On February 5th, some of music’s most popular acts graced the stage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY for “Amnesty International Bringing Human Rights Home,” the latest installment in the grassroots organization’s decades-long international series of concerts promoting the protection of human rights around the world.
FOH engineers Cocoy Alvarez & Danny Friedman (wearing RSA shirt) pause at the Amnesty International show in the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY on February 5, 2014.
With 10 full stage set-ups for acts including Imagine Dragons, The Flaming Lips, Lauryn Hill, Tegan And Sara, and others, the event presented Edgewood, NY-based sound company RSA Audio Services with the challenge of keeping the show running as close to the schedule as possible.
“Usually with these types of shows, we do six full bands, and then maybe a few unplugged performances,” explained Joe Light, owner of RSA Audio Services, “But we did 10 full bands for the show, along with speeches and video presentations. If each act played an extra five minutes, that’s almost one hour over the scheduled time.”
The FOH set up for the Amnesty International concert on February 5, 2014 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Introduced by Madonna, the highlight of the night included a speech by two members of Pussy Riot, the Russian punk rock protest group who were imprisoned for two years for performing at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savoir as a protest against Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. The group often protests for feminism, LGBT rights, and against Putin’s leadership.
For the event, RSA provided 28 JBL VerTec VT4889 line array boxes for the main PA, with 16 VT4888s for side coverage, along with 20 RSA RS-S subs and RS1-T front fills, all powered by Crown amplifiers. A pair of Avid Venue Profile consoles and a Venue SC48 console were provided at front of house, although some acts brought their own desks, such as a Midas Pro9 and a Yamaha console; RSA also provided another two Profiles and a SC48 in the massive monitor world. RSA provided RS1 and RS3F monitors for the event as well, along with Sennheiser G3 IEMs. A Shure UR4D RF system was used for wireless applications.
The sizable monitor world for the Amnesty International concert on February 5, 2014 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
The event’s audio technical coordinator was Mike Murphy. RSA’s crew included Danny Friedman, FOH and audio crew chief; Cocoy Alverez, FOH engineer; Jon Carter, patch master; Chip Auchincloss, monitor engineer; Joe Amato, monitor engineer; Miguel Soto, system tech; Jake Gukowski, RF and stage production mixer; Tom Giannoni, Mike Komm, Nick Cornwell, Rich Spagnola, stage techs; and Adam Schubert, Pro Tools recording tech.
RSA Audio Services
SWP
Amnesty International
www.amnestyusa.org
