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The L-Acoustics K2 rig proved just right at Red Rocks. Photo by Jon Winkler

Morrissey: Peace By Piece

Moz Sweeps the States on His ‘World Peace is None of Your Business’ Tour with Thunder Audio

Stephen Patrick Morrissey, best known simply as Morrissey or “Moz,” has never been one to shy away from controversy. Whether publicly voicing his disgust for England’s monarchy system or lambasting the global meat production industry for “murder,” the former Smiths’ frontman always has plenty to say — both in speech and song.

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FOH view of the BassPOD stage

Festival Spotlight: Electric Daisy Carnival’s BassPOD Stage

One of today’s most successful festival franchises, the first Electric Daisy Carnival took place in 1997 and has since expanded with events throughout the U.S. and beyond, including Mexico, Puerto Rico and England, with plans to launch festivals in late 2015 and mid-2016 in Brazil and Japan. The focus is electronic dance music (EDM) with the throbbing beats of these rave-style events carrying on throughout the night, accompanied by elaborate lighting displays, carnival rides, fireworks, pyrotechnics and more, creating a dazzling experience of sights and sound.

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The mains system was based around a large Meyer Sound LEO rig.

The Grateful Dead ‘Fare Thee Well’ Tour

Surround Comes to Live Stadium Shows

When it comes to stadium touring, the Grateful Dead pretty much wrote the book on the subject, having done more stadium shows than any band in history. So to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Grateful Dead (the band formed in 1965), the four original founding members (Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir) decided to launch an end-of-an-era “Fare Thee Well” mini-tour.

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FRONT of HOUSE editor George Petersen

Ideas and Innovations

It’s hard to believe, but the 2015 Parnelli Awards season is almost upon us. So far, FRONT of HOUSE readers have already stepped up to select the finalists vying for the top regional sound company honor — the Hometown Hero Award. These include DBS Audio (Coatesville, PA), Mid-Coast Sound (Nashville), Clearwing Productions (Milwaukee), Spider Ranch Productions (South San Francisco), Onstage Systems (Dallas) and Toronto’s Sound Art. Congratulations to all!

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Back row view of setup for John Mellencamp show at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theater: A Tale of Two Systems

John Mellencamp may hail from beyond the outskirts of Bloomington, Indiana, but he has nothing against a big town. His 80-date Plain Spoken tour, which ran from Jan. 21 to Aug. 4, 2015 in support of his late 2014 album release, included performances at two Big Apple icons: Carnegie Hall (April 20), the epitome of classical musical achievement, and the Apollo Theater (April 23), long synonymous with uptown funk.

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Fig 1: Cross section of a modern compression driver — in this case, a JBL 475ND used in its high-end consumer K2 system, but essentially similar to the pro 2450H model.

Performance, Precision and Money: Compression Drivers Exposed

While big subwoofers tend to get the attention of both sound companies and audiences, the compression driver keeps its intricacies hidden from view, as shown in Fig. 1. This month, we’ll tease out some of the components within compression drivers and help explain why these small devices are every bit as complex — and often more expensive — than their booming big brothers. Along the way, we’ll talk a little bit about how the way something is made influences the cost of production.

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