Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Adlib Walks with the Giants for Liverpool's Dream

12/11/2018

Adlib Walks with the Giants for Liverpool's Dream posted: 10/11/2018

The Little Boy at Night.

Adlib was delighted to be the audio supplier for the incredible - and apparently final - Giant Spectacular show staged in Liverpool, produced by the iconic street and outdoor theatre company Royal de Luxe, who are based in Nantes, France.

This involved on-board sound systems mounted to the supporting structures for each of the Giants and a custom Music Truck which featured a live band, as well as providing several reinforcement PA systems, which travelled to the different gathering points along the 20-mile route.

The extravaganza attracted an estimated 1.3 million people to the city centre over the weekend of October 4th - 7th to see this final tale of epic proportions, and the fate of the much-loved oversized marionette puppets unfold.

left to right Royal de Luxe's St phane Brosse with Adlib's audio team of Phil Stoker, Max Taylor, Billy Bryson and Leah Coyle

The giant larger than life characters comprised The Explorer, the Little Boy Giant, his dog Xolo, and a surprise appearance by the Little Girl, who re-entered the story on the Sunday for the finale.

It was the third Liverpool Giant Spectacular, and having delivered the previous events in 2012 and 2014 so successfully, Adlib was commissioned by production manager Stu Stalker of Event Design Co (EDC) and Royal De Luxe's production manager Jeff Havart to provide audio for the city's final Giant Spectacular.

The performance's theme was Liverpool's Dream and it was part of Liverpool 2018, an initiative celebrating 10 amazing years since the city's ground-breaking 12 months as European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The Giants route started at the St George's Hall Plateau for the Little Boy Giant and over in Fort Perch Rock in the Wirral for The Explorer, ending at Canning Dock.

The Little Boy having lunch

The meticulous planning and detail needed to deliver a show of this scale and complexity started back in April, with Adlib's Phil Stoker and Stu Stalker building on their previous experiences and knowledge of what were the best and most efficient working practices to deliver this event.

Adlib's Leah Coyle was the lead project manager / account handler, collaborating closely with EDC and Royal de Luxe's sound designer St phane Brosse to produce a specification suitable for such a dynamic event.

The Little Boy preparing for sleep

St phane had some very particular requirements for the on-board PA systems, each of which featured a standalone audio set up delivering special effects, each with the capability of being linked together to interact with one another if needed.

Each Giant also had its own on-board monitor system which was used to communicate orders to the many people ( Lilliputians') required to operate and drive the massive pullies and rigging systems that enabled the articulated joints and wheel bases to move the marionettes.

The Little Girl

St phane stipulates L-Acoustics systems exclusively for these shows, primarily for the wide range and flexibility of its products, the efficiency of the enclosures plus the fact both companies are French makes L-Acoustics a first choice here. On a more general level, St phane has a historic relationship with the brand's touring support team and of its global availability via the L-Acoustics rental network, which aids continuity between shows around the world.

Each of the Giant's PA's were positioned and secured in place with several bespoke brackets and rigging designed to maximise the impact of the loudspeaker enclosures whilst having the least effect on the aesthetics and appearance of the Giants themselves.

The Explorer's system included KIVA-II and KARA speakers with SB18 subs, the Little Giant's system included KARA, ARCS Wides and SB18 subs all powered by L-Acoustics LA12X amps, with a Midas M32R digital mixer on each of the Giants.

The Explorer on a crane

Much of the event comprised the Giants parading along the streets of Liverpool's city centre, and throughout the journey, they were always accompanied by The Music Truck - a flatbed containing a full live band, complete with a 24 element L-Acoustics KARA system with four L-Acoustics X12s for side fills and four ARCS-II for rear coverage, together with 10 x SB18 subs, all artfully stacked and fitted to ensure the musicians also had plenty of room!

The mixing console on the truck was a DiGiCo SD10, chosen for its power and small size running with a collection of outboard effects including a Lexicon PCM92 reverb / effects processor, a TC M4000 reverb unit, three Empirical Labs EL8-X distressors, an API stereo compressor and a dbx 160SL dual compressor all encapsulated in an Adlib FX rack.

There were areas along the parade route where the Giants would stop and perform large scenes, and typically these locations attracted the biggest audiences, so Adlib provided large hangs of PA to reinforce the mobile systems.

