New Orleans, LA (July 9, 2018)—The annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival draws 400,000 people for seven days across two weeks every year, offering up top acts in every genre you can imagine. It also happens to be an all-ages affair, and underlining that fact is the Kids’ Stage, providing entertainment aimed at younger music fans and their parents, serving up everything from puppet shows and storytellers to full bands and orchestras.
Given the wide range of programming at the stage, Propaganda Group, a New Orleans-based AV company handling the Kids’ Stage, tried out an FBT system this year, based around six stacked Muse 210 LAs, two Subline 218 SAs and a mix of five Ventis and StageMaxX monitors.
Joe Triola of Metro Joe’s Marketing—who has collaborated with the sound and backline companies that work with the Festival since 1993—suggested FBT for the venue. According to Triola, “the Kids’ Stage has grown just as much as the festival, and with such diversity, I knew it would be the best test to hear just how good FBT is. ”
It was a far cry from early editions of the Kids’ Stage, he said: “Back in the old days, it was just a PA on a stick and the most difficult thing was miking a mime! This year, we used a full FBT line array with over 40 different microphones and wireless. Many groups that started playing there have moved up to the big stages and the sound quality reflects this; it’s grown dramatically.”
Chris Scott, who mixed FOH for the Kids’ Stage throughout the festival, remarked during the run, “As the deck crew and front of house engineer, we really appreciate the low profile [of the PA and] the small compact nature of these units. The monitors on the stage can be quickly moved and shuffled without a problem; they’re loud and boomy. Everybody who’s been using them thus far, all of the artists, have been commenting on the sound and how the quality of the sound is on the stage… It’s going to be hard to ever go back.”
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