SAN FRANCISCO — Turnovers and overall sloppy play during this year’s matchup of the Carolina Panthers and the victorious Denver Broncos may not have provided one of the best Super Bowl games in history. However, as the host of the 50th annual Super Bowl, the city of San Francisco pulled out all the stops to ensure that the fans and locals had a great and memorable time.
Preparations began by constructing a huge “Super Bowl City” waterside concert venue and event center on an unused pier along the town’s picturesque bay. In the week before the game, Pier 70 and its “Project Nightclub” venue featured shows by The Dave Matthews Band, Pharrell Williams and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Meanwhile, celebrants with a classical bent could attend two celebratory performances at the Louise K. Davies Symphony Hall. And to top it off, Metallica (pictured above) performed a Saturday-night eve of the Super Bowl show for a sold-out audience at AT&T Park, the stadium home of the San Francisco Giants.
Support for all the music events was provided by Bay Area soundco Pro Media/Ultrasound (revered for its long association with the Grateful Dead), who used Meyer Sound LEO line arrays for the pier and stadium rock shows and Meyer’s new LEOPARD linear sound reinforcement system for the symphony dates.
As in past years, live sound for the game itself (and the halftime extravaganza) was handled by ATK Audiotek of Valencia, CA. To enhance the game day experience, Meyer Sound’s technical team worked with ATK to supplement the existing sound system at the new Levi’s Stadium with Meyer SB-1 parabolic long-throw sound beams (shown here) and SB-3 sound field synthesis speakers.
So between the pre-game festivities, through Lady Gaga’s soulful national anthem, the cast of thousands halftime show and to the game’s end as the final seconds counted down, the sound reinforcement crew for Super Bowl 50 handled every detail with excellence. Congrats to all for a job well done!
