Aboard luxury MSC Cruises ships, production company On The Blue offers rock-themed cruises around the Caribbean, where stars of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s get to relive their heydays to an exclusive audience. Sound for the seabourne concerts falls to Cincinnati-based sound reinforcement provider Loud and Clear Inc, who have fitted the MSC Divina from bow to stern with L-Acoustics loudspeaker systems.

In all, Loud and Clear brought five full semi loads of L-Acoustics and other equipment aboard the vessel for three different cruises: Yes’ Cruise to the Edge; ’80s Monsters of Rock featuring Tesla, Cinderella, Y&T and Night Ranger; as well as the pairing of The Moody Blues and Roger Daltrey on the The Moody Blues: Return to the Isle of Wight.

‘The sound was just spectacular,’ says Loud and Clear President Bill Deavers. ‘The days and nights are long, and the salt from the ocean spray on the pool deck stage can be brutal, but the L-Acoustics gear withstood the extreme environment incredibly well. We never lost a single driver during the three cruises.’

Deavers points out that the recent arrival of the K2 has made providing amplified sound at sea more efficient, while retaining sound quality of the K1 system used in previous years: ‘You can’t fly a sound system on this ship; the theatre and the venues don’t have the space for it, and you run up against maritime rules and engineering constraints,’ he explains. ‘But the K2 comes with its own custom chariot. This makes ground stacking much simpler and faster. And that’s critical on a ship – you’ve got to take the equipment through customs and inspections, wait while the entire ship is cleared for departure, then you have to get on board and set up for the sail-away concert quickly. The K2 lets us get set up in record time.’

‘We wanted the best possible systems for our cruises, and Loud and Clear and L-Acoustics were able to deliver in all areas, all venues and all ways,’ adds On The Blue Producer Larry Morand.

The systems used on the MSC Divina include 12 K2 mains/out fills with Kara front fills and SB28 and SB18 subs in the Pantheon Theatre. Eighteen Kara mains with Arcs fills, and SB28 and SB18 subs on the Lido Pool Deck. Kiva/Kilo main arrays and SB18 subs in The Atrium, These are supported by 115XT HiQ coaxial stage wedges and LA8 amplified controllers in LA-RAKs in all venues. Three smaller venues – Golden Jazz, Black & White and La Luna – use 115XT HiQ coaxial mains with SB18 subs and 8XT stage wedges.

See also:
Rock Goes to Sea (Rock Legends Cruise)