ADLIB Audio supplied a ballsy sound system whilst sister company ADLIB Lighting illuminated those mad, bad, bluesey cult New York rockers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, on their recent whirlwind UK tour!

The three back-to-back dates - Glasgow Barrowlands plus Manchester and Birmingham Academies, are all gigs that ADLIB know really well, explained FOH babysitter and systems tech Steve Pattison, This helped enormously in terms of familiarity with the sonic parameters they knew would work - with no production rehearsals, a good knowledge of the rooms was a godsend!

ADLIB's ability to offer a combined sound and lighting package won them the business. Not only did it mean that Yeah Yeah Yeahs production manager, Roger Carne, only had to deal with one company for all technical requirements,  ADLIB could offer great value and the same streamlined service for both departments.

Sound

They chose a Nexo Alpha system - seven M3 tops and four S2 subs a side, all powered by Camco amps. "It's an incredibly forgiving PA and can deal with pretty much anything you want to throw at it" says Pattison, adding that it is a real ‘point-and-shoot' system, easy to get under balconies and into other nooks and crannies, going "exactly where you want it!".

FOH engineer Steve Wright mixed using a Soundcraft Series 5 console, using one of ADLIB's standard outboard racks including Lexicon PCM 81s, two SPX 2000s for reverbs, an SPX 990 for ‘chorus' effects  and a TC Electronics D2 delay unit.

dbx 160 compression went across lead singer Karen O's incredibly dynamic vocal, along with dbx160As for bass and guitar, and they also had a frequency conscious BSS 901 compressor running along with the 160s to eliminate sibilance. The band brought most of their own - primarily Shure mics - to the party, with ADLIB supplying  a selection of  ‘additionals'.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an interesting band for sound. There's lots of random sampling and sonic weirdness going on, including noises and sounds emanating from guitar amps and other unexpected places, involving lots of open mics onstage.

Monitor world was mixed by Jeremy Lemos and overseen by ADLIB's Steve Cole.

This was a straightforward set up utilising ADLIB's famous MP3 low profile wedges, powered by Crown amps, all crossed over and EQ'd through a dbx Drive Rack. The desk was a Soundcraft Series 5 and another set of standard outboards included SPX 990s used for reverb Drawmer gates and dbx compressors.

Lighting

ADLIB Lighting's Ian Tomlinson worked with Andy Rowe on the tour after receiving a plot from lighting designer Kelly Corter, which they matched as closely as possible.

It was an idiosyncratic but very well thought out rig consisting of a rear truss and four upright sections of pre-rigged truss on the floor. The back truss featured 9 MAC 550s all on the stage left side and 6 bars of PARs on the stage right side in an elegant asymmetrical vibe. They bought their logo backdrop, with the shape made from scrim so it was revealed when the cloth was lit.

Upstage of this were four 4-cell cyc units, three Molefeys and 3 Atomic strobes. A follow spot would have been way too conventional, but Corter had a manually operated stand mounted Strand SL profile at side of stage to provide some constant cross lighting.

On top of each of the four upright truss sections was a High End Studio Beam, and each also supported two bars of 6 PARs

They brought 10 mirror balls with them, four were fitted along the front of the stage and the remaining six squeezed in wherever possible.

Corter operated everything off an Avolites Pearl.

The shows went down a storm. Roger Carne told ADLIB at the end of the run "The guys did a fabulous job - quality work, whilst proving they are the some of the best practitioners in the industry".