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Production and artist programming manager for the shows David Barrow commented,
'“I have worked with the Pearce Hire team from my Cambridge Folk Festival days that started way back in 1989 and I am delighted to still be enjoying their slick and professional approach 20 years down the line. Pearce Hire has provided power and lighting for the forest tour since the start and there is no doubt in my mind that our success is in no small part down to the Pearce teams”

The key to these shows is consistency as many artists perform across various sites so the rigs are identical between each site. Last years lighting rig was based around three trusses featuring a mix of PAR64 6-lamp bars, ACL Bars and Martin MAC 700’s. In addition to this Source 4’s provided key lighting for the band and 4-cell Molephays ensured that the artists could see the crowd and also to enable to the audience to exit the arena at the end of the night.

Most acts were geared up for the festival season so were carrying some of their own production which was brought in to supplement the house rig and some LDs were carrying their own consoles whilst others used the Pearce Hire supplied Avolites Pearl 2008. Dimming and mains distribution for the lighting rig was handled using Avolites ART2000 racks.

Pearce Hire also supplied the temporary power and distribution systems for all the sites which vary greatly in size and shape. This is a challenge in itself as a standard pack of equipment has to be designed which will cover all the eventualities at each site, whilst not carrying excess equipment which would mean additional trucking and a larger carbon footprint than necessary. Generators were specified separately for each site to ensure that the right size sets were available thus reducing fuel consumption.

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Pearce Hire won the contract for both the audio and lighting elements of the production for the first time, having provided audio and lighting separately on previous UK tours by the group.

LD Tim Speechley was responsible for the visual element of the performance by the nine-strong vocal group and he hit upon the ideas of using the band’s album covers as an image. Speechley was able to rig the individual banners each night around a central projection area, which could be lit in different ways to give the headline and support act completely separate visual identities.

Ladysmith are accustomed to working to the highest production standards, having performed everywhere from Nobel Prize ceremonies to the Carnegie Hall. So it was a testament to the abilities of Pearce Hire, when Speechley and production manager/FOH sound engineer Jon Picciano specified them for both disciplines.

“Pearce Hire’s equipment has always been to a very high standard and they provide great service so we invited them to quote for the combined light and sound package.” said Speechley. “Throughout the tour their staffing was excellent. All the crew were very friendly and worked well as part of the team.”

The audio system supplied for the tour was based around a mixture of L-Acoustics ARCS, MTD 115XT, MTD 108a and SB218 enclosures with XTA processing. Monitor and FOH consoles were a Yamaha DM2000 and DM1000 respectively and monitoring was provided by RSA bi-amp wedges and L-Acoustics MTD 108s.

Tim Speechley’s lighting rig was based around a two truss system including a dozen Martin MAC 700s, a large selection of Source Four profiles and 10 PAR 64 ACL Bars. Lighting was controlled by an Avolites Pearl 2004 with Avolites ART 2000 racks providing dimming and mains distribution.