QUEBEC CITY, Canada – For the OneRepublic 2017 Honda Civic Tour, which launched July 7 and runs to Sept. 12 before heading to Asia, VER is serving as a one-stop shop, providing audio, video, lighting and automation. FOH and monitor engineers Trey Smith and David McMullin are using DiGiCo SD7s. The P.A. system includes d&b audiotechnik J-Series and J-Subs powered by d&b D80 amps, and the band is using Shure UHF-R wireless mics and Shure PSM1000 PMs with a Shure Axient setup for RF wireless optimization. Supporting acts include Fitz & The Tantrums and James Arthur.
More details from VER (www.ver.com):
The mandate for a clean design drives all production decisions of the OneRepublic 2017 Honda Civic 2017 tour. VER is providing a turnkey solution by providing audio, video, lighting, and tying it together with automated rigging on OneRepublic’s North American run with Fitz & The Tantrums and acoustic artist James Arthur this summer.
Automated Rigging Executes ‘Perfect Cues’
Deploying VER’s automated rigging “came out of sheer necessity,” says Production Manager Zito.
Show designer Raj Kapoor and co-production designer/lighting designer Mark Butts of Preset Productions discussed their design dilemma with VER’s rigging project managers David Martin and Richard Cano. The solution: an automated rigging system of eight Kinesys Elevation +1 systems to safely and precisely move trusses with 70,000 pounds of lighting, audio and LED video panels.
“Safety is paramount, and this system gives you the ability to use automation to enhance your safety. It allows a greater level of precision to the exact location every single time. Automation is used to not only move trusses, but we can accelerate or decelerate speed to achieve the designer’s vision,” comments David Martin.
The Kinesys Elevation 1+ systems is a variable speed chain hoist control system. It removes the need for large quantities of cabling and allows several motors and controllers to be supplied by single power and data cables – meeting the ‘clean production’ mandate. Using Vector software, the system allows the movement of lighting, LED panels, trusses and any rigged pieces to be triggered by timecode cues.
The system makes the job safer and the movements reliable for head rigger Bill Ringstl and automation operator Clay Hutson. “The Kinesys system is brilliant,” Hutson says. “The movements are repeatable and precise, it allows us to ‘thread the needle’ so to speak, as many our cues are timed now. The system executes perfectly.”
“Critical in reinforcing safety” are several Kinesys LibraCells – a load-measuring shackle – with the LibraWatch system – a portable, load monitoring software application that works on hand-held digital devices, Hutson adds.
Clean Design, Clean Audio
“The cleanliness of the design drives all decisions all the way through audio,” says Zito. “We decided to hang the subs behind the mains to maintain a smaller footprint and we use cable bridges for cable management even in the sheds- this insures no cables are landing downstage. Each day as we put this show into different venues, audio has been incredibly flexible in their placement to maintain the overall aesthetic.”
FOH Engineer Trey Smith mixes the audio for the audience using the DiGiCo SD7 for OneRepublic. Monitor Engineer David McMullin uses the DiGiCo SD7 to mix audio for the artists. For microphones, they deploy the Shure UHF-R wireless microphone systems and Shure PSM1000 personal monitoring system. The Shure Axient Digital High Performance RF maximizes the signals and mitigate RF interference, keeping the sound clean.
The PA system features d&b audiotechnik J-Series equipment designed for large-scale, far-reaching sound reinforcement. There are 32 x d&b J Main loudspeakers left and right, 12 x d&b J Subwoofers flown left and right, 12 x d&b J Subs flown left and right, 8 x d&b J Sub Ground Subs, 4 x d&b Infra Ground Subs and 1 x d&b D80 Amplifier Package.
Sean Henry is sound engineer and crew chief, monitor tech is Cory Benson, and Kyle Fletcher the PA and stage tech.
Considering the variety of venues on the tour – from amphitheaters to arenas – Zito notes, “The VER audio team has done an incredible job maintaining audio consistency amid venue inconsistencies.”
The production manager says he was “hesitant” at first to use just one vendor for the entire tour. “I discussed this with few of my other production manager colleagues and they all had great things to say about using VER for all their production needs. It really made sense for us and I’ve been very pleased,” Zito says. “It’s made my life a lot easier just dealing with one equipment partner!”
The OneRepublic 2017 Honda Civic Tour runs July 7-Sept.12 throughout North America, followed by Asia Sept. 17-25.
