Rodrigo Y Gabriela

The Mexican acoustic rockers brought their special brand of fast and furious latin folk rock to Hammersmith Apollo.

With references to Metallica, Led Zeppelin & The Who the eclectic range of fans were well catered for!

Equipment included:

Yamaha M7CL Console – FOH & Mons

Meyer Mica Loudspeaker System

Capital Crew were:  Mark ‘Joey’ Jowitt (FOH), Matthias Simmons (Mons) & Fabrice Quirin (System/ Stage Tech)

Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall

Featuring an array of stars with some surprising duets!

The eclectic mix included Dame Shirley Bassey, Dizzee Rascal, Leona Lewis, Muse, Sir Paul McCartney and Katherine Jenkins to name but a few. Oh, there was also a band called Take That and a bloke called Robbie………..!

Equipment included:

DigiDesign Venue  Console for FOH

Martin Audio W8L-C Loudspeaker System

Capital Crew were: Al Woods (FOH), Marty Harrison (Tech), Fabrice Quirin (Tech), Ali Viles (Tech), Guy Davies (Tech), Nick Foots (Tech), Phil Down (Tech) & Rob Wilkins (Tech)

Billy Talent

The Canadian punk revivalist quartet rocked out with their latest UK tour.

A stomping night at Brixton ensured that their multi award winning status in the US is sure to be mirrored in the UK.

Equipment included:

Digidesign Profile Console – FOH & Mons

Martin Audio WL/ LC Loudspeaker System

Capital Crew were:  Al Woods (LAT/ FOH), Marty Harrison (PA Tech) & Andrew ‘Juice’ Werlick (Mon/ Tech)

Paloma Faith

With appearances on Later with Jools Holland, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross as well as a show at the Forum, it has been a busy few weeks for Paloma!

Capital have been happy to help her on her way making sure that her sound hire needs are catered for! Her tour kicks off in November.

Equipment included:

Digidesign profile Console – FOH

Digico SD8 – Mons

Meyer USW/ MS Loudspeaker System

The Stereophonics return to Cardiff Castle

Eleven years after being the first band to play at Cardiff Castle in 1998, the Stereophonics returned for a one off special show.

They gave back to the fans by keeping the ticket prices the same as in 1998.

Equipment included:

Digico D5 Console for FOH

Digidesign Venue Console for Mons

Martin W8LC Speaker System

Capital Crew were: Al Woods (FOH), Phil Down (Mons) & Tom Boothby (Line Array Tech)

Orange Rockcorp at the Historic Royal Albert Hall

Rockcorp returned to The Royal Albert Hall for their London gig.

5000 volunteers rocked the hall as they were spolit with a mega lineup! Artists included: Nas, Nelly, Razorlight, David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland, Daniel Merryweather and Chase & Status. Akon also upped the ante as the surprise guest!

Equipment included:

Yamaha PM5D Console for FOH and Mons

Meyer Milo Speaker System

Capital Crew were: Marty Harrison (Mons), Toby Chester (FOH), Al Woods (Crew Chief), Rob Wilkins (Stage Tech), George Braker (PA Tech), Matt Harman-Trick (PA Tech), Nick Foots (Stage Tech) & Ian Hunter (Stage Tech)

Rewind Festival is born!

Over 30,000 fans indulged in the first 80's fest at Henley-on-Thames. With 25 acts including Rick Astley, Kim Wilde, Bananarama, The Real Thing, T'Pau, Billy Ocean and Belinda Carlisle it was a nostalgia laden 80's pop bonanza!

With so many bands to get through in two days and taking into account the various needs of the artists, Capital implemented a system to allow for quick changeovers and minimum fuss.

Equipment included:

Yamaha PM5D RH & Midas Mixing Consoles used for FOH and Mons

Meyer Milo Speaker System

Capital Crew were: Malcolm Giles (FOH Engineer), Mike Warren (FOH Engineer), Marty Harrison (MON Engineer), Julian Locke (MON Engineer), Matt Harman-Trick (Stage Tech),  Barry Tymms (Stage Tech) & Charles Ellery (Crew Chief)

Orange RockCorps

Capital were once again proud to be part of Orange RockCorps.

A worthy project encouraging young people to give something back to their community in exchange for money can’t buy tickets.

Manchester Apollo was rocked by Lady Gaga, N-Dubz and The Enemy.  The upcoming London and Paris shows promise to be just as impressive!

