Sound Co
See Factor
Venue
Various (tour)
Crew
FOH Engineer: Steve “Red” Afasano
Monitor Engineer: Alex Reeder
Systems Engineer: Marlon Estrada
Crew Chief: Marlon Estrada
P.A. Techs: Joel Pena, Kyle McDonald
FOH
Console: Avid S6L 32D w/WSG-HD card
Main Speakers: (28) L-Acoustics K2
Side Hangs: (18) L-Acoustics Kara
Subwoofers: (8) L-Acoustics K1 SB, flown; L-Acoustics KS28, ground stacked
Fill Speakers: (6) L-Acoustics KIVA II, front fill
Amplifiers: L-Acoustics
Drive Processing: L-Acoustics P1 Processor
MON
Console: Avid S6L 32D w/WSG-HD card
Stagebox: Avid Stage 64
Monitor Speakers: (12) L-Acoustics 115 HiQ
Sidefills: (3) L-Acoustics ARCS II, (2) SB28 subs/side
Amplifiers: L-Acoustics
IEMs: (14) Shure PSM 1000 and 16 beltpacks
Wireless Mics: (12) Shure Axient HH with KMS9 capsules
Event Details:
Playing mostly large outdoor shed venues throughout North America, the Beast Coast: Escape from New York tour featured headliners Joey Bada$$ and the Flatbush Zombies, along with The Underachievers, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Powers Pleasant and CJ Fly. The tour kicked off July 23 at Seattle’s WAMU Theater and wrapped up Aug. 25 at Baltimore’s MECU Pavilion.
More Details from FOH Engineer Steve “Red” Afasano:
“For Brooklyn based hip-hop supergroup Beast Coast, spearheaded by Joey Bada$$ and Flatbush Zombies and featuring The Underachievers and Pro Era members Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, CJ Fly, and DJ/Producer Powers Pleasant, their 2019 “Escape from New York” North American Summer Tour demanded superhuman results. Each artist needed a distinctive flair and sonic signature for both their solo portions and for Beast Coast as a whole. This meant mixing 9+ star vocals for a highly dynamic and energetic performance, complete with aerial suspension as close as 4ft from the main hang, at maximum SPL while still being intelligible, aesthetically pleasing, and, most importantly, musical. The additional possibility of every performer making featured appearances on stage on a moment’s notice requires equal parts flexibility and sonic control.
“As a FOH engineer, I view my position as being the conduit through which the artist is able to transmit their artistry, energy, and message to their audience, which is not a responsibility I take lightly. Soon after Beast Coast sent me the album’s first single, “Left Hand,” I suspected that I did not have enough fingers to effectively manage a mix with this many moving parts. At times, I had 9 lead performers entering and exiting the stage on specific cues, all adding essential elements to the arrangements. This mix would need to be precise: not one phrase could be lost. After a difficult throw-and-go festival season culminating with our tumultuous weather cancellation at NYC’s Governors Ball, I realized that fully automating my entire mix was going to be the best approach to consistently meeting the stringent demands and expectations of the artists, of myself, and of their fans. Since we already had existing timecode for our visual production team, I knew what I needed to do, the only question was: Which desk would do it best? While all modern digital consoles can be automated to perform almost every task more efficiently and with greater precision than a human operator, I sought to find the console most suited to my needs. My primary criteria were: surface customization, ease of programming/ automation, Waves integration, and, of course, sonic quality.
“When selecting a console with those specifications in mind, the Avid S6L was easily a standout among the other consoles in its class. With seamless Pro Tools integration, the best Waves hosting in this console generation, newly redesigned preamps, supercharged mix engine and a totally customizable architecture, the choice was obvious. Using the S6L, I was able to develop a hybrid console configuration that relied heavily on time-code triggered automation but still allowed me to modify any aspect of the mix on the fly. In particular, the redesign of the modular surface with its multiple per channel, per snapshot trigger control points allowed me to have quick, flexible macro-control over all aspects of my mix. Moving to a more automated workflow has opened up so many creative possibilities I previously thought unattainable and has radically shifted what I choose to focus on during a performance.
“To properly deliver this mix to the audience I wanted a super-sized rig. I chose L-Acoustics K2 line arrays for our main hang, a combination of flown K1SB and KS28 subwoofers, a monster sub configuration capable of reproducing insanely low-frequency content at punishing SPL while still remaining punchy and musical, and with Kara for our out and front fills rounding out the remaining coverage zones. Having worked extensively on L-Acoustics products, I knew exactly what to expect from the rig heading into the tour and still found myself consistently impressed with just how well it performed under every set of circumstances. The K2 array covered even the largest venues on this run without feeling strained and remained smooth and articulate across the spectrum at high SPL and in diffuse spaces. The P1 processor, in concert with the L-Acoustics digitally controlled amplifiers, provided us with all the tools necessary to quickly and accurately tune our rig every day. A big shout-out to my systems engineer, Marlon Estrada, who had our K2 rig performing optimally every show
“None of this could have been accomplished without the right audio vendor. After weighing our options, our production manager, Bobby Schneider, and I chose Queens, NY based See Factor, with whom I have been working as A1 and System Tech. Soon after developing my initial concept I was able to visit their shop whenever I needed to drop a desk even before our scheduled production rehearsals, which gave me a much needed head start. I walked into the first day of those rehearsals well prepared with an experienced crew ready to jump headfirst into the aforementioned challenges..
“Overall this was an overwhelmingly positive experience for all crew, artists, and fans. It was a true joy to be a part of and I’m filled with pride when I think about the product our entire team delivered on this tour.”
