Top visionaries in the street fashion, art and music scene descended upon the Long Beach Convention Center in November for ComplexCon, which organizers dubbed “This generation’s World Fair, as part mall, part fashion show, and part hip-hop concert.”
Sound Image, the exclusive sound company for the event, partnered with VUE Audiotechnik to deliver al-12 line arrays for the event’s main stage, which featured performances from N.E.R.D, Gucci Mane, and M.I.A.
On top of musical performances, surprise artists such as NBA star Kobe Bryant, and rapper Kendrick Lamar, who had the VUE al-12 system accompany him on the US leg of his The Damn. Tour this past summer, were creating mayhem as Nike brought them out to speak at their booth in a panel discussion format.
“It’s the bleeding edge of culture. It’s the intersection of thoughts, ideas, fashion, music, youth culture and art. It is an innovation in commerce because it’s sort of like the coolest mall you’ve never been to, and you can’t go to because it only happens once a year,” says Marc Ecko, founder, chief brand and creative officer of event organizers, Complex Networks. 
According to Sound Image’s Jeremy Peters, who mixed monitors for the event, the caliber of the performers, the range of material — from rap to poetry — and the event’s promise to push all creative boundaries made VUE the ideal choice.
“This was a big deal,” enthused Peters . “We were embarking on a journey of presenting this musical masterpiece to fans and ComplexCon exclusive concert goers for the first time. No one has heard this new N.E.R.D. music and we had to knock it out of the park, painting the exact image and sonic data that N.E.R.D. produced. The organizers wanted a system that could be easily pushed to the limits while delivering exceptional fidelity, regardless of material.”
Sound Image deployed a total of 56 VUE al-12 Acoustic Linearity array elements configured as two front facing 16 box hangs and two 12 box arrays on either side of the stage for auxiliary side coverage.
Networked VUEDrive V3’s systems engines provided all power and processing for the arrays. For low frequency support, Sound Image opted for 32 VUE hs-221 dual 21-inch infrasonic ACM subwoofers with onboard VUEDrive electronics, extending output to below 25 Hz. SystemVUE software allowed full network access to subs and arrays for easy setup.
Tim “Ziggy” Zeigler was the system engineer and Nathan Payne was crew chief; both flew in from Sound Image’s Nashville office.
“From the moment we flew the arrays and got the subwoofers in place, it was just a couple of tweaks to get everything in perfect alignment,” says ComplexCon front of house engineer, Chris Lee. “The VUE systems just settled right in with very minimal effort. We found the right preset and we were good to go with virtually no EQ or tweaking.”
In addition to an easy setup, Lee was equally impressed with the al-12’s transparency and fidelity.
“When we first listened to the al-12, we could hear all the same details that we’re used to hearing from the studio tracks when listening through headphones. I’ve never experienced anything like that with a PA before. Across the board, the al-12 is just amazingly smooth and accurate.”
The Sound Image VUE al-12 system recently completed the US leg of Kendrick Lamar’s The Damn. Tour. Other VUE gear can currently be spotted on Third Eye Blind’s Fall of the Summer Gods tour through January 1st, 2018.
The host committee for ComplexCon was led by cultural director/executive chair Pharrell Williams, artist Takashi Murakami, Off-White designer and founder Virgil Abloh, Colette co-founder Sarah Andelman, reggaeton artist J. Balvin and actor/activist Jaden Smith.
