Arezzo, Italy (December 12, 2017)—Audio provider Sinergie Group supplied a VUE Audiotechnik al-12 based PA system for the 13 annual Mengo Music Festival, tackling audio for more than 30 indie-rock and electronic acts over the course of four days.
“We have worked with the main acts and their crews before, and they all know and now prefer the VUE system’s sonic signature. Megno is more than just a festival – each artist and engineer sees their performance as a contribution to Italian music history. So when the chance to have VUE in the festival was real, everyone voted yes,” explained Sinergie’s Livio Spallino.
Challenges facing the production included obeying local sound ordinances and a staging system with a 300 kg (661 lbs) hanging point weight limit, so Sinergie opted for two FOH al-12 main hangs along with h-8s as front fills and six ground-stacked hs-221 double 21” infrasonic ACM subwoofers. VUE boxes were also used for stage monitoring in the form of hm-212s and hm-112s, with hs-221s and hs-20s used for stage fill and drum monitor subwoofer support.
The local sound ordinances were particularly strict, not least because the chosen festival site sits near a popular tourist destination—historic Roman ruins in the middle of nearby Villa Alfieri park. Spallino noted, “The local parks authority required we limit the system throw to 30 meters from the stage, yet all bands, in spite of very different musical styles, asked for a large PA. From the very beginning, we knew that VUE could deliver on all fronts.”
Visiting act’s FOH engineers seemed pleased with the results, as Andrea Marmorini, FOH engineer for Fast Animals and Slow Kids, noted: “It was nice to have consistent sound pressure across the listening area — that’s not easy to get with a band with very diverse dynamics.”
