The recently opened Hard Rock Live 2,500-seat performance venue at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain, with Live Nation serving as its exclusive talent booking agency, is also positioned to host a multitude of other events all supported with a sound design by Montreal-based Scéno Plus and installed by Clair Global that’s headed by L-Acoustics K2 arrays and a range of supporting components.
“L-Acoustics is the most well-known professional loudspeaker system, and you’ll find them on any technical rider,” states François Blais, Scéno Plus vice president of technology and specialized equipment. “And that’s why we especially liked K2 for this project: it’s a great-sounding system from a rider-friendly brand, which makes it so much easier for the venue to market itself. Today, it’s not enough to only go for the best sound. System designs must keep the economic aspects of venues in mind; they must be cost-effective. You have to look at systems design from the production manager’s perspective, too.” Additionally, he notes his experience with L-Acoustics in the past proves the level of support the brand brings with it: “They are there for us from the design phase through tuning the installed system.”
The venue’s main PA consists of 18 K2 divided into left and right hangs, 60 feet apart, managed by a pair of P1 processors: one primary, one backup. Ten KS28 subwoofers anchor the low end and five Kiva II serve as frontfills. Sidefills consist of six A15 Focus buttressed by four KS21 subs, while onstage a dozen X12 and six X15 wedge monitors are joined by two SB18 subs intended for the drums. Eleven LA12X and nine LA4X amplified controllers power the combined front of house and monitor systems that also incorporate a new pair of DiGiCo Quantum225 consoles.
Blais says that K2 allowed the system design to be flexible to reconfigure around the venue as needed for various applications. “It also means there isn’t a bad seat in the house because we can adjust for sight lines no matter where or how the system is positioned,” he adds.
The company regards this installation as a template for future Hard Rock Live venues in other and upcoming Hard Rock Hotel & Casino locations and how the L-Acoustics sound technology can be part of that. “Hard Rock Live Sacramento and its sound will be a model for our new live venue designs,” says Carl Sagen, production manager at Hard Rock Live Sacramento, who previously toured with Diana Ross and Faith No More.
“Hard Rock has always been about great sound. We wanted a system that would let this Hard Rock Live handle any event, from concerts to boxing and MMA to trade shows, as well as fulfill any contract rider, and it’s doing just that,” Sagen continues. “And it also sounds fabulous. We have been getting nothing but compliments from touring artists and their crews. The coverage and the sound quality are excellent. It’s what everyone expects from the Hard Rock brand: great sound.”
