Las Vegas, NV (May 15, 2017)—Some may call it Sin City, but Las Vegas’ jazz community prefers a more sophisticated sobriquet, as proven by the name of the region’s top jazz event: The Las Vegas City of Lights Jazz Rhythm & Blues Festival, which this year featured such artists as the Gerald Albright, Lalah Hathaway, and Anthony Hamilton.
Regional provider H.A.S Productions tackled full production services for the third year running and fielded an all-VUE Audiotechnik system, complete with the flagship al-12 line array, hm stage monitors, and a full complement of h-Class subwoofers.
“There is a reason that the al-Class line arrays have been our choice for this festival for three years,” said Larry Hall, President of H.A.S. Productions. “The production manager, the promoter, and the guest engineers all enjoy working on the VUE rig. We were pleased to take the whole thing up a notch this year with the addition of the larger al-12 array.”
This year’s configuration included left and right main clusters of six, large-format al-12 boxes, augmented by two medium-format al-8 arrays, with eight elements each for side coverage. Front fill came courtesy of four VUE al-4 line array elements and a pair of h-15 two-way systems positioned at the front of the stage and atop the subs respectively.
On hand for the event was VUE’s own Jeff Taylor who served as system tech for the event along with Orris Henry whom also provided FOH support for the festival. “The key was achieving greater than 180 degrees of coverage while keeping weight under control, and also avoiding potential splash-back from the tall block wall immediately behind the stage,” Explained Taylor. “By using the al-8s as side hangs, we minimized weight and covered the listening area perfectly, all while maintaining a consistent voice throughout the venue.”
“I was really amazed how present and out-front the vocals were,” commented Eric Jones, FOH for Anthony Hamilton. “I usually have to work to get the vocals where I like them, but with the al-12’s, they were just there. And the Subwoofers were really tight and full. There’s plenty of gas in those subs, which is critical for an artist like Anthony Hamilton.”
