Meyer Sound M'elodie Strikes Thrice—Dublin's Vicar Street Takes IMRO's 2008 Best Venue Awards

Built in 1998, Vicar Street is known to be a top-notch Dublin performance venue providing an intimate live experience for artists and audiences alike. Vicar Street recently picked up Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO)'s awards for the Best National Live Music Venue of the Year, Best Dublin Live Music Venue of the Year, as well as the Hot Press Readers Award for Best Live Music Venue in Ireland. The awards acknowledge the country's top concert halls assessed on general ambience, staging, lighting, and sound. Vicar Street took the spotlight at the IMRO ceremony, which took place a year after the popular venue upgraded to a Meyer Sound M'elodieâ„¢ line array loudspeaker system.

Featuring a wide, shallow design, Vicar Street can hold up to 1,300 spectators, with no seat over 44 feet from the stage. In talking about the creation of the sound system, designer Paul Aungier of Dublin-based Mikam Sound admits that the choice of the compact M'elodie loudspeaker was made after careful consideration.

“I was always suspicious of small line arrays,” confesses Aungier. “It seemed as if you were doing with eight smaller boxes what you could easily do with two full-size. But the first time we turned the M'elodies on, it was almost shocking to realize how much power is in these little boxes. Also, the M'elodie really came up strong in sonic quality and space saving, thanks to the obvious advantages of it being self-powered.”

Aungier and Phil Morrisro, Vicar Street's house engineer began the system design using Meyer Sound's MAPP Online Proâ„¢ acoustical prediction program, with the goal of minimizing the number of fill speakers needed. Single arrays of eight M'elodie line array loudspeakers flown per side anchor the system, along with four 700-HP subwoofers at floor level, and two UPA-1P loudspeakers for balcony area fill. Six MJF-212A stage monitors support the musicians, and a single Galileoâ„¢ loudspeaker management system handles control duties.

“Everything is so versatile,” adds Technical Manager Ed Lewis, “We've done everything here from folk to metal to comedians, and the room sounds great regardless. With the performance of the M'elodies and MJF-212As, coupled with the unparalleled comprehensive control of the Galileo, we can adapt to anything that comes our way.”

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Vicar Street's upcoming lineup includes Kanye West, The Zutons, and Bell X1, among many others. The most up-to-date event listings of Vicar Street can be found here:

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