Ironman Sound Industries provided a turnkey solution from its St. Louis headquarters for the staging, audio equipment and labor for a concert featuring local favorite the David Crowder Band and a supporting act at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Michigan.
According to ISI event coordinator Nick Barnes the concert was in a field house/gym that wasn’t built for concerts, so “we didn’t know 100% what the rigging situation was going to be. Luckily, our (Martin Audio) W8LCs gave us the exceptional audio quality we needed in a light weight that let us do a six box hang for less than a 1,000 lbs. We just put them up, steeled them and crossed our fingers, but it worked out fine. And sounded wonderful.”
The loudspeaker setup included six Martin Audio W8LCs a side with four WSX subs ground-stacked beneath them. ISI also used Midas Verona and Sienna consoles, along with Lab Gruppen PLM amps.
The stage setup also provided a challenge. It ran along the long side of the room, with the audience of about 3,000 standing on the floor and sitting in the 30 ft. deep x 20 ft. high bleachers facing the stage 100 feet away.
Barnes used Martin Audio Viewpoint software to make sure the sound only hit the audience. As he explains, “I guesstimated how tall the bleachers were, then used Martin Audio Display software and played with it manually to know where I was pitching the boxes down to hit the top row of bleachers and end there so we weren’t throwing sound off the cinder block wall.”
Discussing the reaction to the W8LCs that ISI had just purchased, Barnes concludes, “The client loved the sound and so did the band. The new W8LCs were great right out of the box. We didn’t have to do a lot of processing, which is typical with Martin Audio speakers. We now have 30 W8LCs for the spring shows we have coming up along with 24 WSX subs due in soon.”
