SAN FRANCISCO — The old vaudeville theater opened in 1922 and became a Cinerama movie theater in the 1960s. Today it is owned by SHN where they have proudly presented Broadway productions at the Golden Gate Theatre, including “Chicago,” “Hairspray,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Rent.” With a capacity of 2,297, it’s also a popular destination for touring plays, operas and live music.
Recently, legendary musicians Daryl Hall and Todd Rundgren performed at the Golden Gate Theatre. Sound Image Productions was tasked with providing a full system for both bands. Rundgren is no stranger to VUE. Todd toured with al-8 arrays in 2018 and obtained VUE hm-112 and hm-212 monitors with VUEdrive amps for his 2019 tour. For the Golden Gate Theatre, Sound Image provided 18 al-12 acoustic linearity line array elements — arrays of nine al-12s flown each side of the stage. The orchestra pit held housed hs-221 subs.
The theater wasn’t without its acoustic challenges. Computer modeling, drawings and measurements are essential for predicting coverage, but sometimes the real-world implementation presents greater issues. That was the case with the Golden Gate Theatre’s upper balcony. Sound Image staff engineer and system tech on the show, Winston Damme, explained. “Upper balcony areas did not match the model created from drawings/measurements, so al-12 array angles were adjusted to reach the uppermost seating.” When asked why Sound Image deployed a VUE system, Damme replied “for the clarity and ease of rigging.”
Having two co-headlining acts can present challenges when tuning a system to ensure both artists have consistent sound. Damme commented “I’m impressed with how good the al-12’s sound right out of the box, the presets for the total number of say, al-12’s, works and that the rig continues to sound good even when pushed hard. The hs-221 subs are equally amazing. The software seems more intuitive and easier to operate than some other manufacturers software.”
Sound Image San Francisco continues to deploy its VUE systems for outdoor festivals and venues.
For more info, visit: vue-audiotechnik.com.
