Scottsdale, AZ – Bud Bowl was a gigantic three-day outdoor event with rap/rock headliners P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg and Kid Rock energizing the crowd with nightly shows. Sponsored by Budweiser with tickets given away though local bars and clubs, the event was put on by Mahwallah Productions who commissioned the corporate production gurus Technotrix out of Bourbonnais, Ill., to provide sound, staging, scaffolding, staging and support for the entire event.
As described by Technotrix’s Kevin Kiefer, the plan was to “take over about two and a half city blocks in the downtown club district of Scottsdale and turn it into a gigantic night club.
“We took over one side of the street and put the stage and the main PA at one end. The tent company erected a series of Saddlespan tents down the length of the street. We put delay speakers in each of the tents and lighting to further enhance the club atmosphere. The audience was either standing or sitting in the street.”
A high profile event based on the headliners, Bud Bowl required that Technotrix bring in a portable stage with a 45 by 45 foot concert roof and truss system by Xtreme Structures for the lighting and audio.
Designed to provide seamless, high-impact audio coverage for the entire length and breadth of the outdoors “nightclub zone,” the speaker system consisted of nine Martin Audio W8LCs a side with18 WSX subwoofers and W8LMs for front fill. In addition to Martin LE series monitors on stage and WT2s in the tents the length of the street/dance floor, the system also included Yamaha PM5D digital mixing consoles and Martin Audio power amps.
According to Kiefer’s description of the setup, “Basically, you start with the stage at the end of the street, move further away from the stage and get to FOH in the first tent, then there’s another tent a little further down the street, and so on all the way to the main entrance. The tents had bars and additional seating areas for the audience. Originally, we had the tents to cover the street in case of inclement weather, but we used them for structures for lighting and audio and they spanned the whole location with extra delays to cover everyone in the crowd.”
A 14-man crew from Technotrix led by Production Manager Jason Haag and Audio Dept. Manager Aaron Davis, and Lighting Dept. Manager Ian Fleming made sure everything went smoothly.
As is turns out, the audio quality impressed both the audience and the artist’s engineers, with special mention for the speakers’ exceptional coverage and low-end impact. As Kiefer concludes, “Everyone was happy. It sounded really good and our client was pleased. Every show we do, we win over new converts for Martin Audio!”
For information, please visit www.martin-audio.com
