This summer’s series of live shows in London’s Hyde Park was kicked off in fine style by Kings of Leon, the familial rockers whose UK fan base was well-established before audiences in their home territory of the US really woke up to them. Playing to 60,000 fans each night – the biggest headline shows of their career so far – the band literally had no place to Hyde, but a comprehensive package of Sennheiser equipment helped them to deliver a brace of truly regal performances.
Britannia Row was the sound contractor for the Hyde Park concerts and Sennheiser’s Phil Cummings and Tim Sherratt were in attendance on the first two days, to offer any assistance that Brit Row, the Kings of Leon or the support acts may have needed.
The array of Sennheiser equipment carried by KOL includes MD431 vocal mics, e 904s and e 614s on the drum kit and e 906s on the backline. Complementing these are 2000 series wireless guitar systems and 2000 in-ear monitors.
The band has been using Sennheiser equipment for five years, frontman Caleb Followill and his band mates switching to the MD431 for vocals last December.
“The MD431 fits Caleb’s vocal well and it also helps with reducing the amount of wash from the cymbals,” says the band’s Front of House engineer Brent Rawlings. “No other company has offered to tailor a microphone to our singer’s voice, the customer support is above and beyond what we would expect.”
“We very much like the tone and the response of the 431s,” adds monitor engineer Saul Skoutarides. “We even had a batch of them hand-delivered to Hyde Park, which was very much appreciated.”
Ensuring consistency of sound is a central requirement for the band’s audio team, so they carry all of their own mics, DIs, in-ears and line system. They chose Sennheiser because the sound quality and road-worthiness are, they say, superior to other options.
“The microphones and IEMs have a very musical sound when compared with other brands. It’s a simple choice, they just sound better,” says Brent. “The solid construction also really helps with the rigours of the road, accidental drops and the occasional throw from an angry artist.”
“I like to use a variety of mics, to suit whatever the source may be,” adds Saul. “For me the IEMs are by far the best sounding that I have heard. The stereo image is nice and wide and they don’t sound overly processed. They really do sound great.”
“The band mainly notices when things are wrong, but with Sennheiser things are far more often right,” says Brent. Saul agrees, adding, “We’re really happy with the performance of the equipment. But if there is an occasional issue, the support is very good.”
As clouds of red smoke engulfed the Hyde Park stage, Kings of Leon emerged to deliver two storming evenings of alt rock which 120,000 Brits went wild for. Despite one incident of stage-floor impact, the Sennheiser equipment played its part flawlessly.
“The Hyde Park shows were very successful, no doubt with the help of the Sennheiser products and customer support,” says Brent.
“It was great,” adds Saul. “There were no problems with the gear at all.”
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