CHINA: A front of house system from US loudspeaker manufacturer Clair Brothers was recently deployed for a major concert by Chinese pop superstar Faye Wong at the New Asia Sports Center in Kunming City. The concert marked only the second time that a Clair Bros system has been used in a high profile event on the Chinese mainland.

Organised by promoter AMC Corporation, the concert came as part of Faye Wong’s comeback tour, with the artist having recently returned to the stage to critical acclaim following her semi-retirement in 2005. The Clair Bros rig was purchased from distributor DMT and installed by Reyn Yang Professional Sound Co Ltd of Taiwan.

Deployed for front of house sound were 24 i218-M line array elements configured in left-right hangs and supplemented with eight iS218-M subwoofers which were ground-stacked at either side of the stage. No further low-end reinforcement was required. Additionally, Nexo PS15s were used for front fill and monitoring, while the entire system was simulated in EASE prior to the concert. Power was delivered via Clair-badged PLM20K amplifiers complete with Lake processing.

A Midas Heritage 2000 analogue console was used to mix front of house while two Yamaha PM5Ds were chosen for monitor mixing, one dedicated to headphones and the other for wedges. Microphones were reportedly all Shure models, including UHFR wireless transmitters, while Faye Wong also used the manufacturer’s in-ear monitoring system. Finally, Aviom personal mixers were used by some of the musicians.

The concert marked the first high profile use of a Clair Brothers system on China’s mainland since the rock band U2 arrived in the country for the 360 world tour.