Ft. Lauderdale, FL (November 20, 2014)—Cruising to rock n’ roll used to mean playing the radio while driving, but these days, it’s a whole new business: high-seas cruises with classic bands playing for music fans on deck.
Aboard luxury MSC Cruises ships, production company On The Blue specializes in curating rock-themed cruises through the Caribbean where stars of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s regale their fans night and day with their repertoires. Cincinnati-based sound reinforcement provider Loud and Clear, Inc. recently outfitted the MSC Divina from bow to stern with K2 and other sound system elements from L-Acoustics.
In all, Loud and Clear brought five full semi loads of L-Acoustics and other equipment aboard the vessel for three different cruises: Yes’ “Cruise to the Edge;” ’80s hair band spectacular “Monsters of Rock” featuring Tesla, Cinderella, Y&T and Night Ranger; as well as the pairing of The Moody Blues with The Who’s Roger Daltrey on the “The Moody Blues Cruise: Return to the Isle of Wight.”
Loud and Clear president Bill Deavers said, “The sound was just spectacular; it was an honor to bring this level of sound quality to these incredible artists at sea, and there is no other system that could do them justice in this setting. The days and nights are long, and the salt from the ocean spray on the pool deck stage can be brutal, but the L-Acoustics gear withstood the extreme environment incredibly well. We never lost a single driver during the three cruises.”
“You can’t fly a sound system on this ship; the theater and the venues don’t have the space for it, and you run up against maritime rules and engineering constraints,” he explains. “But the K2 comes with its own custom chariot. This makes ground stacking much simpler and faster. And that’s critical on a ship: you’ve got to take the equipment through customs and inspections, wait while the entire ship is cleared for departure, then you have to get on board and set up for the ‘sail-away’ concert quickly. The K2 lets us get set up in record time.”
Systems deployed on the MSC Divina included:
• Pantheon Theatre: 12 K2 mains/outfills; KARA frontfills; SB28 and SB18 subs; 115XT HiQ coaxial stage wedges (all larger venues); LA8 amplified controllers (all venues) in LA-RAKs
• Lido Pool Deck: 18 KARA mains; ARCS fills; SB28 and SB18 subs
• The Atrium: KIVA/KILO main arrays; SB18 subs
• Three smaller venues (Golden Jazz, Black & White, and La Luna): 115XT HiQ coaxial mains; SB18 subs; 8XT stage wedges
Loud and Clear, Inc.
www.loudandclear.com
L-Acoustics
www.l-acoustics.com