Equipment included:

Yamaha PM5D RH Mixing Console for FOH & Mons

Martin Audio W8LC Speaker System

Capital Crew were: Malcolm Giles (FOH Engineer), Matt Harman-Trick (Crew Chief), Tony Birch (Monitor Engineer), Ian Hunter (PA Tech), Darren McMahon (PA Tech) and Nick Foots (Monitor Engineer)

A-Ha bring back the Magic

A-Ha kicked off their UK return with a star turn at the "Magic Indulgence A-Ha Event" which gave competition winners a chance to hear songs from their new album (and the classics of course!) in a very intimate setting.

A subsequent set at the i-tunes festival in The Roundhouse was a perfect venue to showcase their trademark 80’s synth laden pop sound.

With numerous interviews, appearances and an upcoming UK Tour, Capital are supporting their various audio needs which will include dates in Birmingham, London and Manchester.

Equipment included:

Digico D5 Mixing Consoles for FOH & Mons

Meyer Melody Loudspeaker System

Capital Crew were: Mark Ellis-Cope (PA Tech), Marty Harrison (PA Tech), Matt Harman-Trick (PA Tech) and Barry Tymms (PA Tech)

Capital Sound join the Circus

Take That's The Circus tour has come to town, taking in 20 shows during June and July, playing to sold out stadium crowds in Sunderland, Coventry, Dublin, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and London.

Following on from their previous tours, Capital Sound have continued their relationship with Chris Vaughan and Take That by supplying all audio equipment for the lads’ most spectacular tour yet.

The PA system supplied consists of a Martin Audio W8 Longbow loudspeaker system for both the main & side hangs, with Martin Audio WS218X subs ground stacked. To ensure that full audio coverage for the B-stage was achieved, a delay speaker system consisting of up to 4 positions of Martin Audio W8LCs with a cardioid design of WS218x subs below each hang was deployed

Capital’s sound crew for the tour are : Al Woods (Crew Chief/Line Array Tech), Matt Harman-Trick (Delay System Engineer), Marty Harrison (System Engineer) Barry Tymms (PA/Stage tech), Adriaan van de Walt ( PA/stage tech )

May the force be with Capital Sound

Star Wars: A Musical Journey premiered at London's O2 Arena in April over 2 dates. This spectacular of sight and sound featured music from all six Star Wars movies alongside scenes from the films, live narration from CP30 himself Anthony Daniels, the 86-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and an 80 voice choir.

Capital Sound became involved after Paul Timmins met up with chief engineer, Fred Vogler to discuss this project during one of the Il Divo tour dates at the O2 Arena back in February.  As a very well respected system designer for the LA Philharmonic, he had previously been involved with the design of the Hollywood Bowl system and spends a lot of his time mixing shows in that venue.

The system design was presented to Capital Sound by Vogler and Luke Jenks from Meyer Sound and the criteria was to supply a flown system that gave Milo coverage to the bulk of the room without obstructing sight lines to the vast upstage LED screen. A Milo system was supplied with flown 700 HP subs, a centre hang of Meyer Mica, 6 rear delays of the new Meyer UPQ1P and a surround system of a quantity of Meyer MSL4’s. A ground system was minimal again due to the low stage and sight line limitations.  It consisted of 700 HP subs, CQ2’s and further Milo and Mica cabinets for the low side seat coverage.

Vogler’s Meyer design for the Star Wars system was based on his request to use Milo cabinets and was driven by his desire for audio coverage of the highest standard to the 270 degree seating plan of the O2 Arena.  In addition, a Digico SD7 was used on FOH and a Digico D5 for stage sound control.

A big success was Meyer Sound’s relatively new Constellation system which uses ground breaking technology to create perfect acoustics for performers and audiences alike, allowing a building’s acoustic to be changed at the press of a button to suit different types of music. This was also specified on Vogler’s wish list and with support from Meyer Sound and John Pellow in particular, a system was designed and supplied which consisted of 12 Meyer UPJ1P’s mounted within the vast overhead destroyer lighting trusses and a further 16 Meyer UPJ1Ps/UPA1Ps stand mounted around the stage together with 8 USW1P sub bass cabs.  

