MLA folds back the years at Rewind Festival
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Although this year Rewind Scotland had to be cancelled, the events at Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield (Rewind North) and Temple Island Meadows, outside Henley (Rewind South) went ahead within a month of each other. The event is now back under the management of David Heartfield, whose leisure group Impresario Festivals had previously sold the brand to radio group Global back in 2017.
The events’ long-term sound suppliers, Capital Sound were in action at both sites, and with the exception of an additional delay tower at Rewind South, fielded identical Martin Audio MLA PA rigs. Once again, they worked alongside production manager Keith Morris, of Riverside Productions, as they have on many previous occasions.
Set on the banks of the Thames, the 40,000 capacity Rewind South featured an all-star 80’s line-up, with Jimmy Somerville’s Big Band-tastic Boogie and Wet Wet Wet headlining.
Other artists performing included Marc Almond, Bananarama, Billy Ocean, Hue & Cry, The Christians, Cutting Crew, Go West and Katrina. Roland Gift, Limahl, Pete Wylie, Soul II Soul, Aswad, Nik Kershaw, Grandmaster Flash and John Parr.
Capital fielded an experienced technical team, with Mike ‘Bunny’ Warren as FOH engineer and supervisor - himself mixing the largest section of the show - with Toby Donovan as system tech.
The site itself is flat and open, fanning out at the rear, where an arc of three delay towers at the 65-metre point provided coverage.
For the main PA Capital deployed 15 MLA array elements above a single MLD Downfill box on each side, with eight MLA Compact enclosures, at stage left and right, for out-fills. For front-fills they provided an additional 12 WPS (Wavefront Precision) line array elements.
Handling the low-end frequencies were 19 MLX subwoofers in broadside cardioid, set in a castellated pattern across the front. This provided a lot more controllability, according to Capital project manager, Martin Connolly. “It removes the amount of sub energy bleeding back onto the stage, which is particularly off-putting for those wearing in-ears.”
Finally, audiences watching near the back behind the mix tower, were treated to quality audio from the delay arc, each tower comprising five further MLA and a single MLD Downfill.
