Leeds City Varieties: a gem reborn with d&b.
Setting the scene
The City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds is a rare survivor. Not only is it the oldest working theatre in the city, but it’s one of the UK’s few remaining Victorian music halls. Built in 1865, this venerable gem of a venue has hosted Charlie Chaplin, Marie Lloyd, Harry Houdini, and the long-running BBC celebration of the music hall era, The Good Old Days.
The 467-capacity auditorium is rectangular with cast-iron columns supporting two upper levels – the balconies fronted with plasterwork foliage and medallions in classic Victorian style. The shallow, proscenium arch stage is topped by a key part of the theatre’s rich history – a Royal coat of arms. This crest is alleged to have been gifted by Queen Victoria’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) in return for keeping quiet about him sneaking in to watch his famously talented mistress, the actress Lillie Langtry.
Today, operated by Leeds Heritage Theatres (LHT), a registered charity, it continues to play a central role in the city’s cultural life. “We show comedy, theatre, bands, magic shows, burlesque, talk shows, and everything in between,” explains LHT engineer Kieran Ragan.
With the existing sound system failing to meet the demands of this varied programme, the venue had for some time been shouldering the extra cost of hiring in systems. Ragan says, “Our main goal was to improve coverage, SPL and sound quality in every single seat – for every type of show. We wanted the PA to be rider-friendly, for guest engineers to feel comfortable using it, and for the venue to be more suited for live music. We needed a PA with enough headroom for our louder gigs, as well as being detailed enough to amplify critical listening, such as theatre and spoken shows.”
Looking for a solution, in 2023 LHT turned to a company with whom they had a long relationship – Bradford-based Pro Audio Systems (PAS), whose project manager Brian Lumb guided them through the process.
Setting objectives
“As well as coverage, we also wanted to attain a sleek, visually low impact system so that our beautiful heritage building could remain the main focus of the audience upon arrival,” says LHT engineer Jesse Cloke. “We also wanted to create a PA that would be amongst the best of venues of a similar size in the UK to reflect the history and grandeur of this gem of a venue.”
Lumb recalls, “Getting good coverage throughout the room, including the balcony boxes, was essential. Added to that, there were weight limits, so we had to be careful what boxes we chose. It was also important not to physically block the sight of the Royal crest above the stage – a real focal point of the interior decoration.”
Lumb’s discussions with LHT’s team (including Head of Technical and Properties Alan Dawson and Technical Manager Mark Waters, as well as engineers Ragan and Cloke) quickly turned to d&b audiotechnik. “We specifically requested d&b,” says Ragan, “and it wasn’t about brand bias. Working in a chain of historic venues, we listen to a wide variety of speakers from various brands daily, and we found that d&b ticked all the boxes – sound quality, ease of use, and the look of the speakers in our space. d&b is very well known, and for good reason. I’ve found their systems to be much more rider-friendly than any other system: when guest engineers read our specs, they know they’ll have a great time in our venue.”
Lumb was confident that the compact, versatile and powerful products from d&b’s comprehensive installation ranges would offer a solution. With input from Richard McLean at d&b and Kieran Ragan at LHT, he was able to come up with a design that met the needs of all parties, within the physical limitations of the building.
However, once the loudspeaker models were chosen, and the design confirmed, the problem arose of lead times in the tight schedule. Lumb says, “We worked very closely with d&b to ensure we could meet delivery deadlines. They were hugely helpful. We did borrow demo gear from them as a temporary solution to guarantee that the theatre had a working system delivered on time. We replaced this with the new equipment later.”
The Solution
The resulting system consists of a central array from d&b’s A-Series augmented array loudspeakers: a single ALi60 and a two ALi90 cabinets, the installation-specific variants, complemented by low-end from a 21S-SUB beneath the stage lip, and a pair of Vi-SUB cabinets flown on an advanced truss alongside the A-Series array. Completing the sound in the room are a selection of point source loudspeakers – four each of the 10S and 44S from d&b’s xS Series, with rotatable dispersion – plus four Yi7P cabinets from the Y Series. On stage are six d&b MAX2 monitor loudspeakers.
The response – from audience, visiting sound engineers and touring artists – has been unanimously positive. Every single visiting act has used the new d&b PA system. “Elvis Costello played four hugely successful shows recently,” says LHT Senior Technician, Adam Norton. “His crew, who were touring a large PA system themselves, were happy to leave it in the van and were mega-impressed by our d&b rig!”.
Says Ragan, “Artists love the sound of the room and the clarity they get from the MAX2 monitors. Engineers love the clarity and headroom, and I’ve had heard from people seated on the balcony that the sound is the best they’ve heard.”
He continues, “Visiting sound engineers say how much better the venue sounds now. Band members are excited to play through it. One touring UK comedian asked, ‘is this a normal SM58?’ to which we replied, ‘Yes, a standard Shure SM58’. She said it sounded different because she could hear herself more clearly than in other venues.”
Norton adds, “Audience members and FOH staff have also commented about how much better it looks. The black point source boxes are slick, of decent size and don’t look out of place hanging in front of the beautiful ornate Victorian interior. The sound department technicians especially like the 44s front-fills. Their size is perfect for our venue, they improve sightlines and really kick out a punch for such a small box. Overall, we're delighted with our new PA system.”
Ragan concludes, “Of course, any installation has its challenges, but the process was simple and easy. Thanks to the expertise of Pro Audio Systems, we had all the kit we needed in time for our first show. Pro Audio was on hand to supply us with a temporary system so we could install the new system without having a major effect on scheduled shows. Really top service from Pro Audio Systems and d&b.”