Pellow was pleased with the result saying: “Putting Constellation into an arena at first seems like a crazy idea, but that's just what we did for Star Wars! We wanted to create a better sounding environmentaroundthe stage for the conductor and musicians, enabling them to hear each other better. Constellation is proven technology, but simulating a concert hall environment in an arena was a new and challenginguse of the system. It worked! We're delighted that Dirk Brosséconductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and all concerned loved the end result and performed brilliantly as a result. Needless to say, we're looking forward to taking the system on tour for futureconcerts!”

He went on to say, “Capital Sound played a pivotal role in the success of this show and once again made Meyer Sound proud to be associated with the company. Paul Timmins and his team went way beyond the call of duty to make the concerts sound great and run flawlessly, ensuring chief engineerFred Vogler had everything he asked for.”

For a project of this size, Capital Sound would usually require up to 3 months in advance to agree on the system design and allow enough time to project manage it.  However, on this occasion there was only a 2 week period to work with, from confirmation of the contract to the start of production rehearsals. But thanks to the world class productionpersonnelthis complex show went like clockwork. US basedDirector Steve Cohen summed up perfectly when he told everyone that in 30 years "He'd not come across a more outstanding and professional team." A very niceaccoladefor the UK, given the number of Brits on the gig!

The schedule included 2 weeks of pre-production at Elstree Studios, 2 load in days, 2 rehearsal days and 2 show days at the O2 Arena.  At certain times this involved up to 12 sound crew on site. Key crew included Fred Vogler (FOH), Richard Morris (Mons), Pete Hughes (Crew Boss), Ali Viles (FOH babysitter/System tech), Becky Pell (Mons/Stage Tech) and Ross Anderson (Head of PA).

Capital Sound heads across the pond with the Il Divo World Tour

Il Divo kicked off their world tour in February starting with 28 dates in the UK and Europe, working their way around countries including The Netherlands, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland and France.  

With only a 2 week break between the last European show and the first North American Tour date, the entire Capital Sound supplied audio system had to be transported across the pond within this short period of time for the first of 49 shows over 3 months covering the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Crew flown over for the tour includes Ali Viles (relieving Al Woods from Crew Chief duties to allow him to work on the Take That UK tour), Rod Matheson, Chris Pyne, Tom Boothby and Phil Down.

Equipment includes: Digico SD7 (FOH), Digico D5 (Mons) and a Meyer Milo Mica loudspeaker system.

The Great British Sound System

Capital Sound are back from conquering South By Southwest in Austin, Texas after helping showcase the best in new British music by providing the best in British sound systems – the Martin Audio Line Array.

The team including Charlie Ellery (FOH & Mons) and Chris Mills (Stage Tech) successfully took on the challenge of looking after more than 60 bands over 5 days at the UK Trade and Investment’s British Music Embassy venue, temporarily installed in Austin’s famous Latitude 30.

Bands included Kerrang acts such as The Gallows and Bring Me The Horizon who amazingly left our PA unharmed.  As well as The Whip, Hot Melts and recent winners of the Glastonbury Emerging New Talent competition We Have Band.  The venue also featured showcases from NME, Kerrang!, Liverpool Sound City, Scottish Arts Council and Northern Ireland Music Industry Commision.

All this couldn’t have been done without the help of Delicate Productions in LA who provided the Martin Audio speaker system and Digico who supplied their latest SD8 console which gave the engineers the chance to experience this cutting edge mixing desk in action. Thanks also goes to Greg McVeigh who kindly supplied a selection of Heil microphones.

With bands playing at a variety of venues on over 80 stages in downtown Austin during SXSW, the PA system at Latitude 30 was the talk of the town with many bands itching to perform there.

Tommy Gleeson from Slave to Gravity told Kerrang! Magazine: “We’d played earlier in the day in a spit ‘n’ sawdust bar with no PA, so a proper gig was a treat. All the bands sounded awesome.”

Equipment included:

PA - 2 x Martin Audio WS218X Subs. 1 per side.

2 x Martin Audio W8LM grids, 1 per side.

4 x Martin Audio W8LM stack rods, 2 per side

10 x Martin Audio W8LM line array loudspeakers, 5 per side

FOH & Mons (both mixed at FOH) – Digico SD8 console

Crew: Charlie Ellery (FOH & Mons), Chris Mills (Stage Tech), Richard Hannan (New Business Development Manager), Flower Knutas (New Business Development).

