Delicate Productions recently provided a Martin Audio MLA system for the Reventon Super Estrella 2014 concert at the Staples Arena in Los Angeles.
Put on by L.A.’s leading Latin FM radio station La Super Estrella 107.1, the show featured an impressive lineup of artists including La Santa Cecilia, La Union, Fobia, Roco Pachukote, Bunbury, La Ley, Caifanes and Victimas for a capacity crowd of over 18,000.
Asked about the show, Delicate Production Manager Meegan Holmes explained, “Our challenge with any concert style event in an arena is integrating our PA hangs with the lighting truss and the flown LED elements. We worked closely with the LED vendor Global Trends to ensure the best positioning of the PA versus the LED wall. The walls were all solid, so our concern was areas of the audience that would be affected in terms of being able to hear the audio. We took care to lay out our PA points so we could get past the LED but still not block the view of the screen.
“Staples Center is taller than the average arena,” Meegan continued. “The back wall has decorative metal above the top level of seating. The MLA’s versatility and output control enabled us to get to the last row without hitting that highly reflective metal.”
The system Delicate rigged for the show included 28 Martin Audio MLA and 4 MLD (downfill) for the main hangs; 16 MLA Compact for outer fills; 16 MLA Mini under 4 MSX power plant/subwoofers for sidefills, and 12 MLX subs. Other elements included Avid Profile consoles for Front of House, a DiGiCo SD11 as production console and a Yamaha DME matrix for system control.
In addition to Holmes, the Delicate crew was made up of Brennan Houser (System Engineer), Craig Robertson and Tony Luna (FOH Technicians), George Squiers and Mark Ramos (Monitor Technicians), and Russ Cunningham and Billy Flores (Stage Technicians).
Asked about reactions to the sound system, Meegan explained, “Each band in the show seemed a little louder than the previous and the PA kept up without issue. All eight engineers had fun mixing on the system, which resulted in great sounding shows. They all commented on how they were able to get so much power from so few MLX subs and how efficient they are.
“Our client came to me after the show amazed at how the rig sounded the same everywhere, how smooth and even the MLA sounds.”
For more about Martin Audio, please click to www.martin-audio.com.
About Martin Audio®
Founded by audio engineer David Martin in 1971, Martin Audio pioneered the use of all-horn-loaded bass designs in world-class touring loudspeaker systems for groups such as Pink Floyd, ELP and Supertramp. Located outside of London, Martin Audio now embodies a sophisticated mix of acoustic design, research, mathematical modeling and software engineering for a wide range of products in the installation, cinema and touring sound markets.