Given the show's fast pace, central location and audience size, Adlib decided to utilise large cranes to fly the audio systems so the appropriate amount of PA could be used for the larger scenes. This was a smart decision that also meant the same PA system could be used more than once in different locations over the course of the event.

During the planning process Leah worked diligently with the teams from STS who provided the backline for the Music Truck, locally based John Such Cranes, to source the requisite plant on site, and with Gary Hodson from Hodson Crane Hire, who provided a number of Hiab loader cranes for the event.

Leah commented, The intricate planning by EDC's production management team helped everyone in making this project flow so smoothly and seamlessly. Many of the technical aspects changed at the
LINK: https://www.live-production.tv/news/shows/adlib-walks-giants-liverpool...
See more stories from liveproduction

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

12/03/2026

Gray Stresses Importance of DRM for NextGen TV in FCC Sports Probe

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/03/2026

Nebraska's HuskerVision Deploy Lawo IP Tech for Studio Upgrade

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/03/2026

Comcast NBCU, Telemundo Station Group Announce $600,000 In Grants

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/03/2026

EditShare To Highlight Analytical AI Capabilities At 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/03/2026

FreeWheel Launches AI Agent Infrastructure

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/03/2026

COW Jobs: Editor de Vdeo - Direct Response, Performance Ads - Brazil, Remote

COW Jobs: Editor de V deo - Direct Response, Performance Ads - Brazil, Remote Brie Clayton March 11, 2026 0 Comments Editor(a) de V deo (Direct Respon...

12/03/2026

Avatar: Fire and Ash Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Avatar: Fire and Ash Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton March 11, 2026 0 Comments Colorist delivers premium cinematic color across 2D, 3D...

12/03/2026

Boston Conservatory to Timothe Chalamet: We Care About Ballet and Opera

Boston Conservatory to Timoth e Chalamet: We Care About Ballet and Opera Boston Conservatory at Berklee students and faculty respond to the actors recent comm...

11/03/2026

Calrec To Unlock Hybrid Workflows At 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/03/2026

Matrox Video Enables the Next Era of Software-Defined Med...

Matrox Video will showcase its vision for the future of live production at NAB 2026 in Las Vegas, April 19-22, highlighting how broadcasters and media organizat...

11/03/2026

GlobalM Showcases Distributed Video Gateway Architecture...

Geneva-based technology company, GlobalM SA, is presenting its GMX Distributed Video Gateway, a software-defined IP media transport platform designed to replace...

11/03/2026

Video is King - 2026 Iconik Media Stats Report Finds Vide...

Backlight (booth #N2829), the company behind Iconik and Wildmoka, which power video workflows for large media and entertainment organizations, has released the ...

11/03/2026

QuickLinks Latest StudioEdge Models to Make North America...

QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, presents its latest StudioEdge models at The NAB Show ...

11/03/2026

Telestream Expands Its Cloud Services with the Introducti...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced the expansion of Telestream Cloud Services with the introduction of UP, a new cloud-...

11/03/2026

Operative Launches AOS Configuration for Digital-First Mo...

Operative, the preferred advertising management provider for the world's leading media brands, today announced the launch of AOS for digital media, an AI-po...

11/03/2026

Calrec Redefines Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026

Calrec will be located in Central Hall, on Booth C6907 Choice without compromise The broadcast industry is going through a rapid evolution that s signalling a...

11/03/2026

Worldstream and Cubbit launch sovereign S3 cloud storage...

The new service is hosted and operated entirely in the Netherlands, combining data sovereignty, resilience, scalability, and predictable costs without relying...

11/03/2026

Ease Live powers interactive Premier Padel experiences on...

Ease Live, an Evertz company and leader in interactive graphical overlays, today announced the successful deployment of its platform on Red Bull TV for Premier ...

11/03/2026

Mediagenix Title Management Accelerates Content Monetizat...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, is advancing its Semantic Intelligence cap...

11/03/2026

Emergent Launches Fusion- The Interactive Anything Platfo...

Emergent, a leading provider of AI-enhanced media production solutions, today announced the official launch of Fusion, a powerful, no-code application builder d...

11/03/2026

Techex Names Matt McKee as Senior Director of Sales, Americas

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/03/2026

IAB Tech Lab Announces Content Monetization Protocol for AI LLMs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/03/2026

Mondae Hott Joins Kokusai Denki as Northeast Sales Manager

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/03/2026

Gray Media to Air Cincinnati Reds' Games on WXIX FOX19

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/03/2026

Shure Audio Solutions Deliver Super Bowl Win

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/03/2026

UK's First Live Broadcast Using New n40 Private 5G Spectrum

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/03/2026

Utah Scientific Expands Technology Partner Program With I...

