Jessie J performed through a Martin Audio MLA System at Rock In Rio in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV (May 29, 2015)––You can take the Rock In Rio out of Rio, but you can’t take out the rock. At least that’s what crowds learned when the famed South American festival touched down for two weekends earlier this month in Las Vegas, making its U.S. debut at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds.
Among the multiple stages, the Mercedes-Benz Evolution stage was equipped with a Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker system provided by Gabisom Audio Products Brazil, Rock in Rio’s longtime production company. The system itself was supplied by Las Vegas’ own 3G Productions, which also assisted with setup, stage gear and production for the event.
The Mercedes Evolution stage for both the Rock and Pop weekends featured Foster the People, Gary Clark Jr., Sepultura featuring Steve Vai, Deftones, Coheed and Cambria, Jessi J., Charli XCX, Joss Stone, Magic!, Tove Lo, James Bay, Mikky Ekko and others.
The MLA system consisted of 16 MLA enclosures with one MLD per side along with 32 MLX subwoofers ground-stacked in front of the stage and 12 MLA Compact on top of the subs for additional front and ground fill. That, it turned out, was enough to cover the 426-foot audience area without delays.
Chris Pyne, a Martin Audio engineer who specializes in MLA and worked the Rock weekend, reports, “We were able to cover the audience with more than enough volume and then reduce it dramatically just beyond that for the VIP area near the Hilton. Equally, thanks to the MLA technology and Display, tuning was a breeze, taking less than fifteen minutes. It sounded great, every engineer was very complimentary and they all said it was one of the easiest shows they’d done. Dwayne Baker, FOH Engineer for Theophilus London told us, ‘It’s an amazing sounding rig and it was such a pleasure to mix on!’ Basically, everyone was very happy with MLA.”
Martin Audio Research & Development Director Jason Baird was on hand to answer questions about MLA and engage with FOH Engineers, Gabisom, and invited guests for a special system demo held before the Pop weekend shows.
“The front fills didn’t have a lot to do,” Baird reported, “because the MLDs at the bottom of the arrays were doing such a great job. They were just needed at the center by the barriers. The MLX subs sounded very even throughout the coverage pattern and we matched the pattern of the sub array to the MLA system. It was pleasing to be standing 400 feet away and have the subs tugging slightly at your clothes, but not giving you a headache. Equally, up on stage, the spill from the MLA and subwoofer array was incredibly quiet, leading some at the demo to think we’d just pulled the faders down, yet only a few feet forward it was producing thunderous lows.”
Martin Audio
www.martin-audio.com
