Five Finger Death Punch (5FDP), a heavy metal group that has gained tremendous popularity since their debut in 2007, recently toured the U.S. with Adamson Systems Energia line arrays.
The group co-headlined with Danish metal band Volbeat. Hellyeah and Nothing More – two other metal bands – were openers during the tour, which played largely sold-out arenas, performing for an average of 8,000 fans at each stop.
Escondido, CA-based Sound Image provided stacks and racks for the tour including 48 Adamson E15 and 12 E12 line source enclosures and 24 E218 subwoofers. Bruce Reiter, 5FDP front of house engineer and production manager for the tour, first heard an Adamson rig when visiting a friend mixing another rock band.
“I thought it translated heavy music in a smooth and powerful way,” Reiter explains. “After speaking with a few respected FOH mixers we decided it was the perfect fit for what Five Finger Death Punch was doing.”
“The production manager in me loves how quick and easy the system goes up and comes down,” he adds. “As a mixer I have to say that it’s frinkin’ awesome. My guitars sound natural, drums are crushing, bass is booming and vocals are crystal clear – never harsh – the PA has a very comfortable sound. The volume level from front to back in the arenas was incredibly even as well.”
The typical performance setup consisted of left-right arrays made up of twelve E15s followed by four E12s. Out fill was covered by two more arrays, this time each consisted of eight E15s with two E12s on the bottom. Sound Image system tech Cameron Whaley, who had not used the Adamson PA prior to the tour, came away impressed.
“For some of the larger venues we expanded the main arrays, but mostly this set-up did the job nicely,” Whaley says. “The E15s, with their enhanced low end, were a great choice for this type of music, and the E12s? They are incredibly versatile. They sound sonically the same as the E15s which creates a seamless transition.”
Each performance also used all 24 E218 subwoofers – either ground stacked 12 per side under the left-right arrays for the smaller rooms (with limited rigging) or half stacked on the ground while the other half was flown behind the main PA at larger arenas.
“The Sound Image crew – Cameron along with Tarik Kahn and Tony Luna (monitors) – did a stellar job with the audio production,” says Reiter. The system was exactly what a tour this size needed and fit the type of music being played extremely well. I would recommend it to anyone.”