Utah Scientific today announced the expansion of its Technology Partner Program with the addition of Audinate, Bitfocus, and Skaarhoj, three industry leaders wh...

11/03/2026

DigitalGlue Ends the Post Production Tax creativespace In...

DigitalGlue, creator of the creative.space on-premise managed storage platform, today revealed plans to launch creative.space Intelligence (CSI) at NAB 2026 (Bo...

11/03/2026

Maxon and Tencent Cloud Partner to Integrate HY 3D into C...

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming, and more, has annou...

11/03/2026

NUGEN Audio Halo Vision Plug In Serves as Spatial Compass...

Composer and Re-recording Mixer Michael Phillips Keeley has built his career around immersive storytelling. Working from his Dolby Atmos-equipped studio, Sound ...

11/03/2026

YES selects Synamedia Iris to power advanced advertising

Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that YES, the pay-TV subsidiary of the telco Bezeq (TASE: BEZQ), has selected Synamedia Iris to delive...

11/03/2026

Cost Savings Scalability and Smarter Monetization Viacces...

As media companies face increasing cost pressures and operational complexity, at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Viaccess-Orca (VO), a global leader in OTT / TV...

11/03/2026

Digital Alert Systems Unveils Version 6 Software for DASD...

Digital Alert Systems, a global leader in emergency communications solutions for media providers, today announced the release of Version 6 software for its DASD...

11/03/2026

SES Brings Satellite Connectivity to Refugees in Chad

First Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) deployment of the emergency.lu platform for refugees and their host communities' use provides dependable broadband for humani...

11/03/2026

Foundry releases Nuke 17.0

Foundry releases Nuke 17.0 Brie Clayton March 1, 2026 0 Comments Native Gaussian Splat support, new 3D system based on USD, expanded machine learning ca...

11/03/2026

Preserving UNESCO World Heritage with URSA Cine Immersive

Preserving UNESCO World Heritage with URSA Cine Immersive Brie Clayton March 1, 2026 0 Comments The Explorers turned to France's cultural landmark...

11/03/2026

I Clicked This By Accident And It Made After Effects SO Much Faster

I Clicked This By Accident And It Made After Effects SO Much Faster Graham Quince March 1, 2026 0 Comments Discover how Region of Interest in Adobe A...

11/03/2026

Cine Gear Connect Brings a Focused All-Day Experience to Industry City, NY

Cine Gear Connect Brings a Focused All-Day Experience to Industry City, NY Brie Clayton March 4, 2026 0 Comments Registration is now open for Cine Gea...

11/03/2026

La Vorgine Edited and Finished with DaVinci Resolve Studio

La Vor gine Edited and Finished with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton March 4, 2026 0 Comments One of Colombia's most ambitious projects goes g...

11/03/2026

SoundMarket Launches 18,000+ Tracks of Real Music by Award-Winning Composers for Editors and Post Professionals

SoundMarket Launches 18,000 Tracks of Real Music by Award-Winning Composers for...

11/03/2026

Capta Center Supports NOVO19 Remote Production with Blackmagic Design

Capta Center Supports NOVO19 Remote Production with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton March 5, 2026 0 Comments The facility provides production and playo...

11/03/2026

DigitalGlue Ends the Post-Production Tax: creative.space Intelligence (CSI) Unifies On-Premise Storage with Forensic AI at NAB 2026

DigitalGlue Ends the Post-Production Tax: creative.space Intelligence (CSI) Unif...

11/03/2026

Kochi Sun Sun Uses Blackmagic Replay for High School Volleyball Finals

Kochi Sun Sun Uses Blackmagic Replay for High School Volleyball Finals Brie Clayton March 9, 2026 0 Comments Versatile Blackmagic Replay system proves...

11/03/2026

Richard Bona Joins Berklee for Signature Series Concert

Richard Bona Joins Berklee for Signature Series Concert The Grammy-winning Cameroonian bassist and vocalist collaborates with students and faculty in a progra...

11/03/2026

New NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super Delivers 5x Higher Throughput for Agentic AI

Launched today, NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super is a 120 billion parameter open model with 12 billion active parameters designed to run complex agentic AI systems at sc...