Latest March News

Current jobs have included:

The Killers UK/European Tour, Ting Tings UK Tour, Il Divo Uk European Tour, Al Murray at Manchester Apollo...

More info to come....

Making the British Sound Great at SXSW!

Capital are sounding their way around American SXSW music conference from 18-21st March this year - a first for a UK based sound hire company - by providing the Great British sound system, the Martin Audio Line Array.

The equipment, with the aid of the specialized British sound engineers flown out for the occasion, is to be temporarily installed within the UK Trade and Investment’s - British Music Embassy, at Austin’s famous venue, Latitude 30. This very same combination of Martin Audio and Capital Sound proved pivotal in 2008, by being part of the team which overcame the problematic Glastonbury sound dilemma; now the pinnacle of British Audio collaborations is heading stateside!

The newly appointed Business Development Manager at Capital Sound, Richard Hannan, believes by thinking out of the box, they will assist bands whilst introducing the Capital Sound brand. Richard commented by saying the following:

“At South by South West, we aim to position Capital Sound in a unique space. We will help UK acts deliver their best possible performance in front of the most fastidious Record Company Executives in the world, at the biggest Live Music conference in the world - we’ll make the bands sound amazing!”

Capital has brought in other partners to showcase the best of British, including Digico UK ltd, who are supplying their latest digital console the SD8, giving the traveling engineers an opportunity to experience this cutting edge mixing desk in action.

To assist logistically, Smoother Smyth from Delicate Productions Inc, has agreed to supply the Martin Audio speaker system from their warehouse in LA.

For further information or to discuss matters regarding the event please contact Richard Hannan on +44 (0)20 8944 6777 ext. 209 or email richard@capital-sound.co.uk

Please click here to download a copy of the press release.

Orange Unsigned Act

Capital Sound is back on board this year with Orange Unsigned Act, a nationwide competition in search of the best unsigned artists!

After supplying PA for the previous year’s final shows, Capital was asked once again by Riverside Studios' Sound Supervisor Mark Swan to supply PA and engineers for the semi finals and the final show broadcast live on Channel 4 and featured guests The View, The Wombats and Lily Allen.

Equipment included: Yamaha M7CL - FOH & Mons, 12 x Martin Audio W8L-M Line Array Loudspeakers, 4 x Meyer 600 HP Self Powered Sub Bass, 14 x Martin Audio LE1500 Wedge Loudspeakers.

Crew: Charlie Ellery (Production Manager),Trevor Gilligan (FOH), Liam Tucker (Mons), Dan Mosley (PA/Stage Tech), Bheki Phakathi (PA/Stage Tech).

Latest January News

The current jobs include:

Channel 4's Orange Unsigned Act at Riverside Studios.... UFC 93 at Dublin's O2 Arena...

More info to come...

Latest December News...

Latest jobs for December include:

Stereophonics UK Tour, Hard Rock Hell in Prestatyn, All Tomorrow's Parties in Butlins Minehead, Russell Howard live at Wembley Arena and Hammersmith Apollo, Sugababes at Cargo...

The Killers Rock The Royal Albert Hall

Las Vegas rockers The Killers blew the roof off of the Royal Albert Hall in London on 3rd November at a special one off show previewing tracks from their new album Day and Age and broadcast live on BBC Radio One.

Capital Sound provided the biggest PA system they had ever supplied in the Royal Albert Hall and the main challenge was to achieve 300-320 degree coverage as not only had the arena sold out but also the choir stands and gallery. In addition to this, due to the time pressures the crew had to achieve a complete build within a 4 hour window.

Capital Sound worked in conjunction with The Killers’ Front of House engineer James Gebhard whose requirement was a system design that used the same cabinets for all the system hangs. The design featured the Martin Audio mid size line array, comprised of 6 independent hangs and a total of 76 Martin W8LC loud speakers.

For a rock band like The Killers, it was essential to fly a quantity of sub bass and a decision was taken to deploy 2 hangs of 10 x Martin W8LS enclosures directly behind the main hangs.

The system design was a new idea based on a requirement of high power and coverage and the final concept was settled on after discussion between Jim Cousins (Product Manager, Martin Audio), Ian Colville (Technical Director, Capital) and Paul Timmins (Project Manager, Capital). Jim and Ian had previously worked together in the summer creating a design which resulted in the same degree of success for Glastonbury’s main stage.

