From left: Gary Teal Sr., Jennifer Teal, Gary Teal Jr., Michael Eads and Steve Huf
Less than a year since opening its doors, Jennifer and Gary Teal’s Live Event Solutions (LES, Conyers, Ga.; www.liveeventsolutions
.net) boasts the largest QSC WideLine-10 line array system inventory in the state; it also carries WL218-sw subs, PL380/340 power amps and HPR Series for monitors.
“There are a million brands of loudspeakers and 99 percent of them sound great,” says company co-founder Gary Teal Jr. “But QSC really came through with a commitment to us, and that meant a lot. We’ve had great response from client to client.”
Clients are also attracted to the company’s Kermit-the-Frog–green AVS road cases. “We made a conscious effort to brand our company,” says Teal Jr., who handles the majority of the company’s front-of-house duties. “When we show up, it’s painfully obvious. The decision to ‘go green’ does two things: It protects against theft and starts more conversations than you’ll ever know.
“Customers come to us to solve a problem,” he continues. “They’re faced with a certain situation, and we turn-key it. Given our name, Solutions, we’re trying to solve their problem by handling all different elements of the show.”
The Teals launched Live Event Solutions in December 2007, after Gary Teal Jr. and Sr., along with lighting designer friend Michael Eads, left another Atlanta-based production company to strike out on their own. Within weeks of forming the new venture, equipment started rolling in — just in time for Christmas. “It’s been like a rocket taking off — right out of the box, we got really busy,” says Teal Jr.
Two months into the New Year, he broke a personal resolution: He bought a stage top. “I swore I never would,” he says. “But, boy, did I eat those words because we started looking at the requests for staging and roof systems in early February and decided to buy a 28-foot-by-28-foot sloped roof. That thing was booked for eight consecutive weeks!”
The small staff of five — which includes his father, Gary Teal Sr., as general manager and Jennifer Teal as president — can provide a gig with lights and staging components, but their primary focus remains audio production and sound reinforcement. The company carries Yamaha LS9 and M7CL digital mixing consoles; Whirlwind cabling and snake systems; power distribution from Motion Laboratories; and mics are mainly Shure models, including the UHF-R Series wireless.
In addition to outdoor festivals, Live Event Solutions has supplied audio for charity events such as the American Cancer Society’s 2008 Hope Fashion Show in Atlanta, as well as graduations and corporate events. This spring, the QSC system could be found at the Exchange Park Ladson Fairgrounds (Ladson, S.C.), handling rock bands Seether and Flyleaf. A few weeks later, LES supplied audio for SummerFest, an outdoor event in Atlanta featuring Shawn Mullins and Sister Hazel. “Their crew was amazing,” says Teal Jr. “Everybody was in 105-degree heat and had the right to be grouchy, but nobody was. And the P.A. performed beautifully.”
