BOCA RATON, FL — Pianist, singer, composer Ben Folds recently made a concert appearance at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton as part of a tour supporting his new solo album, Way to Normal, and ASR ProEvents of Orlando provided gear, including an updated set of Martin Audio wedges.
For the event, Folds was backed by bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Sam Smith, with a close-miked percussion/keyboard rig set up on stage right and the percussion rig on stage left.
The audio setup and songs on Way to Normal made the choice of monitors a key consideration, giving Sergio Leenen, system tech for ASR, an opportunity to try out something new.
“We originally brought out 12 Martin Audio LE1200s,” said Leenen. “When we heard the band the night before at the Hard Rock in Orlando, we decided to add the LE2100s to give the drummer and bass player the additional power and punch they needed. The bass player plays these incredibly overdriven notes and I wanted to give the LE1200s a real chance to shine.”
In addition to the Martin Audio wedges, the system included Yamaha PM5D mixers for FOH and Monitor, Dolby Lake processing and Crown Macro-Tech amps. FOH engineer for the band was Leo Overtoom was FOH engineer for the band and Mike Komm was Monitor engineer.
“When the monitor engineer heard the LE2100, it's like a whole new world opened for him. He was really impressed,” Leenen said. The band was also “extremely happy,” Leenen added. “We normally use the LE1200s, but this show gave us a chance to take out the LE2100s and prove their worth.”
For more information, please visit www.martin-audio.com.
