The close to their 15 Years tour, Lisbon’s 68,100-capacity Estádio da Luz was the biggest stadium show yet for Portuguese-speaking band, Calema. The show ran show without a hitch, with two DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles s at FOH and two DiGiCo SD5s at monitors from Auditiv Audiovisuals.
Calema comprises brothers António Mendes Ferreira and Fradique Mendes Ferreira, who were born on the African island of São Tomé and Príncipe. The band’s name roughly translates to ‘special wave’, which refers to the treasures brought to the island by the tide. The pair had relocated to Portugal to further their ambitions in music.
‘The Calema concert was a true spectacle,’ says Joao Escada, co-owner with Daniel Bekerman of Auditiv Audiovisuals. ‘We wanted to provide the most robust system we could, so mirroring the consoles was a key feature of the system design and worked flawlessly from the very start.’
Auditiv Audiovisuals supplied equipment, crew and support for the show. At FOH was Rodrigo Maciel, with Escada personally supporting Tiago Mendes on monitors. Bekerman performed the role of recording engineer via a separate system using the DiGiCo SD10. ‘We made two identical Optocore loops at FOH, with two DiGiCo Quantum 338s fed by two passive splitters with 56 channels each,’ Escada reveals. ‘We used two 32-bit SD-Racks in each loop, and the 56 stage outputs were switched by Radial units, he says. ‘We also had Optocore units for recording, with the DiGiCo SD10 console in the loop.’
Auditiv has delivered solutions for live concerts, TV and studio work for more than 25 years and was an early adopter of DiGiCo consoles, starting with the D-Series in the early 2000s. The company has since expanded its inventory, and currently owns a wide range of DiGiCo desks.
‘By staying in the DiGiCo world, we could have two independent and autonomous systems where the only connection point was the mirror on the desks,’ he says. ‘Operators could switch systems immediately, if required, without worrying about whether the other system has exactly the same settings.’
‘DiGiCo has always been my first choice,’ Maciel agrees. ‘The console has the flexibility to customise completely to my way of working, giving me security and, above all else, great sound. On a project of this size, it was the only option that could deliver everything I needed.’
‘DiGiCo is always easier,’ Mendes adds. ‘We have a large number of inputs and outputs, building each session from scratch, so the DiGiCo workflow really helps. The most important thing is great sound, plus reliable redundancy.’
Being part of this record-breaking journey has been a significant moment in Auditiv’s history: ‘We are proud of the work the Auditiv team have done, supporting engineers over the past quarter of a century,’ Escada concludes. ‘Making a show of this size and importance happen could only be done with the power of DiGiCo behind us. It was a great experience, and we look forward to many more like it in the future.’
The band embarks on their Voyage Tour this autumn, with dates across the world starting with London’s O2 arena.