D.A.S.loudspeakers provide comprehensive audio coverage to the delight of the audience.

The last weekend of February was nothing less than a fun ride for citizens of Kolkata; as the ‘City of Joy’ hosted one of India’s most beloved festival experiences ‘Zomaland’ on 25 and 26 February 2023. Recognized as one of India’s biggest food and music carnival experiences, Zomaland is a concept initiated by popular Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company Zomato, which brings together a celebration of energetic music performances, a wide variety of entertainment options, and loads of mouth-watering food.

Kolkata is the third Indian city to host the Zomaland carnival this year; with successful events in Hyderabad and Bengaluru garnering a great deal of love, attention and appreciation from festival-goers and in turn building a great deal of traction and excitement for Zomaland’s third outing in 2023. Powered by Blinkit and Simpl, the 2-day event stayed true to its promise of offering an avenue for attendees to enjoy an endless bounty of experiences that excited the senses and left everyone wanting more. And the highlight of the fun-filled weekend was undoubtedly the slew of exciting performances that kept audiences on their toes as they swayed to the music of some of India’s most revered artists; the list of which comprised music heavy-weights like King, Anuv Jain, Zaeden, The Yellow Diary, Mitraz, Kashyap, Somanshu and Adil-Paloma.

It comes as no surprise that the enchanting stage performances were reinforced by an equally impressive and adept technical architecture – with comprehensive audio-visual expertise rendered by Kolkata based rental services outfit Friends Of Shiva, who are widely regarded as the leading event equipment service providers in the region.

Kyle Mukherjee, director of Friends Of Shiva, shares an insight into the kind of effort that went into planning the technical infrastructure for the event, as he informs, “We requested the client to provide us with a detailed autocad of the venue (Aquatica); and this helped us map and plan each and every aspect of the AV experience for the event. We wanted every last audience member to enjoy nothing less than the best experience, and so for the audio part of it we planned this out using the ease focus software and sent the prediction results file to our on-ground rigging team, who immediately got to work on putting together the precise amount of loudspeaker modules that would offer comprehensive coverage along with an optimized sonic experience throughout the performance venue. Once rigged and tested, we had a walk-around the venue to make sure what was planned had come to fruition; and all-in-all, we noticed that we had got the results we wanted to achieve.”

Team Friends Of Shiva put together a comprehensive audio system that featured the use of a total of 20 units of the D.A.S Aero 50 high-efficiency line array modules, complemented by 20 units of the D.A.S LX218C high-performance subwoofers that acted as the main PA system; with 4 units of the D.A.S Aero 20 compact line array modules deployed as fills. A single unit of the AVID VENUE S6L 24D digital mixer along with a single unit of the DiGiCo SD10 mixing console were deployed as the FOH and MON mixing consoles respectively; with an additional unit of the AVID VENUE S6L 24C mixing console stocked as ‘back-up’. Additionally, an impressive RF world comprising multiple units of the Sennheiser 6000 wireless system and Shure Axient wireless system respectively was made available to the performing artists; with multiple units of the Sennheiser 2000 in-ear monitoring systems provided as the artist-monitoring solution.

An equally impressive and adept visual architecture complemented the audio experience to sublime perfection, as team Friends Of Shiva deployed a high-quality LED screen infrastructure comprising ATENTI’s high-performance 3.9mm LED panels with the stage adorning a video-wall measuring 11.5 mtrs x 6.5 mtrs that acted as the main backdrop, while two smaller video walls of 3.5 mtrs x 6 mtrs each flanked either side of the stage to act as the IMAG solution. The entire video processing and playback was made possible through Novastar’s 4k PRIME all-in-one controller that allowed for comprehensive video-processing, control capabilities and precise LED screen configuration.

Speaking about the challenges encountered in bringing together a seamless experience at the event, Kyle shares, “The only challenge we faced were the timings of the tech-check/show for both days. We had a tech-check slot from 8am-12noon for 4 bands including changeovers, and the second day from 7.30-2.30pm for 6 bands. As one could appreciate – in terms of the timing itself, we were in quite a tight spot and it was imperative for us to work everything out to the T. Our team got together and ironed out the details well in advance, following which we created a master patch-list for the opening acts and segregated the equipment for the main acts. We kept two separate teams who took care of the respective segments and ensured that the inputs & outputs were laid out appropriately while making sure that every last detail was exactly where and how it needed to be. This highly detailed level of planning helped us to get things ready quicker than the time given to us, while affording us the flexibility to ensure that we kept everything ready for the next day the night prior itself.”

Needless to mention, all the hours of planning and hardwork put in by the technical team did bear rich dividend, as Zomaland 2023 offered one of the most unique festival experiences for the citizens of Kolkata to enjoy.

Kyle sums it up, saying “It is always challenging and exciting to work on projects like Zomaland that push the boundaries of enhancing the festival experience with every passing edition; and I personally feel safe to say that the client, artists and their crew members enjoyed a seamless experience while working with our team. I also believe that this had a net-positive impact on the overall experience that the audience eventually enjoyed at the festival; and I’d like to commend our entire team for detailed level of planning, discipline, focus, attention to detail and overall expertise that they’ve invested into bringing together a supremely successful Zomaland 2023 in Kolkata.”

Friends of Shiva