Paul Weller (former Jam and Style Council frontman) recently completed a series of sell-out dates at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Renowned for its difficult acoustics, the 5,200-capacity venue was fitted out with an EAW KF 760 line array system by London-based supplier Canegreen. An unusual triple-hang design was used to provide even coverage for the unique oval-shaped auditorium, and the KF 760s were augmented with KF 761 near-field enclosures to cover the audience front rows. “With the [KF 761s] hung under the main system, we can do away with ground-stacked frontfills,” explained Weller’s FOH engineer Ange Jones. “The Albert Hall is a particularly tall venue, but there is a great danger in letting the system spill upward into the dome. With the line array rig, we can cover 280 degrees with three clusters, and be sure that the system has a sharp vertical cut-off.”
The entire P.A. was powered by Swedish-built Lab Gruppen amps, except for a Meyer-only stage setup that included self-powered PSM-2s. Conventionally driven Meyer MSL-4 and MSL-2 cabinets were deployed as sidefill and drum monitors, respectively, and USMs provided local monitoring. Both Jones at FOH and Seamus Fenton at the monitor mix position mixed on Midas Heritage 3000 boards.
