Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris Tour With KF Series
An unlikely combination, one might think, but one that is nevertheless finding great success as guitar legend Mark Knopfler and US country diva Emmylou Harris wend their dreamy way across Europe and North America with their collaborative album, All the Roadrunning.
Knopfler, as demanding as ever in his choice of supplier and equipment for his live sound requirements, turned to the company, and with it the loudspeaker brand, he has relied on since the beginning of his solo career; that is Luton-based Concert Sound and EAW.
Concert Sound's Andy Davies confirmed that Knopfler has been an EAW aficionado since his debut as a solo artist some 10 years ago. "Back then we were using what was at the time THE industry standard touring rig; that is to say a KF850/853 system. Three years ago, after many years of long and tireless service, we replaced it with the KF760 line array, which performs fabulously well.
"For my money, there isn't a better system on the market in terms of audio clarity and consistency over long distances," he continues. " We only ever need to use delays in really huge stadium like venues. For an arena tour like this, they are simply not necessary. We're getting detailed high end and powerful bass with smooth, uniform coverage all the way to the back of the arena with our standard PA set up."
What Davies refers to as the standard PA comprises two hangs on each side of the stage (a main and a sidehang), each consisting of KF760 with KF761 at the bottom of the curve for smooth nearfield coverage. Certain venues, such as London's Wembley Arena, merit an additional rear KF750/755 hang for truly optimal coverage.
Up to 16 groundstacked SB1000 subs handle the low end requirements while extreme front fill is handled by a distributed mono system of EAW KF730 compact line array cabinets. These have proved to be a superb low profile, high output stage lip system. The entire system is driven by Lab.gruppen fp6400s with XTA processing throughout.
"It's a proven formula that continues to deliver excellent results and that everybody is comfortable with," concludes Davies. "We put it up, we set it up and off we go what more do you want!"