3G Productions of Las Vegas and Los Angeles deployed a Martin Audio MLA system for Wango Tango 2016 at the StubHub Center stadium in Carson, CA.
Sponsored by KIIS FM 102.7 and hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the all-day concert event featured Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, Meghan Trainor, Zayn, Iggy Azalea, The Chainsmokers and Fifth Harmony.
3G system tech Manny Perez explains that challenges for the show included, “a residential neighborhood beyond the stands in the direction the PA was pointing which has been a source of noise complaints in the past.
“That and the audience stage left was sitting in the stands while the audience stage right was both in the stands and box seats inside a flat building with windows that created reflections off the glass we had to control.
“So the PA had to cover a lot of different surfaces in what was an asymmetrical space and MLA’s control helped us make the adjustments for all of those various points quickly and easily. Plus a large shade canopy covered most of the stadium’s top tiers, which was a concern in terms of reflections and the fact they might funnel the sound towards the residential neighborhood.”
The MLA system provided by 3G included 14 MLA and one MLD (downfill) enclosures a side for the Main Hangs, with 16 MLA Compact a side for the side hangs, 6 Martin Audio DD12’s for front fills and 32 MLX subs ground-stacked in front of the stage.
3G crew for the event in addition to Perez included Clark Thomas (front of house tech), Ken Quinlan (monitors A), Dustin Delcker (monitors B), Willie Gonzalez (RF tech), Jon Daly (RF coordinator), Andrew Grom Warren (stage tech), Alex Kanakis (stage tech) and Kevin Wear (stage tech).
“MLA was a major help for us in keeping the coverage uniform and consistent throughout the stadium while preventing noise spillage beyond the venue,” adds Perez. “I never got an alert about noise complaints from the neighborhood and the StubHub staff responsible for dB control were fine with the show’s off site sound levels.
“In terms of audio quality, it was a really great show,” he concludes. “Probably the best stadium event sonically speaking that I’ve heard in a long time. Guest front of house engineers and management for the headliners were ecstatic about MLA. It sounded really massive.”