– Employs Nearly 50 Line Array Loudspeakers and 16 Subwoofers during the Event-
a VUE al-8 Array
Organizers of Las Vegas’ 23rd Annual City of Lights Jazz Rhythm & Blues Festival asked H.A.S Productions to provide a full spectrum of audio services for the event that took place on April 18 and 19. With 2015 being the first year the company has serviced the festival, the H.A.S. team knew that they needed a complete sound system that could convey every nuance and subtlety of jazz, and the VUE Audiotechnik al-Class Line Array system was their number one choice.
The two-day festival, featuring such artists as the Family Stone, Kenny Lattimore, Gerald Albright, the Jazz Attack Band and Pieces of a Dream, was as demanding as the show is prestigious. Michael Schivo, the legendary promoter and founder of the festival, is known for his tough and exacting standards. When he relayed to H.A.S. engineers how pleased he was with the sound, Jay Easley, H.A.S. Productions’ chief operating officer, and his colleagues were elated. “Mr. Schivo has been doing this for a very long time and was thrilled at how good the sound was,” Easley says. “We’re really excited that we were able to exceed his expectations.
“When you’re doing a jazz festival, every nuance is important,” he continues. “Subtleties and dynamics are everything with these amazing, talented musicians, therefore the VUE rig is the only system we would have taken to a festival like this.” Onstage, the eight hm-212 high-output stage monitors and eight hm-112 high-definition stage monitors drew compliments from many of the artists, Easley says. “Many of the performers and guests told us ‘Wow, this is truly the best this show has ever sounded,’ ” he adds. The engineers were very impressed, too.”
The view of the stage at CITY OF LIGHTS JAZZ & RnB festival in Las Vegas, NV
H.A.S. Productions, a Las Vegas-based full-service production company that is independently owned and operated, provided a sound-reinforcement system comprising 32 VUE Audiotechnik al-8 high-output loudspeakers, 16 al-4 subcompact loudspeakers, 12 powered hs-28 dual 18-inch ACMä subwoofers and four al-4SB flyable isobaric subwoofers. “We bought the VUE al-8s because we think it is the best-sounding PA out there,” Easley adds. “The al-8 and al-4 are the perfect loudspeakers to use at many of the Las Vegas venues in which we work. With VUE Audiotechnik, we were able to cover the entire 3,500-person SRO venue perfectly.”
H.A.S. employed VUE Networked controlled V4 and V6 Systems Engines to power the al-Class FOH Line Array systems and the hm-112/212 monitors used on stage. “It was a complete VUE production, and it was all from our own expanding VUE inventory,” says Easley. “I think we may be the biggest VUE house in the world right now.”
A daytime show with an all VUE line-up on stage.
He also noted that his company recently employed the VUE al-8s at some rock ‘n’ roll shows. “They have enough horsepower to absolutely knock your socks off,” he remarked. “But it was the finesse and clarity of the system that was of essence at this Jazz-centric festival. We couldn’t be happier with the way the VUE system performed on the City of Lights stage. We heard positive comments from so many people. Even the festival M.C. at the end of each night said, ‘This is the best sound we’ve ever had.’ We were just blown away by that feedback.”