For the 5th year in a row Norwest supplied what has become our standard Spiegeltent rig. Acoustic Technolgies SS24 speakers were flown above SB03 sub-bass cabinets and SS12 delays at the rear of the 100 year old structure, control was by Yamaha M7. With acts ranging from performance art to bands such as My Friend the Chocolate Cake, engineers Heath Storrie, Gav Rossetti and Luke Symons operated in shifts for 21 days of sold-out houses. The Spiegeltent has become a favourite attraction of Brisbane Festival and we hope it’s here in years to come.

Brisbane Backyards
Introduced at last year’s festival Brisbane Backyards is a program of bands and performances held in suburban backyards, attended by neighbours and invited guests. Crowds are generally not more than 100 people. Josh Wildenberg spent ten days in our trusty Mercedes van going from yard to yard with his rig of  RCF 322 speakers for both FOH and monitors. A full band mic-up was achieved on an expanded 01V. All performances needed to run from GPO power which can be more of a challenge than it sounds in your average backyard but we got there successfully & the ever-likeable Josh now has lots more new friends to go have dinner with in the suburbs.

Opera At Brookfield
One of the larger events of Brisbane Festival, Opera at Brookfield brought a fantastic program of Opera and Choral performances to the heritage Brookfield Show-grounds, in Brisbane’s rural inner-west suburbs. Uber-engineer Chris Ridgeway operated the Yamaha PM1D & 24-box Kudo system to the delight of Festival Director (and accomplished baritone) Lyndon Terracini, who spent most of the performance standing beside Chris singing along to the program.  Legendary monitor engineer Ben Shapiro took care of the precious end of the multicore. System designers and technicians were Brendan Keane and Mick George, both excellent engineers in their own right. The performance began as twilight brought a chill to the air over the show-grounds and the sonic quality of the Kudos was amazing in the crisp night air. Ridgeway’s mix was, as always, stunning.

The final event for Brisbane festival saw Boundary Street in Brisbane’s eclectic West End closed for an all day street party, with a strong focus on our indigenous culture and heritage. Two main stages in Boundary Street played host to acts such as DJ Tripp, Archie Roach, Way out West, and culminated in Kev Carmody performing his anthem “From Little Things Big things grow” as  participants from The Cherbourg Walk arrived in Boundary Street, following a symbolic 275km journey from Cherbourg in South-west Qld. Tuning in live via the internet to witness this historic moment were delegates of the International Academy of Environmental Sciences World Forum in Venice, including heads of state and Nobel Laureates. Will Davey managed Norwest’s connection to Venice while Ian Taylor and Dan kept the change-overs fast and the audio perfect as always.

Further down the street, Steve May (Britney Spears, Brian Ferry) had the easiest gig of his year. Steve and Sai Raiwalui operated the “Lounge Rooms” a pair of intimate venues where bands played “unplugged” to an audience seated in the same space on lounges and on the floor rugs. Steve is still trying to come to grips with how a Lounge room can have a Fender Twin and a 410 bass rig but in his unflappable style he made them sound like the best lounge rooms around. Funny how acoustic can sometimes mean amplified......
Mick George looked after the Vulture St stage and kept the array of Hip-hop and contemporary pop acts happy.