System Profile: A Make-Over At The Grove

The Winter NAMM Show and Disneyland aren’t the only reasons people flock to Anaheim, California every year.

Head east on Katella Avenue, across I-5, and the city also hosts the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Angels, and tucked between them is a great mid-sized concert hall – The Grove of Anaheim.

Owned by the City of Anaheim, The Grove is managed and operated by Nederlander Concerts, which owns and/or operates more than 26 theaters and amphitheaters, including the Pantages, the Santa Barbara Bowl and the Greek Theatre.

The Grove presents more than 275 events annually, with attendance over 200,000 per year – not too shabby for a concert hall that seats about 2,000.

Artists span the gamut of genre and demographic, ranging from classic rock bands like The Black Crowes and Kansas to alternative groups like Fall Out Boy and 3 Doors Down, as well as Broadway shows like “Rent” and “Stomp” and comedy stars such as Lewis Black and the late, great George Carlin.

If you know people who tour, you know someone who’s been to The Grove.

The venue’s management had been researching new line arrays for the past several years, and had “test driven” many systems along the way, when touring acts carrying production would bring in their systems.

The consoles at the venue are a similar vintage to The Grove’s previous point-source loudspeakers, though many national acts bring their own digital desks these days.

Blue Oyster Cult doing a soundcheck, with QSC WideLine10 arrays flanking the stage.

At Front of House, a 48-channel Yamaha PM3500 is supplemented with Yamaha effects, Behringer gates and compressors, plus a BSS FCS-960 graphic for system EQ.

The monitor console is a Yamaha M3000, with 10 channels of BSS Audio Opal Series graphic EQ and Yamaha SPX990 effects. Microphone inventory includes Audix drum mics, Shure SM58s and SM57s, pairs of AKG C 451s and Shure KSM44s, plus eight Shure UHF-R wireless systems.

Rider Ready
“Our old speakers had served us pretty well for a number of years, but it was old technology and not a line array – which most tech riders call for,” explains Louis Dorsey, Production Manager at The Grove.

“We got to hear and use almost every major brand of line array that came through the doors with various touring acts. Some were very good while others left much to be desired. And most of them were just too expensive.

“We had heard the QSC WideLine10 come through on a couple of different shows and were always impressed with its coverage and output capacity for a box that small,” he continues.

“And of course, we knew how good QSC amplifiers are because they’d been powering our old rig for many years.”

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