New York, NY (November 9, 2018)—America’s a big place, as anyone who’s crossed it on a tour will tell you. Creating a sound that would match that size was one of the aims the audio team had on the This Is America arena tour this past summer by artist Childish Gambino—AKA actor/writer Donald Glover (Solo; Community; Atlanta). Carrying sound production from Britannia Row, the trek went with immersive audio, bringing it to 20,000 people a night via a sizable L-Acoustics L-ISA rig.
Tour director Christian Coffey first heard L-ISA on Lorde’s North American Melodrama Tour earlier this year. “Lorde’s tour sounded incredible—really full and panoramic,” Coffey recalls. “Childish’s management was at her Staples’ Center show and felt the same way, so that’s when our discussions began. Everyone wanted an immersive experience with a non-traditional arena show, and we felt that the L-ISA system could be a great fit.”
Aiming to provide depth through the use of immersive audio, the L-ISA Scene system was deployed with three center arrays of 15 K2s, flanked by a pair of 21-enclosure Kara arrays. Broadening the horizontal spread, four arrays of 15 Kara were flown, two per side, outside of the Scene system as an additional L-ISA Extension system, while two arrays of 13 K2 provided coverage to the seats on the extreme sides of the stage.
A pair of adjacent center hangs of eight KS28 each, flown in a cardioid configuration, while an additional eight ground-stacked KS28 provided LF reinforcement to the near-field audience. Six Kara spread across the stage lip provided front fill, and the entire system was driven by LA12X amplified controllers housed in LA-RAK II touring racks.
“The L-ISA system has the capability to improve the overall breadth and dynamic possibilities for a live concert experience,” Coffey notes. “It can really widen and improve the aural experience in a multitude of settings and shows.” Coffey also praised the people behind the technology: “Everyone at L-Acoustics has been excellent to deal with. They went above and beyond to provide assistance and help wherever they could to make sure that we had everything possible for a successful show.”
Childish Gambino • www.childishgambino.com
Britannia Row • www.britanniarow.com
L-Acoustics • www.l-acoustics.com
