HITACHINAKA, Japan – The Rock in Japan concert, produced by Rockin' On publisher Keiichi Shibuya, was held for the 10th year in 2009. More than 165,000 attendees came to Hitachi Beach Park to hear performances by some 150 Japanese artists, including Eikichi Yazawa, Unicorn, Ulfuls and Perfume.
Avid's Venue consoles have been used at the event since 2006. That year, three Venue systems were used at one stage with several outboard gear elements. This year, 11 Venue systems (D-Show, Profile and SC48) were utilized across six stages. (Avid, parent company of Digidesign recently began a company-wide initiative to bring all products under the Avid brand umbrella.)
At Grass Stage, the largest stage in the festival, three Venue systems were used as main A/B systems (used alternatively) plus additional preparation/backup system. All mixing was done within the Venue systems; no outboard gear was used.
"Venue consoles are great tools for creating the sound that artists want to produce and audiences want to hear," noted Shuzo Fujita, chairman of MSI Japan, the sound rental company handling the event. "With great cost-to-performance, satisfying plug-in effects, virtually no troubles, and additional advantages with Pro Tools integration, Venue is one of the most well-balanced consoles today, from both an artistic and business perspective."
"The Venue SC48 has fewer knobs than other Venue systems, but retains the ease of operations, and the multi-colored LED worked great in low-light environments," added Fujita.
Speaking of the festival's history with Avid, Fujita said, "In the past, we needed to hold tutorials before the show for some engineers who didn't know Venue well. This year, almost all engineers already know how to operate the Venue system."
MSI Japan will also use Venue systems during the Countdown Japan ‘09 -'10, Rock in Japan's sister festival.