Equipment included 2 Main hangs of 14 x W8LC and 2 x W8LCD, 2 Side hangs of 14 x W8LC, 2 choir hangs of 8 x W8LC, and 2 sub hangs of 10 x W8LS. Ground system included 6 additional WS218X, 6 x W2’s and 4 x W8C’s.

Supported by Ian Colville, Anthony Taggart (Capital Technical Support) and Jim Cousins, Capital Sound supplied 7 crew for the entire event: Matt Harman Tric(Crew Chief/PA tech), Craig Bruce(Monitor/Stage tech), BJ (FOH babysitter/PA tech), Tom Boothby (PA tech), Finbarr Neenan (PA tech), Marty Harrison (Monitors/PA tech), Bheki Phakathi (PA tech).

The Killer’s Monitor Engineer Clarke Le Plant was once again at the helm using a Digico D5 and D&B M2 monitors as well as a significant bunch of Sennheiser IEM while James Gebhard was back at Front of House also using a Digico D5.

Latest October News

Current Tours include: Lee Evans, Katie Melua, Level 42 and The Hoosiers.

Recent gigs include: UFC 89 in Birmingham, Foals UK Tour, Tidy Weekender, Orange Rockcorps at the Royal Albert Hall.

More info coming soon....

Capital Sound makes some noise at Glastonbury!

Capital Sound was approached by RG Jones, the official sound contractor for the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury 2008 and Martin Audio to supply the main loudspeaker package at this year's event. As our neighbours down the road, Capital have always had a good working relationship with RG Jones and were proud to join forces with them on one of the UK’s biggest summer festivals.

One of the biggest challenges was the issue of sound leakage from the festival site versus a reasonable SPL (Sound Pressure Level) within the audience areas. To achieve this, Martin Audio’s Jim Cousins designed a system to meet the criteria set by Chris Beale, the Managing Director of CBA, the audio system design and project management company for this year’s festival. Once deployed the system was fine tuned on site by Capital’s Technical Director Ian Colville.

Ian said after the successful event, “The system performed faultlessly and sounded amazing all weekend. The cardioid sub-bass array was quite a talking point with visiting engineers and produced the most powerful and even coverage that I have ever heard”.

Capital crew rigged the system during Wednesday and Thursday morning with Thursday afternoon set aside for system tuning and propagation tests. They overcame every obstacle that was placed in their way (and there were many!) in order to make the system sound, as Giles Woodhead (FOH Engineer, Crowded House) put it, “the best Glastonbury PA system ever".

The system consisted of four identical hangs of 15 Martin Audio Longbow cabinets plus 1 wide dispersion downfill cabinet. The cardioid sub-bass array consisted of 54 Martin Audio WS218X cabinets, 18 of which were rear facing. The 30 metre array was then curved electronically to improve dispersion. Martin Audio W8LC were flown inside the Pyramid Stage to provide nearfield coverage.

Crew included the following PA Techs: Toby Donovan, Finbarr Neenan, Tim West and Richard Wonnacott.

Kylie wow wow wow wowing audiences on her X Tour

Since kicking off her X Tour 2008 in Paris back in May, Kylie has been wowing audiences across Europe taking in 28 dates from indoor arenas in Paris and Moscow to outdoor stadium shows in Bulgaria and Athens.  The showgirl is about to embark on the UK leg of the tour covering 23 dates in Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle, finishing up at London’s O2 Arena.

Capital are proud to have a Digico SD7 on Front of House for the first time. With only a handful being introduced world wide, this is one of the 1st uses on a demanding project and the result so far is a flawless performance.

Following on from the previous Kylie tour, the speaker system is made up entirely of Meyer Sound products including – Milo 90, Milo 120, Mica, Melody, M1D, HP700 and HP600 subs. Monitor desk used is a Digico D5 with 100% in ear monitors featuring a combination of Sennheiser wireless and Aviom Pad hardwire control.

Sound Crew included: Chris Pyne – FOH Engineer, Rod Matheson – Monitor Engineer, Al Woods – Crew Chief/PA Tech, Mike Smeaton – FOH Babysitter/PA Tech, Becky Pell – PA Tech, Phil Down – PA Tech, Matt Harman-Trick – PA Tech, George Hogan, RF Tech.

Capital going swimmingly well at the FINA World Swimming Championships

In April, Capital supplied audio for the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships held at the Manchester MEN Arena. Organised by Aussie sporting events company Great Big Events, the criteria was to turn what was essentially a swimming event into evenings of entertainment, hence the need for high quality audio rather than a normal tannoy system.

