The recent North American leg of the Trilogy Tour featuring Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin and Pitbull was equipped with a concert sound reinforcement system provided by Sound Image/Clair Global headed by JBL Professional VTX line arrays joined by supporting components.
Enrique Iglesias front of house engineer Brad Divens collaborated with Pitbull FOH engineer Will Madera and Ricky Martin FOH engineer Jorge Frontera to specify the system. “I was introduced to VTX on a previous tour with Brad and Enrique Iglesias, and for the last six or seven years VTX has been on our rider,” says Madera. “The first time I listened to it I fell in love with it. It translates my mix very well. I love the low end and the definition of the mids and highs. It has that pop rock sound that I like very much. It was a unanimous decision to go with JBL VTX on this tour, and it was definitely the right choice.”
The system incorporated 96 VTX A12 elements with a main hang of 20 boxes per side and side hangs of 16 boxes per side, joined by auxiliary hangs of 14 loudspeakers. Bass was reinforced with more than 40 VTX B28 subwoofers both flown with the main arrays and on the ground in front of the stage. The crew also included 12 VTX A8 loudspeakers stacked on top of the ground subs to deliver front fill coverage.
“The coverage and impact from that system is incredible,” states Divens. “I like the punch, the clarity, I especially like the top end, it’s so smooth and airy and very present. The vocal quality is great coming out of it. Everything seems to sit right where you expect it to be. It’s right in your face but not aggressive. There’s no downside to the VTX system. It goes up quickly, it’s efficient, and powerful. The system is at 100% and it can do anything. I’ve mixed on every single possible rig. JBL VTX is the rig I choose. I’d put it up against any other rig.”
Both Madera and Divens also noted the quality of work by Bill Chase, the tour’s systems engineer, with Madera noting, “Bill Chase is our system tech, and he’s really good at making it sound the exact same every day in every different room—which is the hardest thing to do. The JBL system performed consistently on this tour, which makes our jobs easier. It’s been one of my best experiences touring yet, no complaints whatsoever. It’s great to be able to hang out with incredible engineers like Jorgito and Brad. I look up to their mixes, they’re incredible at what they do. It was a great learning experience.”
“This crew we have is exceptional,” concludes Divens. “That’s really made it painless when it comes to the audio portion. To have consistency night after night from the audio department is the biggest thing I can ask for as a mixer. There’s not one night on this tour when I felt that something wasn’t right—it’s been perfect. Every arena is different, but you put 15,000 screaming fans in there, and it all comes together. The shows have been going great, and that’s partly because of what the PA delivers, and the crew that sets it up.”
