Southwick, MA (October 24, 2018)—Paddle Out Productions recently provided audio for the debut edition of the Garden Grove Festival, held on the premises of the Westfield River Brewing Company, on a farm located at the brewery site in Southwick, MA.
Sharing the DIY spirit of the music played at the event, the principals of Paddle Out are Ryan Burhans and Joel Hanks who are also the booking-management team for the Sublime tribute band, Badfish. Burhans heads up production and engineering while Hanks handles management and booking—and also plays bass for the band.
Covering the 1,900 music fans in attendance was a Martin Audio system that Paddle Out purchased earlier this year at InfoComm. The rig, based around a WPM system, centers around 16 WPM and two iKON 81 amplifiers, eight CDD-LIVE 12 and four CSX-LIVE 118. All of that was supplemented with rented Martin Audio SX218 subs that were soon bought as well.
The festival had two stages, side by side, with Martin Audio WPM boxes supporting the mains and monitors on the main stage. “The throw for the main stage was about 200 ft, which was pretty far for that size event; I walked all the way to the back and it sounded amazing back there,” said Burhans.
Due to scheduling, the five-band festival kicked off without any soundchecks—and it essentially marked the first time that the new system was put through its paces.
“I felt really at ease, even though I was starting a show without really hearing the system,” said Burhans. “I was putting it on display for my partner and the client, Badfish, as their main thing for this event and I was nervous at first but everything worked well with great coverage and sound. I mixed all day and I got more and more comfortable with the PA as we moved along and I dialed it in. The monitor engineer also had a great day––he said it sounded super smooth.
Paddle Out Productions • www.paddleoutprod.com
Martin Audio • www.martin-audio.com
