News

ESCONDIDO, CA – With die-hard Dylan fans celebrating his current late-career renaissance, the folk legend’s onward-rolling Never Ending Tour continues to entertain concertgoers both familiar with and new to the artist’s decades-spanning work. For the tour’s most recent North American leg, which featured solo performances from the inimitable Elvis Costello as the opening act, FOH Engineer Pablo Wheeler requested a Soundcraft Vi6 digital live sound console. Escondido, Calif.-based Sound Image, which has been supplying PA systems for Dylan’s tours for the past seven years now, was happy to oblige.

Daytona, FL – After providing solid backline support for the entertainment at this year’s historic 50th Annual Daytona 500, ASR ProEvents had to produce the same concert quality audio at an intimate celebratory dinner party for 40 or 50 of the NASCAR-founding France family’s closest friends. As described by ASR’s Kenny Holton, “basically, we had to bring in touring audio results into a 30 x 50 square foot area without totally overwhelming the space.

Pro audio equipment manufacturer, Electro-Voice, and parent company, Robert Bosch North America LLC, have organized and released a 3-CD compilation of national artists to benefit Minnesota Helps bridge disaster relief effort. Exclusive studio and live tracks comprise the lineup of the now available 3-CD benefit compilation – Musicians for Minneapolis: 57 Songs for the I-35W Bridge Disaster Relief Effort. One hundred percent of proceeds raised through the sale of the CD will be donated to the Minnesota Helps: Bridge Disaster Fund.

Allen & Heath has added iDR0, a new processing unit, to its iLive digital mixing system, and has announced the release of iLive System Software v1.2.

Turbosound has developed a new loudspeaker bracket, which means the new Impact series is not only designed to satisfy styling and sound quality, but it also is designed to simplify the sound system installer’s job.

NEW YORK – Colombian rocker and previous 12-time Grammy Award-winner, Juanes, kicks off his ‘La Vida World Tour’ this March at New York's Madison Square Garden. At the audio helm with DiGiCo’s D5 live digital console is Rob “Cubby” Colby, best known for his resume as front-of-house/recording engineer for Phil Collins, Genesis, Prince, Janet Jackson, Bob Seeger, Ricky Martin and Shakira.

LOS ANGELES – Sennheiser filled the stage with performances from Rihanna, Beyoncé, Fergie, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony, broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Most of the Sennheiser performers opted to sing into Sennheiser's new MD 5235 dynamic capsule in combination with the top-of-the-range SKM 5200 wireless microphone, while others, including the "Biggest Night In Music's" biggest winner, Amy Winehouse, used Sennheiser's wired evolution e 935, and the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl favored the classic MD 431 II.

NILES, IL — massAV of Billerica, Mass., managed event staging for John McCain during the heated campaigning leading up to the New Hampshire primary. Shepard, the firm's chief audio engineer, hit the trail to oversee audio at larger gatherings, while fellow massAV staffers Sarith Nhem and John Inza mustered forces to meet an unpredictable schedule of whistle-stops and smaller rallies.

HAMPTON BEACH, NH – The historic Hampton Beach Casino, built in 1899, remains a leading attraction in the New England resort area, while the adjacent Casino Ballroom continually draws some of the top names in entertainment. In order to sustain its reputation as one of the best venues in which to play and hear live music, the 2,200-seat ballroom has received a major redesign of its audio and lighting systems, including the addition of a new loudspeaker system based on Meyer Sound’s MICA compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker.

KALAMAZOO, MI – Stage Lighting and Sound, Inc. recently installed a new custom-designed Yamaha Active Field Control (AFC) reverberation enhancement system at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium to enhance the acoustics. The venue, built in 1968, is used for touring Broadway productions, concerts by major touring musical artists, ballet, opera and dance, and is the home of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.

LOS ANGELES – The Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles has installed an L-ACOUSTICS KIVA line source array system with KILO low frequency extension speakers in Thayer Hall, a newly constructed 200-seat performance and instruction space. The loudspeaker system, which is powered by L-ACOUSTICS LA4 amplified controllers and also includes the company’s 108P self-powered reference monitors for left, center and right stage lip fill, was specified by A/V consultants Sonitus and is integrated into a campus-wide audio and video network.