ team have opted for instantly-familiar equipment. "Part of the brief is that the venue wants to attract a variety of bands and EAW/Crest/Yamaha is a familiar combination. Everyone is familiar with EAW boxes - it’s ideal, industry-standard rock ‘n’ roll fare."
Marquee have also supplied two 32" Sony plasma screens, relayed to the balcony, a pair of Sony 42" plasma screens, which take feeds in the restaurant and a 50" Eizo display in the foyer. The specialist cabling infrastructure is run throughout the building, permitting any signal to be routed anywhere.
The entire digital and analogue cabling
