Luke Bryan performs onstage at the All Star Jam during the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino on April 7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ACM
The 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMA) show was again broadcast live from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on CBS this year. The evening was hosted by country superstar Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, who won the evening’s biggest honor, “Entertainer of the Year.”
The telecast featured almost two dozen performances. Shure Inc. states that most performances involved Shure UHF-R wireless systems and PSM 1000 personal monitor systems, which were the only in-ear monitor systems used for all of the performances.
All of the Shure wireless systems and personal monitor systems were provided by ATK Audiotek. System design and frequency coordination was handled by Dave Bellamy of Soundtronics. The Production Mixer for the show was J. Mark King, and the Music Mixer was Biff Dawes.
In addition to Bryan, a Shure endorser, several other Shure endorsers performed throughout the evening using Shure gear, including Sheryl Crow (UR2/SM58), Brad Paisley (UR2/SM58), Hunter Hayes (UR2/SM58), Dierks Bentley (UR2/SM58), The Band Perry (UR2/KSM9HS and UR2/SM58), Florida Georgia Line (UR2/SM58), who won the award for “New Artist of the Year,” and Little Big Town (UR2/KSM9HS), who won the award for “Vocal Group of the Year.”
Hunter Hayes and Stevie Wonder perform onstage during the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for ACM
“Debuting a new song and then collaborating with my hero, Stevie Wonder, was exciting and nerve-racking,” Hayes says. “It was great getting to hear the same dependable Shure mics on the guitar amps and getting to sing through that same Shure mic I use every night on stage. This totally put me back in my comfort zone and made me feel confident performing with great sounding gear.”
According to front-of-house mixer Jeff Peterson, “Over 14 acts requested Shure UHF-R wireless. It’s a huge help to the Audio Department to have that consistency. The SM58 capsule continues to be the vocal front runner of the show, with the KSM9HS running a very close second.”
Shure UHF-R wireless microphone systems, with a combination of SM58 and KSM9HS handheld transmitters, were also chosen by a long list of other artists for their performances throughout the evening, including Kenny Chesney (UR2/KSM9HS), George Strait and Garth Brooks (UR2/SM58), Kelly Clarkson (UR2/SM58), and Stevie Wonder (UR2/SM58).
“With a lot of RF to contend with as well as video walls, the PSM 1000s continue to outperform everything else in this environment,” says monitor engineer Tom Pesa. “Cuemode allows any pack to serve as a replacing mix for any artist if needed. Plus, the system sounds amazing.”
Visit Shure at www.shure.com/americas.
