Sacramento, CA (January 3, 2023)—The Hard Rock brand has always been associated with music, so when Sacramento, CA’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain opened in 2019, the plan was to start hosting major tours and events immediately. The pandemic and persistent supply chain issues got in the way, however, but today, the 2,500-seat venue is open and ready to roll, hosting everything from trade shows to MMA to concerts and more. Providing audio for all those offerings is a sizable audio system designed by Montréal-based Scéno Plus and implemented by Clair Global.
Both the FOH and monitor world setups center around DiGiCo Quantum225 consoles, with that house desk feeding a new L-Acoustics K2 sound system, with the main PA centered around 18 K2 divided into left and right hangs, 60 feet apart, managed by a pair of P1 processors. Meanwhile, 10 KS28 subs anchor the low end and five Kiva II serve as front-fills. A half-dozen A15 Focus speakers handle sidefill duties, supplemented by four KS21 subs, while onstage, a dozen X12 and six X15 wedge monitors are joined by two SB18 subs intended for the drums. Closing things out, 11 LA12X and nine LA4X amplified controllers power the combined FOH and monitor systems.
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François Blais, Scéno Plus vice president of Technology and Specialized Equipment, praised the L-Acoustics system, noting, “It’s a great-sounding system from a rider-friendly brand, which makes it so much easier for the venue to market itself. Today, it’s not enough to only go for the best sound. System designs must keep the economic aspects of venues in mind; they must be cost-effective. You have to look at systems design from the production manager’s perspective, too.”
The system is being viewed as something of a template within the Hard Rock organization, too. “Hard Rock Live Sacramento and its sound will be a model for our new live venue designs,” says Carl Sagen, production manager at Hard Rock Live Sacramento, who previously toured with Diana Ross and Faith No More. “Hard Rock has always been about great sound. We wanted a system that would let this Hard Rock Live handle any event, from concerts to boxing and MMA to trade shows, as well as fulfill any contract rider, and it’s doing just that. And it also sounds fabulous. We have been getting nothing but compliments from touring artists and their crews. The coverage and the sound quality are excellent. It’s what everyone expects from the Hard Rock brand: great sound.”