Chris Pyne designed the initial system which consisted of 5 hangs of Mica over a 25 meter “short course” pool, which was especially constructed for the event. But as a result of the pool taking so long to fill, the original plan had to be re-worked 2 weeks prior to the event. Capital in consultation with Chris re-worked the design to consist of the traditional left and right arrays of 12 Mica cabinets each which were flown either side of the main screen at the far end of the pool, plus a main centre delay which also comprised of 12 Mica. The big challenge was that everything had to be contained in the roof structure at the MEN as the pool area covered the arena floor.

Capital provided all show communications in conjunction with Simon Hodge at Surfhire for a reasonably complex show calling system. The gear was in for a 10 day period for a weeks worth of world class swimming.

Equipment consisted of: FOH – Digico D1, Speakers – Meyer Mica / Meyer HP600 subs. Crew included: Simon Hodge – (Engineer), Matt Harman-Trick (PA Tech), Simon Travis – PA Tech, Finbarr Neenan (PA Tech), Marty Harrison (PA Tech) and George Hogan – (Comms Tech)

Sound Update

April: The latest jobs that have flown out of the Capital Sound warehouse have included: We are Scientists UK Tour, Black Crowes at Brixton Carling Academy, Beach Boys UK Tour, Kylie 'X' Tour rehearsals, The Paddingtons at the DKNY Flagship Store Launch and the World Short Course Swimming Championships at Manchester Arena.

More info coming soon...

Katie strums her way through Europe

March: Katie Melua has begun the first leg of her European Tour with dates in France, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Austria, Slovenia and Italy.From March to May she will be performing in a variety of venues with capacities ranging from 1500-10,000 people, ending this leg of the tour with a final show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Capital will be supplying a PA system which consists of: 24 x Milo, 4 x Milo down fills, 16 x 700s, 24 x Mica, 6 x Melody and 4 x UPA 1Ps. Front of House console is a Studer Vista 5SR being used for the first time in Europe. Engineers are Bill Fertig (Front of House), Russell Saleck (Monitors), Jamie Howieson (LA Tech) and Harm Schopman (PA Tech).

Your Game Kicks Off...

March: Following the success of last year’s events, Your Game – a BBC initiative which brings together music, football and youth culture – is back and has begun the first of 10 dates around the UK.

Capital have supplied a Midas Venice on Front of House with Martin Audio W8LM flown loudspeakers. Crew include: Merry Hodgkinson and Simon Mauger as System Engineers.

2008 already sounding great!

February: The year has already kicked off to a busy start for Capital Sound with the following gigs....

Take That and the Sugababes New Years Eve at the O2 Arena...The Ulitmate Fight Challenge 80 in Newcastle...Take That Audi corporate show in Paris..and various EMI showcases and instores for artists including Myleen Klass Laura Marling and We Are Scientists....

Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year from all Capital!

December: Capital would like to wish everyone a very Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you to all of the clients and suppliers that we have worked with in 2007 and we look forward to working with you all in the new year!

Michael Bublé swings his way across Europe

DECEMBER: Canadian crooner Michael Bublé embarked on his 'Call Me Irresponsible' European Tour in October which took in 19 shows across Europe and wrapping up the 9 date UK leg at London's Wembley Arena. Capital supplied a Meyer Milo/Mica 4 hang line array system with consoles including a Digidesign Profile at Front of House and a Digico D5 for Monitors. Capital crew included Andy Banks and Rod Clarkson.

Enter Shikari UK Tour

NOVEMBER: Enter Shikari have just completed a sold out 10 date tour of the UK. Capital supplied a Midas Heritage 3000 for both Front of House and Monitors complete with a Martin W8LC flown line array system. Crew consisted of Micky Griffiths at FOH and Ant Standring on Monitors.

Take That set to "shine" with their Beautiful World European Tour

OCTOBER: Take That kicked off their Beautiful World tour in Belfast and are currently making their way around Europe with shows in Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark. Mid-November sees the boys begin the UK leg of the tour with 28 sold out dates in Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle, London Manchester.

Second World Tour for Il Divo

MAY: Il Divo embarked on their second World Tour and Capital supplied a full control package including two Digico D5 consoles and crew Tony Szabo and Phil Downs. The tour covered Asia, Australia, South Africa and Canada. The European leg saw them take in 12 dates in the UK and finished in Holland at the beginning of July.

