may 2011 world bloc party-time · for bloc: “we started off in pontins in hemsby, norwich five...

fEarthquake bass. Concretebeats. Bleeps and blarps andblips. And a bodyslam or two

of dubstep. Where are we, some deso-late industrial estate on the peripheryof Berlin? Er, no. Butlins.

For one weekend in early spring –in Butlins, Minehead, Somerset – it’selectronica central.

Before the pallid masses from theMidlands descend on the quiet coastalregion for a summer of Factor 50-based fun, Butlins fulfils anotherbrief, you see, and that is as a venuefor, well, whoever wants to hire it.Marillion and their fans held theirown mini-festival here a few yearsback, and the All Tomorrow’s Parties

crew have hosted their acclaimedindie weekenders at the site.

For the last three years, it has beenhome to Bloc, a festival that delivers anincreasingly impressive line-up of elec-tronic acts, old and new. But this is noCreamfields, it’s a little more ‘chin-strokey’ than that. A little more leftfieldand eclectic. This year’s line-up includedLFO, FourTet, Speedy J, Vitalic, and a double-headline of Aphex Twin and dubstep stars Magnetic Man.

Rik Haines is head of production for Bloc: “We started off in Pontins inHemsby, Norwich five years ago, butoutgrew that. Since we’ve been here, atthe bigger Butlins venue – which isaround 6,000 capacity across the site,and it was sold out two months ago –we’ve had to up our game.

“Now we have an event which is notjust banging ‘four-to-the-floor’, it’s moreof a live feel – though there aren’t amassive number of live acts.”

Butlins is divided into several spaces,such as Tec:Bloc and Jak:Bloc. The largest,Centre:Bloc, has a capacity of 2,800.

Sound system provision falls toAudio Funktion, a Bristol-based outfitrun by Paul Rose. The ‘k’ is a give-away: Audio Funktion have carriedFunktion One gear for around sevenyears now. The company’s regular gigsinclude several festivals, including theArcadia stage at Glastonbury and RockNess in Scotland.

Ed Siebert, technical manager ofBloc since its second year, brought theAF onboard. “I like working with theguys, and I like how they make eventssound. The way their engineers tweakthe system, it sounds perfect.”

Siebert talks of another dance event,Glade (held near Newbury), where he’sused “a home-made rave system, big bins,to punch the bass out in a different way”.“But with techno, you want crisper, sharp-er, more professional sound, and F1 gearcouldn’t be better,” he says. “I think it canbe quite a dynamic PA, it can work forthe real ravey stuff because the bass isbloody good, but it’s got the range thatnot all PAs do.”

For the main room (Centre:Bloc) Rosehas spec’d eight Resolution 5 boxes, pluseight 218 subs a side, for the FOH sys-tem, with two rear stacks of six Res 5s andsix 218s. “In Red:Bloc we’re using theF221 powered subs with Res 5s and someRes 4s for infill; Tec:Bloc is Res 4s andF218s, the same with JakBloc; and in theIrish bar, Res 1s and 118s. So pretty muchthe full range of F1 kit.”

“Our audience, they all know aboutFunktion One, they know it’s good,”adds Haines.

It’s not just Tony Andrews’ purpleenclosures at this event, though. GregKirkby, head of High Pressure SoundSystems, has provided the kit for the

Ableton RFID (Recursive FunctionImmersive Dome). “I have a LogicSystem, I’m a big fan of the old stuff,because I’m a one-man operation so Ineeded stuff I could move around,” saysKirkby. He’s been involved with Bristol’sdance scene, particularly dubstep, for awhile. His spec for the RFID – wherepunters are encouraged to try out DJinggear supplied by Serato/Ableton/Novation includes “four 18” subs, fourdual 15s, CS1296 top cabs”.

What about other kit at the event?That’s Siebert’s responsibility. “I liaisewith all the artists and managers to makesure we have all the kit. This year we havefour Midas desks, five Mackie 1604 and1202 mixers, 20 technics 1210 turntables,14 CDJ1000s and 2000s, half a dozenPioneer mixers… It’s interesting to trackover the years what kit continues toappear on the riders. [Allen & Heath]Xone:92 and [Pioneer] DJM800 mixersare always the most common requested.Oh and a Xone:4D, the new A&H mixer,but that was difficult to source. We’ve afew keyboards – a few Korgs, a MoogVoyager – but not a single drum kit onsite! I’ve not had to deal with anythinglike that!” He laughs at that realisation.

But he would like to see more liveperformers, right?

“Of course,” says Siebert. “Theworse gig I ever saw was Brothemstates.He just sat there with his laptop and aprojector. It was just so dry.

“If you can have someone use somekit, and see what they are actual doing,it makes all the difference. When youare putting energy into what you aredoing, the crowd can engage with it somuch better.

“From an aesthetic point of view, wewant more live music, fewer DJs. Butfrom a technical point of view,” he laughs,“it’s a darn sight easier when it’s just DJs!”

Siebert cites King Midas Sound, theinfamous dub specialist Kevin Martin,who has three benchtops covered in gui-tar pedals, effects and more. He’ll bemanipulating his sound like no one elsedare. “It took a long while to set up, butmy word, is it worth it!”

Siebert says he would love to enter-tain everyone in the main atrium space,but the noise requirements, the venue’sacoustic design and budget cappingmakes that impossible at this point. Havethey had any moans about noise so far?“One complaint last night, just the one.And that’s because someone left the firedoors open.”

Maybe the doors weren’t closed. Ormaybe the muscular beats and sledge-hammer bass lines were just too bigto be contained by a lowly seaside hol-iday village… Qwww.audiofunktion.co.uk

www.blocweekend.com

www.funktion-one.com

May 2011 � www.prosoundnewseurope.com live 29

Kevin Martin, AKA King Midas Sound, shakes Red:Bloc

(L-R): The neon-tinted Ed Siebert, Rik Haines and Paul Rose in the Butlins atrium

Dave Robinson is the new kid at the Bloc, a three-day festivalof electronic music in the West Country

Bloc party-timeWORLD

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