Selling out Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center for two nights in October, Sensation’s Innerspace attracted more than 30,000 house and techno music fans – dressed entirely in white, according to the festival’s tradition.
While Djs worked from a rotating DJ booth resembling a giant white lotus blossom in the center of the arena (complete with waterfalls, fountains and huge light spheres) the sounds were delivered by a massive L-Acoustics loudspeaker system supplied and operated by NY-based Firehouse Productions.
From its Amsterdam debut in 2000, Sensation has become one of the world’s most successful indoor electronic dance music festivals. After producing more than 70 events for over two million people in two dozen countries, creator ID&T recently teamed up with promoter Live Nation to bring Sensation to North America for the very first time. As with its other productions, ID&T specified the L-Acoustics audio system.
Eight stacks of four K1 enclosures (wrapped in white cloth) were spaced around the perimeter of the stage addressing in-the-round main floor, while 48 SB28 subs delivered generous low end necessary for the event. A total of 88 Kudo, flown in eight arrays containing ten or 12 elements, provided coverage to the bowl seating areas, as did two supplementary 12-element Kara arrays and four two-ARCS clusters. All systems, including K1 and SB28, were powered and processed by L-Acoustics LA8 amplified controllers.
‘With its unmatched production values, Sensation really sets a new standard for dance music events in America,’ says Firehouse Productions lead design and integration engineer, Mark Dittmar. ‘Our client loves the sound quality of the entire L-Acoustics product line and the system sounded fantastic throughout both nights. Everyone walked away extremely happy, including us.
‘K1, of course, performed exceptionally in this rather unique application, and the Kudos were perfect as mid-sized arrays that could quickly open up to 110° over a relatively short throw distance. We love the L-Acoustics platform. All of the boxes have a very consistent ‘family’ sound, which makes it very easy to get the room sounding good, even with almost no EQ.’
