Following the highly successful January launch of Adlib’s Scottish office which is headed by Graham Cochrane, the company staged two technology based open days at the Glasgow O2 Academy live music venue, showcasing some of the latest innovations available from premium brand partners including L-Acoustics, Soundcraft, DPA Microphones and SSL.
A wide selection of industry professionals from across the installation, live, rental sectors as well as engineers and production managers came to check out the action.
Adlib Director John Hughes explained that the open days were planned in particular to focus on installation and sales potential, and how offering turnkey solutions with leading brands can have a huge impact on assisting venues in being more competitive and attracting new business.
He was delighted with the response and turnout as well as the support from the manufacturers involved.
It was also the first Scottish Soundcraft Vi3000 console + Realtime Rack demo and an exclusive UK preview of the next generation Vi7000 console. Three comprehensive presentations were given each day by Harman’s Ed Jackson.
L-ACOUSTICS capitalised on the occasion as the first public UK K2 system demo, also staging three demos per day which were overseen by Chris Vass and Stuart Down. Other L-ACOUSTICS featured products included LA8 amplifiers, 115XT HiQ, 12XT, ARCS II and KARA speakers … plus the renowned SB28 subs.
Adlib has made substantial investments in both L-ACOUSTICS and Soundcraft in recent years, both for its hire stock as well as for a diversity of installation projects and is a company that firmly believes in ‘putting its money where its mouth is’ and delivering the maximum production value every time.
DPA Microphones showcased their comprehensive range of products via distributor Sound Network, while SSL (Solid State Logic) seized the Adlib Open Day opportunity to highlight their highly versatile XL Studio console to interested parties at the event.
“Apart from a great chance to hear and see all this technology in action in a calm and relevant working scenario,” John emphasised, “We know the importance of face-to-face meeting and being able to discuss people’s requirements – current and potential – in a real ‘live’ environment that is ideal for demonstrating all these products first-hand”.
The Technology Open Days follow a roadshow undertaken by Graham Cochrane and L-ACOUSTICS’ Stuart Down in February which travelled the length and breadth of Scotland introducing both companies to various companies, organisations and individuals.
“We are keen to highlight that Adlib is working with some of the most innovative and cutting edge technologies on the market,” says John.
Craig Hamilton, Technical Manager at the O2 Academy Glasgow confirmed that the demo days offered a valuable chance to build on their relationship with Adlib, “Who have proved their excellent support to the Glasgow venues. The L-ACOUSTICS and Soundcraft demos gave us the chance to get to grips with the full potential of the systems with excellent tutorials and opportunities for the delegates to get their hands on the equipment”.
In fact, the K2 rig remained in situ for two shows – Super Furry Animals & Pentatonix – performing brilliantly, and was very well received by the visiting productions. “I’m looking forward to bringing Adlib back to Glasgow for the benefit of the venues and Scottish pro audio community,” said Craig in summation.
Danny Anderson from Zisys Events said the event was “Extremely informative with loads of hands-on and excellent hospitality. The products from L-ACOUSTICS were particularly interesting, especially the impressive K2 line array”.
Reinforcing Adlib’s strong association with colleges, universities and student associations, a selection of educational establishments were invited to the Open Days. With recent key installations in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester universities, this is an area where Adlib’s practical design and specification concepts for ‘in-house’ sound systems are proving highly successful.
Jim Brady, Lecturer from Kelvin College Glasgow comments that the demos were “excellent, and the chance for students to see equipment that we don’t come close to in college was not to be missed. The description of ‘real world experience’ was enlightening to staff and students alike and something we could then revisit in class to clarify the points which arose”.
A particular bonus in this case was the ability to see and hear the benefit of the different sized systems and technologies, and how this relates to the throw patterns and venue / room sizes / layouts.
“We can talk about things in class, point students at literature, websites and online information, but to have the ability to switch – in situ – directly from one to another showed simply and clearly the relationships between academic requirements of modules … and the reality of industry technologies,” confirms Jim.
Adlib’s MD Andy Dockerty concluded, “Having been closely linked to the Scottish music scene since the late eighties servicing bands like Texas and Del Amitri – bands that we are still proudly looking after – we were delighted to finally open our Glasgow office in February.
“To support the Scottish office, we decided to offer these demo days as a statement of our intent to represent certain brands and better serve an increasing client base in Scotland. L-ACOUSTICS, Soundcraft and DPA, to name a few, have helped support the event which featured a K2 system and Soundcraft’s brand new Vi7000 console which is due to be launched in July.
“We feel privileged to be able to undertake such a show and look forward to actively representing these brands and products throughout Scotland. I would like to also say a special ‘thank-you’ to the O2 Academy in Glasgow who were wonderful hosts”.
