Event-solution have been the Bläck Fööss's supplier of choice for their big New Year's Eve shows for the last eight years, looking after every aspect of the audio set-up including mixing consoles, microphone set-up, stage monitoring, and of course the main PA system. This year, for a change, the band used in-ear monitoring. "The specially-designed stage was situated right in the middle of the arena at audience level," explained event-solution's CEO, Jochen Gotzen. "This meant that monitoring with speakers was not the best solution, either in terms of design or sound."
In preparation for the show, event-solution commandeered the gymnasium of a neighbouring school where they recreated the entire stage. Three days of rehearsals followed during which all the settings and scenes for both monitor and FoH consoles were created and saved, whilst a separate crew loaded into the Lanxess Arena. The final day of preparations saw everyone move into the Lanxess Arena for final soundchecking, where event-solution made full use of the Eclipse's Virtual Soundcheck facility.
Using the show that had previously been recorded during rehearsals, the engineer simply played back the FoH mix in the Arena and made the necessary adjustments. The band only had to come in for fine-tuning at the end. Gotzen was delighted with the solution. "It saved us all a considerable amount of time and nerves," he remarked. "The engineer has much more time and freedom to move around the venue, listen to the results and make his adjustments whilst the band relaxes elsewhere. When they finally do come in, most of the work is already done - it's much quicker and less stressful for everyone."
(Jim Evans)
