Mach SlingShot blasts “New Bands” to stardom at Glastonbury 2000

Glastonbury is the largest outdoor music festival in the UK, with more than 100,000 visitors braving the elements to enjoy performances by over 50 bands. Headliners at the festival this year included David Bowie, Moby, Moloko, Fatboy Slim and Macy Gray. But equally important to the event are the many “up and coming” bands, such as Ben Christophers and Flaming Lips, that performed on the “New Bands” stage.

As in previous years, the production company Reality Check took overall responsibility for the “New Bands” stage, but all sound reinforcement was controlled by Mark Bott from South West Audio. His team comprised Mike Taylor leading the monitor team and Amble Skuse in charge of the stage team. “We usually run EAW 850, but this year we were asked by Mach Systems to put in the new SlingShot ,” said Mark. “It has worked really well.”

Sound Engineer for the Flaming Lips and Glastonbury veteran Ian Laughton (currently working with a host of bands including The Verve) was genuinely impressed by the system. “The Mach system was absolutely fantastic, “ he raved. “It really works well, in fact it was the best Glastonbury of my life. Every moment was just beautiful. The manager of the Flaming Lips ran up to me and was in awe as well.”

The Mach SlingShot rig consisted of a custom 3 by 3 rig sited each side of the stage. Each rig comprised six MS1262 and three MS15X2 top boxes, which were supported by a total of 16 M182T subwoofers.

Mach Systems’ newest touring speaker system, SlingShot, is based on more than three years of research and development and is specially developed for long throw applications. Hornflare and subwoofer components have been redesigned to create a highly compact system with unsurpassed sound quality even at very high sound pressure levels.

The SlingShot speaker system sets quality standards for high level sound reinforcement at huge open-air events and in the more controlled environment of clubs or theaters.