Alex Fiennes engineered Goldie's live Glade Stage performance at Glastonbury 2024 on the Funktion-One Vero system. Here he discusses the experience.

[Photo of Alex above by Jason Russell]

I was particularly excited to get a chance to play with the Funktion-One Vero system which I’d read about but never experienced in the flesh before. Most of my experience with Funktion-One in the past had been coloured by it having been configured for club situations and then a live stage added on as an afterthought and it never really clicked for me, so I was very much looking forward to hearing what it sounds like when rigged properly.

And what an absolute joy it was. I don’t think I’ve ever worked with such a precise musical system at that volume before. The ability to change EQs or levels by a single dB and really HEAR the difference was a complete eye opener. Due to logistics we didn’t have a soundcheck, and I didn’t have a show file but everything just worked straight out of the box (with great support from Nathan and the crew at Audio Plus).

I think that I share a pretty similar approach to sound that Tony has - get things right at source and then do the absolute minimum to the signal until it hits people’s ears. For Goldie’s band this is all about time and transients with the double drum kits, and earthworks mics are the best solution to this that I have come across so far. Stereo XY overheads, with all the close mics time aligned to the OH, little bit of HPF to keep the bottom end tidy and that is it.

No EQ, no dynamics on anything apart from vocals and a bit of multi-band compression on the bass synth. So feed the amps with the cleanest, most coherent signal I possibly can and then be presented back with one of the most holographic, dynamic drum representations that I’ve ever had the pleasure of mixing in my life.

I didn’t get a chance to walk around much during the show as I had my hands full and there were too many bodies, but I got a chance to potter around earlier during the day and the coverage was insane. I particularly liked the non symmetrical sub stacks so that it effectively worked like a point source with no dead spots, with a smaller stack the other side of the stage filling in the gap left at the side of the cardioid throw.

All in all a totally pleasing experience. I am most definitely a convert.

Goldie And Funktion-One: A Perfect Match At Glastonbury

“The Glade Stage sound was unbelievable. There’s something to be said about Tony and his development and love of sound, a field in which he has been ahead of the curve for many, many years. I really look forward in the hope that we can do a project together. Only people like Tony have such a deep appreciation for sonics that the sound can truly be heard through the heart and soul, not just the head and ears.”
- Goldie