The Mercedes-Benz Evolution tour is designed to attract millennials by combining sophisticated automobiles with cutting-edge live music, personal style activities and interactive art exhibits. The ongoing U.S. tour rolled out in New York City followed by dates in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, expected to draw up to 3,000 music enthusiasts that have expressed interest in the automaker’s brand.
Miami-based SRX Events has teamed up with Mix3 Sound, also based in Miami, to provide full production for the tour. Mix3 is tasked with deploying sound, video and lighting systems for each event, with owner John Ferlito choosing to roll out his new Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) Anya line arrays as mains for all dates.
“I looked at many different line array systems and talked to a lot of audio professionals in Miami before making my decision – it was an investment for now and the future,” Ferlito explains during a stop at the Aon Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier in Chicago. “When I heard Anya I knew it was exactly what we were looking for. It still amazes me how easy it is to use while sounding so great.”
Varying Venues
Each date offers a performance by Grammy Award-winning musician/DJ ?uestlove or GQ magazine’s “most sought-after DJ of the world,” DJ Ruckus, followed by British rock band Bastille or Passion Pit, an “indietronica” band from Massachusetts.
“The tour was always going to be a challenge because each of the venues was completely different,” says Ferlito. “New York and Los Angeles were simpler, because those venues were equipped with house PA systems, while in Chicago, Atlanta and Austin, we’re handling everything.”
Part of Navy Pier’s original 1916 construction, the 18,000-square-foot Aon Grand Ballroom has a sweeping 80-foot domed ceiling, a large platform stage at the front of the room, and panoramic views of the Chicago lakefront via windows in the other three walls. For Evolution, the main floor offered a dance floor surrounded by several bars, numerous Mercedes-Benz vehicles, and interactive attractions. The balcony, which wraps around the room, provided a VIP area and also served as the front of house location.
“It’s a large, reverberant space, so we directed most of the sound on the main floor and kept it off the walls and ceilings as much as possible,” Ferlito notes. “Because the only place for FOH was the balcony, we had to aim some sound up there as well.”
The PA consisted of left-right arrays each made up of eight self-powered Anya modules, with six EAW SB1002 dual 21-inch subwoofers ground stacked two-wide/three-high beneath. Compact EAW JF56NT loudspeakers placed on top of the subs delivered front fill, while another JF56NT was positioned center stage to provide monitoring for Bastille. The subs and fill loudspeakers were both driven by Crown amplifiers joined in their stage-left racks by EAW UX8800 DSP.
Directional Nature
Paul Cooper, Bastille’s long-time engineer, mixed on an Avid VENUE SC48 digital console from his balcony perch. “The footprint and features are everything we need when doing shows of this size,” Cooper says, pointing specifically to plug-in and Pro Tools support as two of the console’s bigger pluses.
This was his first time out with Anya, Cooper notes, and he found it’s directional nature appealing, while still offering enough coverage flexibility to render out fills unnecessary. All of the 22 transducers in each Anya module receive independent power and processing, working hand-in-hand with the Resolution 2 simulation program that predicts the performance of arrays within a venue. Driven by proprietary F-Chart acoustical modeling software, Resolution performs real-time mechanical analysis to precisely calculate each loudspeaker’s performance parameters.
“Resolution makes the set-up of the system straightforward,” Ferlito says. “Once you’re familiar with the program, it’s simple to enter the required information and let the software determine how many boxes are required to ensure even, consistent coverage throughout the venue.”
“Navy Pier isn’t the easiest place to work, especially with the mix position (on this occasion) up on the balcony,” Cooper adds. “The lack of real treatment and the ceiling bowl create somewhat of a chamber, which is better suited to lower volumes.” In addition, as a corporate show, the usual audience absorption wasn’t what it normally would be, with most of the floor space occupied by the stalls and car displays, adding to the acoustic challenge.
“Despite that, the clarity of the system shone through, and things were legible and clear,” he continues. “I’d like to hear the system in a more controlled environment, but I think I would happily recommend it as an option to people based on its top-end clarity and spread alone.”
With the Chicago date occurring early in the tour, Ferlito points out that there’s still plenty of work to be done to prepare for the remaining stops. “I’ve not been able to scout the other venues yet, but that’s another reason I feel comfortable with our decision to use Anya. It’s an extremely flexible system that is simple to set up and tear down.
“And if there’s a change in plans? If they add balcony seating or expand the show floor at the last minute? We’re OK,” he concludes. “We don’t have to take it down and modify the arrays, we just make a few adjustments in the software and it’s all set.”
Sam McLean is a long-time writer working in pro audio, based in the U.S.
