Ealing Summer is west London's exciting festival of music, Europe's largest free jazz festival, and the biggest celebration of Blues music in London.  Now in its 19^th consecutive year, the event is hosted by Ealing Council in Walpole Park, with a huge circus tent housing the main performance stages.

In the Main Tent, Kent-based PA company SRD has brought in the new Electro-Voice XLD compact line array system, supplied by Shuttlesound, to comply with the new restrictions on sound reinforcement, following complaints from local residents in 2005.  In the hands of the chief front-of-house engineer Steve Reece, with support from Shuttlesound's John Ellis, the XLD has made a distinguished and problem-free debut.

Ground-stacked either side of the wide stage, the XLD system cut an elegantly low profile.  6x XLD cabinets  on top of XS212s were supplemented by 2 X-Subs under the stage, providing ample bass support for jazz and blues stars including Ray Gelato, Connie Lush and John Otway.  Shuttlesound's John Ellis, working together with SRD's Stuart Roberts, used Electro-Voice's proprietary LAPS software to ensure that the system's output rolled off at around 30 metres from the stage, to avoid complaints from the neighbours.

For the 1500-strong audience in and around the tent, coverage was wide and very even, according to engineer Steve Reece, who is usually to be found front-of-house for Courtney Pine.  "The system is very transparent and aticulate, it gives me the ability to be more dynamic, to make fine adjustments on individual instruments to pull them forward or push them back in the mix, with very smooth and clear results."

SRD's Stuart Roberts agreed.  "The XLD system has coped very well with the acoustic issues of a big circus tent like this, which tends to reflect back the top end.  Listening to the jazz and big band performers, I thought it sounded warm and good-natured, ideal for this event which wouldn't be well-served by an aggressive system.  XLD is ideal for small outdoor events of around 1500-2000, or in small theatres with wide auditoriums.  And for rental, there is the considerable advantage of how compact and light the system is."