Las Vegas, NV (April 14, 2016)—There are numerous constants in the live sound business, and two of the most prominent are festivals and the blues. Put them together and you get events like last fall’s Big Blues Bender, held at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Local audio vendor H.A.S. Productions provided staging, lighting, and an all VUE Audioteknik PA for the multi-day, multi-stage event.
Jay Easley, H.A.S. Productions COO, said, “It’s a multi-stage show with all the challenging elements you can imagine.” Starting at the top of the Plaza Hotel, the Bender Oasis stage covered more than 1,000 guests with the music of Tab Benoit, Walter Trout and Tommy Castro and The Painkillers.
“We utilized the VUE al-8s powered by V6 Systems Engines and hs-28s, which are double 18-inch subs to cover this venue,” said Easley. “Four al-8s over two hs-28 subwoofers per side, and four al-4s as lip fills was all we used, and there was still headroom left.”
The Bender Theater stage saw Buddy Guy and Robert Randolph perform via six al-8s in the air per side along with hs-28 subwoofers on the floor. Meanwhile, various hm-112s and hm-212s zigzagged the stage for monitoring.
The Bender Showroom stage at the festival ran so long, the audio crew was split into two shifts. This venue was housed in the Plaza hotel’s main showroom. H.A.S. Productions loaded in al-8s, al-4s and hs-28 subwoofers along with a tall pile of hm-112 monitors.
“Downbeat was 12 noon in this room each day and wasn’t scheduled to stop until 4 a.m. each night,” said Easley. “When you have the likes of Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Mike Zito, Tommy Castro, and Tab Benoit all on stage together making some amazing music, you just let them keep going no matter what time it is. We knew that coming in and planned accordingly with our staff to ensure we were on point for our client.”
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