FEATURES: LIVE
The key to consistency
Delivering two international festivals on either side of South Africa over the same weekend can be a logistical nightmare. But working with trusted partners ensured that Bad Weather could do just that TAKING PLACE OVER THREE DAYS IN CAPE TOWN AND one day in Johannesburg, Rocking the Daisies and In the City are festivals that attract a world-class lineup to South Africa. While the events take place on either side of the country on the same weekend, they share a lot of similarities. Rocking the Daisies is the larger of the two and offers performances on multiple stages. In the City essentially mirrors the Cape Town festival’s main stage with an identical lineup and technical setup. Managing the production for both events is Bad Weather. The Bad Weather team has been working on both events for a number of years and, over that time, has developed preferences for the equipment it uses and the companies it works with. For the 2019 editions, it meant that the PA across all of the stages came from d&b audiotechnik. ‘It was quite a feat to pull off everything just on d&b, but it was definitely worth our while, that’s for sure,’ says Jonathan Bandli, creative director at Bad Weather. ‘We had four rental companies but there were a lot of people sub-hiring inside of that as well, so pretty much everyone with d&b stock was involved. For Cape Town, it was Eastern Acoustics for the CANDO Main Stage, with Ampere and ULTRA handling the Visa Beach Club and Johnnie Walker Jungle, respectively. And for Johannesburg we used Blue Array. Having the same PA across multiple stages means that if one rental company needs to go to another rental company, the conversation is pretty straightforward. I just never think about audio, because I know that with d&b, we spec it out and that’s the end of it.’
30 PRO AVL MEA Januar y–Februar y 2020
While the German manufacturer’s rig met the technical rider requirements of the touring acts, there were also other reasons behind this selection. ‘It was consistency in knowing that we are getting a certain type of quality,’ reflects Bandli. ‘We’ve never been let down by the d&b system and we prefer the sound of it to be honest. The other thing that separates that PA from a lot of other competitors in this country is that it is simple to use and the people know how to use it. There’s a lot of education and support behind the system from Stage Audio Works. ‘I mean a box is just a box, there’s a lot of other great boxes out there, but if it’s not set up correctly and you don’t have the people with the right education behind it, it’s not going to give you what you want,’ he continues. ‘We just get a consistency of sound across the festival, consistency of quality and, if you tell any artist they’re on d&b, there’s never any question about it because it meets all international spec.’ The system used for both festivals goes down as the largest either has ever had. ‘We’ve used J Series in previous years, but it’s always been on smaller scales like eight, 10 or 12 per side, but this is the first time we’ve gone for a full 16-a-side with J and enough subs,’ says Bandli. ‘It’s just been so much more adequate this year and it was definitely noticeable. The festival invests a lot of money into putting on a world-class performance and booking a world-class lineup and I think the audience noticed a difference, especially from an audio standpoint.’
Hidden out of sight: 16-strong hangs of J Series supported the main stage
