Joe GallopFor the recent edition of WOMAD (cap. 40,000), Britannia Row Productions supplied L-Acoustics PA systems across four of the festival’s stages: Open Air, Saddlespan, Siam and Taste the World, on behalf of Judgeday productions director Dave T.
The Open Air Stage is the second festival environment in which Britannia Row has deployed the new L Series L2 system, following London’s Soho House Festival in July.
System engineer Sergiy Zhytnikov worked across the Open Air Stage at the Peter Gabriel-founded festival WOMAD, which took place at Charlton Park, Wiltshire from 27-31 July. The stage boasted main hangs of L2, K2 stacked on the platform for side coverage, KS28 subs in a cardioid configuration across the stage, and A15’s for front fill.
Zhytnikov said, “The weather conditions were very challenging at WOMAD this year; we were dealing with sunshine and 50% humidity, then rain and up to 80% humidity, often with strong winds. I had to use temperature and humidity sensors during the day to fight this rapid change in weather conditions and update system filters accordingly, as the humidity and temperature dramatically affects sound propagation through the air. In my opinion, it offers more stability than any other line array and handles strong winds very well.”
Britannia Row crew chief Fergus Mount said, “Flying this PA is very quick as you only need to fly minimal boxes per side, and you don’t have angles to put in between the boxes. Noise monitoring at WOMAD is strict, and the off-site noise readings were constantly being monitored. With the extra control of so many drivers in a single box and its cardioid low end, Sergiy is able to be surgically precise about where the sound starts and stops. Even during headline acts, the off-site noise was barely registering.”