ADLIB Audio once again supplied full audio production for the fabulous Ibiza Rocks 2008 season, a new musical concept for the Balearic island that was launched 3 years ago and fast become one of the most popular events of the season.
Ibiza Rocks 2008 – promoted by Andy McKay and production managed by Mike Darling – was staged at two 1500 capacity outdoor venues – the Ibiza Rocks Hotel in San Antonio and The Hipódromo de San Rafel in Sant Rafel de sa Creu. It featured a host of international artists including The Enemy, Dizzee Rascal, The Streets, Soulwax, Pendulum and many others.
The sound system was spec'd by ADLIB's Andy Dockerty and built and commissioned on site by engineer Declan Fyans who stayed out for the duration of the 4 month season which is just drawing to a close.
The biggest and most important challenge for the sound system was durability. The system needed to be able to withstand the heat and dust of 4 months constant use in Ibiza without flinching. Although well equipped with spares, it's a long way from home, and the island has no large PA suppliers – so the nearest replacements for elements like consoles or large system components would be Valencia on the mainland.
ADLIB's system has been a similar spec for the last three years, but this year the venues were slightly larger, and crucially, it had to be a touring rig because of the multiple venues involved, rather than the one installed system of the past at Bar M.
The main PA consisted of 5 x JBL VerTec VT4888 enclosures per side. These were flown on chain hoists attached to the truss making up the stage canopy – which was the same at all venues.
There were 3 x Adlib DF418 subs per side. In the Ibiza Rocks Hotel these were ground stacked either side of the stage in a stack of three, and at the Hipódromo they were configured as three stacks of two - 2 subs on a platform on the left of the stage, 2 stage centre on the ground and the final 2 on another platform at the right of the stage.
Fyans also utilized 6 ADLIB AA122 fill speakers. At the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, two were used for a centre fill, two for a VIP balcony fill and the other two as occasional far left or far right fills depending on the audience configuration. At the Hipódromo, two made up the centre fill and 3 dealt with the VIP bar area.
Eight Crown VZ5002 amps were used to drive the VerTec, four amps each side; Four Crown VZ5002s drove the subs and two QSC RMX 2450 drove all the fills.
System processing was achieved using 3 BSS FDS-366T Omnidrive Compact Plus units, one at FOH, one each on the stage left and right PA amp racks.
The processors in the amp racks were running the new JBL Vertec VT4888 factory programs, with a further channel set up to run the ADLIB subs on each side.
At the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, the FOH processor was used to make a left and right full range signal for the main PA and four channels for fill speakers. At the Hippódromo, the FOH processor was again used to make a left and right full range signal for the main system, then one channel for the centre sub position and three channels for fill speakers.
The FOH console was a Yamaha PM5D-RH, chosen for its popularity and familiarity and because it's a robust and well respected desk that they knew would survive the tough environment. Naturally, being a digital console, it could deal with multiple bands.
For monitors, ADLIB supplied a Soundcraft SM20-48, picked as an “industry standard” product with plenty of capacity for easy adaptation into various configurations to accommodate different bands. Whilst a slightly older console, for ADLIB it has a proven reliability record working under Ibiza conditions.
Monitors consisted of 10 ADLIB AA152 speakers (15” + 2” Active enclosures) and one of ADLIB's special drumfills - a 2 x 15” + 2” active enclosure – for plenty of atmospheric air dispersion! The side fills were 2 ADLIB FD2 mid-highs with two DF415 subs.
One of ADLIB's standard touring mics/stands packages was also supplied, consisting primarily of Shures and Sennheisers.
One of the biggest challenges of the season, explains Fyans, was keeping the sound contained within the venues, both of which were outdoors and in residential areas! They tried to keep the main PA arrays angled down as much as possible to minimize spill, and set a limit of 95dB at FOH.
Otherwise, sonically the venues were fine. “The Hipódromo sounded fantastic,” he enthuses, “Largely due to the fact it was a totally open space with no walls anywhere nearby for the sound to reflect off.”
Fyans was joined for the season by ADLIB's Chris Smethurst who looked after monitors. The Ibiza Rocks Crew included lighting engineer Gavin McFerran, stage manager Joe Clark and stage crew Cliff Dooner, Brendan Maxwell and Arron Watson.
ADLIB also specified a PA for the Electric Bar next to the courtyard at the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, which featured a series of residents including Hungover Stuntmen, Underground Heroes, OK Tokyo, The Clik Clik, A Human and The Holloways