ATK Audiotek Selects JBL as Running Mate for Republican National Convention Sound System

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — JBL VerTec line array loudspeakers were deployed by ATK Audiotek for the Republican National Convention that took place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. from Sept. 1-4. The convention, which featured major speeches by party leaders and luminaries including President George W. Bush, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Major Gen. Rick Goddard of the U.S. Air Force (ret) and U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, among others, culminated with a major speech by Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

BUENA PARK, Calif. — Eight years after Linkin Park released their first CD, the band has embarked again on the Projekt Revolution Tour. This time around, monitor engineer Kevin “Tater” McCarthy has taken along the new Yamaha DSP5D Expander for use in conjunction with a PM5D monitor console.

LONDON — Norwegian band Secret Garden finished off this year’s tour with a special concert including a symphony orchestra. This wasthe first show with the new Soundcraft Vi Series V3.0 software in use. The last concert of the tour was a special outdoor show incorporating a 27-piece symphony orchestra in the band’s hometown of Kristiansand, Norway. With the orchestra and nine musicians/singers on stage, the need for more than 64 channels was obvious.

GLENVIEW, Ill. — Known to most Midwest concert promoters as “the NEXO guys,” Gand Concert Sound of Glenview, Ill. has completed the first half of the year with record utilization of their expansive NEXO speaker inventory. Gand supplied over 140 NEXO GEO T Boxes in June alone for such artists as Dickey Betts (also using a Yamaha M7CL console), Jo Dee Messina, Pat Benatar, Merle Haggard, Charlie Daniels, 38 Special, Shooter Jennings, Blue Truth, Gavin DeGraw, Frankie Valli, REO Speedwagon, Sawyer Brown, Wayne Newton, Trisha Yearwood, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, Muddy Waters Blues Fest and Herbie Hancock.

LONDON — Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart’s Phantom of the Opera, one of the West End’s most successful productions, celebrated 21 years at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. The occasion was marked with the installation of a Meyer Sound system featuring the new UPQ-1P wide coverage loudspeaker.

DALY CITY, Calif. — Every time Kevin Moore puts out an album, he gains a new wave of fans. The urbane bluesman — better known as Keb’ Mo’ — has gone from playing obscure clubs in south central L.A. to filling halls across several continents. His current tour in support of his new album, Suitcase, has him bouncing between Europe and North America, alternating between headlining and sharing the stage with the likes of Taj Mahal and Robert Cray. At the FOH and monitor helms are two Digidesign VENUE live sound systems.  

MIAMI — With 17 GRAMMY awards lining his shelves — more than any other Spanish musician in history — Alejandro Sanz has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide. Born in Madrid, Spain, these days Sanz officially calls South Florida home, but more often than not he can be seen onstage performing around the globe. Touring on the success of El Tren de los Momentos, his latest disc featuring a duet with Shakira entitled “Te lo Agradezco, Pero No,” Sanz has trusted his sound to Shure since his first tour.

DENVER — The Las Vegas location of Production Resource Group (PRG) reports that it deployed full L-ACOUSTICS loudspeaker systems for two high-profile events staged in Denver during the recent Democratic National Convention. The first production, Rock The Vote’s “Ballot Bash,” served as a star-studded event showcasing the power of the youth vote in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. Featuring performances from Fall Out Boy, N*E*R*D, Jakob Dylan and others, Ballot Bash rocked over 2,500 attendees at the tri-level Ellie Caulkins Opera House, providing an energizing close to the first day of DNC festivities.

LONDON — When Tom Hackley, a final year student at the University of London’s Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD), was tasked with designing the sound for a production of the musical Company, he was also given the opportunity to get hands-on experience of a new piece of equipment on the production. Mindful of his transition into a full-time freelance sound designer, Hackley chose DiGiCo.