Southern rockers Gov’t Mule and local jazz/funk/rap hero Trombone Shorty recently took the stage at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, where live production company Premier Production & Sound Services (PSS) provided sound reinforcement. Using Soundcraft mixing, JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplification, PSS designed a system to cover the diverse requirements of both shows, which took place on consecutive nights.
The Saenger Theatre reopened in 2013 after an extended period of restoration following Hurricane Katrina. The theatre now has a seating capacity of approximately 2,600 and features a balcony and VIP seating boxes on the sidewalls. The walls are slightly concave and round out to the rear, allowing for an optimal acoustic experience.
PSS supplied a main PA featuring 12 JBL VTX V25 loudspeakers per side and six groundstacked VTX S28 subwoofers in cardioid configuration per side, powered with 36 Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers. Front fills featured four VTX V20 loudspeakers, powered by a single Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifier.
‘The acoustics of this venue coupled with the JBL loudspeakers made it very easy to get good coverage to the seating areas in the balcony and the sidewalls,’ says PSS FOH Engineer, Daniel Brown. ‘I was pleasantly surprised with the line arrays, since a small number of these VTX boxes projected a clear and uniform image across the entire crowd. The engineer for Gov’t Mule didn’t even use all of the PA, and the sound was still very powerful.’
Trombone Shorty used both rock and brass instruments during his performances. Combined with Gov’t Mule’s Southern rock styles, the emphasis was on the upper 1k to 3k frequencies. While working with the theatre’s in-house staff, PSS adjusted the system accordingly with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager.
‘There’s no better way to apply settings to 36 individual amplifiers than using Performance Manager,’ Brown says. ‘We mainly use it for monitoring purposes, but we also like the presets for crossovers and limiting. It’s just too easy not to use. Also, the headroom of these Crown amps gives us a lot of flexibility when tweaking the system.’
John Hermann, FOH Engineer for Trombone Shorty, chose to use a Vi1 (monitors) and Vi3000 (FOH) console that was integrated with PSS Sound’s PA system. ‘I like to use a lot of effects, so having multiple screens or being able to manipulate different effects processors at the same time allows me to get to different parameters at the same time,’ he says. ‘When I use stereo delays, I don’t have to switch pages to get to them. I also like to do most of my pan delays by hand, so having them right there on the board helps a lot.’
‘It was a good show,’ Hermann adds. ‘If I was told to do an arena show tomorrow, I could do it with a Vi console without a problem.’