Another Killer Tour

During February and March Capital supplied a large Arena sound system for The Killers 3 week UK tour and a reduced small Arena system for 2 weeks of European dates.

Crew chief on the tour was Al Woods with Harm Schopman, Matt Harman Trick and Tom Boothby as System Technicians. The control package comprised of a Digico D5 console at both Front of House and Monitors. Monitors were D&B M2 with Martin Sidefills and also included a 6 way system of Sennheisser G2 wireless IEM systems.

The impressive PA consisted of main hangs of 14 Martin W8L plus 2 Martin W8LD per side; side hangs of 12 Martin W8LC per side; sub hangs of 8 Martin W8LS per side; and ground PA including 4 Martin W8LS per side with Martin W8LM front fills.

Greenpeace "5 Minutes to Midnight" demonstration

MARCH: Greenpeace held a peaceful demonstration against nuclear weapons on board the ship Arctic Sunrise moored next to London’s Tower Bridge. A 50-strong choir called ‘Sense of Sound’ performed a piece composed by Damon Albarn and Capital Sound provided a Midas Venice for Front of House. 

Capital 'Shine' with Corporate Events

FEBRUARY: Capital continue their involvement with corporate events and have recently supplied sound systems for the launch of the LG Shine at London’s Cirque. A Meyer sound system with Yamaha digital desks was supplied for performances by The Feeling and Beth Rowley. This was followed by Richard Branson’s launch of Virgin Media also held at Cirque with special guest Blondie. A Martin Audio W8LC line array was provided with a Yamaha PM5D Monitor desk and Midas XL4 on Front of House. The same system was also used at the Audi Heads of Business Conference held at The Roundhouse and featured a performance by Lionel Ritchie.

Capital Sound Hire - Winner of 'Favourite Sound Rental Company' at the TPi Awards 2007

FEBRUARY: Capital Sound Hire took home the award for 'Favourite Sound Rental Company' at the Total Production Awards held at the Novotel in West London. Hosted by Suggs, the ceremony recognised the achievements in live production in the UK over the past year.

Capital would like to thank everyone who has been involved with the company in the past 12 months and who have contributed to our successful 2006.

The Showgirl is back!

November saw Kylie return to live shows in Australia before the Homecoming Showgirl Tour hit London at the beginning of January followed by dates at the MEN in Manchester. The equipment was put together over Christmas in time for her New Years Eve spectacular at Wembley Arena. Digico D5 digital consoles were supplied for both Front of House and Monitor systems and long time Kylie sound engineers, Chris Pyne and Rod Mattheson were back on board.

Kasabian UK Arena Tour

Capital Sound supplied a sizeable Martin Audio line array system for the sold out UK Arena tour in December 2006.

Trevor Gilligan again produced amazing results from his Digico D5 console and 16 deep hangs of Martin W8L line array cabinets.  The system also included 16 deep Martin W8LC mid size line array and flown Martin W8LS sub bass. Monitors were driven by Andrew “Pep” Peppiatt using conventional Midas H3000 console and Martin LE700 Monitors.

Kasabian’s PA crew comprised of Crew Chief Al Woods, Front of House babysitter Ian Colville and PA Technicians Liam Tucker and Richard Wonnacott.

Take That

NOVEMBER: After a successful sell out stadium tour in the summer, Take That are back and sounding better than ever!

The boys performed an exclusive preview of their new material to an intimate crowd at Abbey Road Studios for Radio 2. Capital provided a Digico D5 system for both Front of House and Monitors in addition to a flown Martin Audio W8LC loudspeaker system.  An Audience with Take That, a live special on ITV shortly followed and they were supplied with a Digidesign for Front of House and a Digico D5 for Monitors.

Take That - The Ultimate Tour

UK Ultimate Tour

Having worked with TT from the conception of the band we were happy to see the guys back on the road for thier Ultimate Tour.  One of the most talked about tours of 2006, this spectacular featured a flying B stage, pyro, moving set and video screens, indoor rain along with surprise appearances from Beverley Knight and a holographic Robbie. The show was a non-stop two hour extravangaza in the Las Vegas vein; once again TT had pulled out all the stops and lived up to their reputation of high-end shows to give their fans an experience that will never be forgotten.