ADLIB at Creamfields 2011 Liverpool, UK-based audio and lighting rental company ADLIB was well prepared in all ways for the Creamfields 2011 staged in Daresbury, Cheshire. The company supplied three integrated sound and lighting/visual packages for the Paul van Dyk/Cream Arena, the Pryda/Cocoon Arena, and a large hospitality area at the three3 day camping festival, spawned from legendary Liverpool superclub,Cream. Even periods of torrential rain didn't dampen anyone's spirits, as once again ADLIB reports being proud to be involved in the UK's best known electronic music extravaganza, working for Loudsound Events and the production management team of LarMac LIVE led by Ian Greenway, assisted by Anthony Norris. Sound in the Cream Arena -- the largest tented space of the festival, at over 9,000 capacity -- was undertaken by ADLIB's Otto Kroymann and Jay Petch. Saturday stellar line up was presented by Paul van Dyk, and, apart from himself headlining, included Ferry Corsten, Judge Jules, Eddie Halliwell, and many more. ADLIB supplied its JBL VerTec sound system, consisting of main hangs of ten VT4889s a-side, with another two 4889s a-side in the delay hangs positioned half way down the tent. The low frequency design featured 12 VerTec VT4880As a side with a central sub array of eight L-ACOUSTICS SB 28s, producing an impressive SLP with even coverage that was appreciated by bass gurus, performers and the audience alike. The VerTec high packs were driven by Camco Vortex 6 amps and the Vertec subs by Lab.gruppen PLM 20000s. They utilized two Soundcraft Vi1 consoles for front of house and monitors, and all of the processing, system EQ, and time alignment was via a standard ADLIB Dolby Lake system. Kroymann explains, "It was a question of 'back to real bass-ics' with tried-and-tested hardware that we knew from experience was totally appropriate." DJ monitors were the trusty ADLIB MP3 series - two MP3 drum subs a-side with an MP3 wedge on top, to ensure that the serious levels of bottom end were maintained. These were augmented with Nexo Alpha side-fills; a single stack with an additional sub. The challenge was to deliver the required sound - in terms of levels, style, and mode -- for a typical club night over a massive arena for long periods of time -- the Arena ran for 14 hours on Saturday and 11 hours on Sunday, so the pace and the power was relentless the whole time with no breaks -- straight from one DJ to the next with minimal changeovers. The Pryda/Cocoon Arena was presented on Saturday night by Swedish DJ Eric Prydz. ADLIB's Carlos Herreros oversaw the sound requirements with a full CODA system. Prydz "friends" being presented included Pete Tong, Sasha, James Zabiela, and others. Another system from ADLIB featured a CODA Airline LA12 line array and 16 Coda SC8 sensor controlled subs, five LA12 a-sides in the main hangs were flown off the front lighting truss, together with three more LA12 a-side as delays hung from the mid-tent lighting truss. Another two LA12 were stacked for front fills as part of one of the sub stacks and four LA8s were ground stacked on each side of the stage as out-fills. The large arena sloped considerably towards the stage, so there wasn't an option to ground-stack much of the PA, as it would be masked by the audience, but the light weight of the LA12 enabled us to get the boxes up where they needed to be, with the help of the lighting infrastructure.Monitors and the front-of-house mix were both engineered from the one Digidesign SC48 console, with Lake LM 26s for the matrixing, time alignment, and EQ. Herreros worked alongside Sam Proctor, who looked after all the DJ changeovers (which were lightening quick), while he concentrated on the room coverage, for which the sonic challenge was producing a rich consistent sound within the 98dB front-of-house limitation. ADLIB's head of lighting, Peter Abraham, project-managed the supply of lighting to the same three areas, for which Cream's Saturday night was designed by Paul van Dyk's team and on Sunday by ADLIB's LD Ian Tomlinson. The two very different styles and looks for the stage necessitated an intense overnight changeover. A ground support system was erected at one end of the Arena (by Prism), and two 49.2' long trusses were flown down either side of it between the tent poles to provide positions for the audience lighting. Each truss was loaded with ten Martin Professional MAC 700 Wash moving lights and three Atomic strobes. The delay speaker arrays were also flown on these trusses. On the stage were 22 MAC 700 Spots, 18 MAC 301 LED washes, 14 Atomics, 12 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s, and six four-cell moles. These were positioned all over four over-stage trusses on the first night and six on the second. In addition to the two extra overhead trusses going in for Sunday, two small ground support trusses were added either to side of the stage to extend the entire width of the performance space. Consoles were an Avolites Pearl Expert with a Touch Wing and a High End Systems Road Hog Full Boar with two playback wings, the latter specified by Paul van Dyk's designer Oli Metcalf and operated by Rik Schoutsen. ADLIB's crew included Andy Rowe, Mike Summerfield, and Geoff Bond. In Pryda/Cocoon, Neil Holloway and Stu Wright ensured that all ran smoothly. The design again featured two audience trusses, and Tomlinson produced a completely custom structural design for the stage, based on a variety of different towers and stands, which gave it a real 3D depth and definition plus a quirky appearance. The two audience trusses were again rigged to the tent king poles, each loaded with six MAC 700 washes two Atomics and two four-way Moles. Over and around the stage were 12 MAC 700 Spots, eight MAC 250 profiles, six MAC 250 beams. For wow effects there was a "huge, spiky, beamy rear look" created with four bars of ACLs on each-side. ADLIB also supplied some of its new PIXLED F-30 screen. Thirty-five tiles were integrated into the visual design, rigged all over the structure to create a "random look," enhancing the multi-layered 3D architectural feel of the space. The screen was fed with content from one of ADLIB's Catalyst media servers, with both consoles -another Avo Pearl Expert and a Hog 3 with a Mini Wing - optimized to drive it. For Saturday night, the Eric Prydz team installed its own video set up, complete with a series of grey scenic boxes on stage, and a projection system set up at the front of house. Lighting and visuals were operated by Robert Zlotnicki; the tour manager was Mark Calvert. Prydz's set was removed at the end of the night leaving the PIXLED F-30 panels, and with ADLIB's re-rig of the lighting and additional trussing installation -- it effectively morphed into a completely different venue. "The production values and everyone's expectations of visual presentation have increased considerably in the last five years, especially for dance/electronic events -- they have really become aware of how visuality can help make or break the atmosphere and feel of an event," confirms Abraham. To ensure that the overnighters ran like clockwork and their hard working site teams could get some sleep, ADLIB brought in fresh crews to work these shifts in both arenas, under the direction of the respective crew chiefs. The Sunday night Cocoon line up presented by MixMag was totally different from Pryda, but equally as exciting and energy pumping with Sven Vath, Marco Carola, Josh Wink, and more. The Hospitality area featured another - smaller - CODA system from ADLIB, with two stacks of three SC8 subs each with four LA12 tops . Lighting went to town in this area, dealing with the challenging rigging logistics of the "'tri-span" (triple arch saddle-span) tent. At the front centre point of the tent, a 13.1' trussing circle was flown, rigged with MAC 250 Washes and MAC 350 Spots, together with Abraxus LED "snowflakes" to add some sparkle. The opposite side of the tent was highlighted with MAC 301s and 350 Spots hung directly off the tent superstructure. Onstage with the DJ were four upright sections of 8ft trussing, populated with PixelPARs and MAC300s. Lighting was programmed by Charlie Rushton, using an Avolites Pearl Expert, and working with ADLIB team-mate, Chris Richardson. 
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