With its roots in Irish folk music and culture The PFFF has been held in the small ex-fishing village of Port Fairy since 1977, evolving into an eclectic multi stage festival encompassing blues, roots and world music. Monitor City handled production for Stages 1, 2 and 5, and the Guinness Stage.
The front of house system at Stage 1 consisted of five STM M46 full-range cabinets and five B112 bass units per side. This system covered 65 meters to the back of the tent without any need for side fill or delays. As this tent was generally packed with festival-goers, many others sat outside on picnic blankets enjoying the good audibility outside the tent and at a distance. Onstage, NEXO 45Nº12 wedges were used for the changing rosta of artists and monitor engineers.
Stage 2 featured a more creative setup of four M46s per side with four B112s ground stacked along the front of the stage, and PS10s adding a touch of front fill for those dancing close to the stage. NEXO PS15s were on monitoring duties for this stage
“The really noticeable aspect here was the PA’s low end response, with only the bass cabinets ground stacked,” says Anthony Touma from Group Technologies, NEXO’s Australian distributor. “The balance and even dispersion across the entire tent was extremely impressive.”
The smallest STM system of the festival was set up for the Guinness Tent (also known as the Shabeen Bar) where a mere three M46s and three B112 cabinets per side easily delivered the sonic goods for the tent, even when filled to capacity with crowds topping 2,000. Again, NEXO PS15s – according to Group Technologies the most popular speaker in its class in Australia – were used for monitors.
A GEO S12 system was flown in pairs around the overhead circular truss on Stage 5. Four pairs of GEO S12s were flown, with two STM S118 subs used for subtle bass enhancement throughout. The ability to control the S118’s response allowed the subs to be tucked away at either side of stage, up against the walls and out of the way. 45Nº12 wedges were again charged with keeping the artists and their monitor engineers happy.
“There were some mind blowing performances at this wonderful festival which every music lover should check out,” concludes Touma. “A really wonderful mix of very talented musicians. STM and NEXO did everyone justice over the four days.”
