NEXO Line Arrays Used by Solotech on Three Stages of Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
BUENA PARK, Calif. The first Festival International de Jazz de Montréal was held at Man and His World (the former Expo '67 World Fair site) and attracted 12,000 spectators, proving to be a highly successful media event. Twenty-seven years later, for a concert-packed 11 days in late June, the Montreal Jazz Festival had some 30 countries represented with 500 concerts, attracting over two million attendees, many which travel to Montreal every year to join in the festivities. Legendary guests included Bob Dylan, Keith Jarrett, Harry Connick, Jr., Cesaria Evora, Wynton Marsalis, Manu Chao, Zachary Richard and Francis Cabrel, to name a few.
Hugo Tardif has served as technical director responsible for the outdoor shows at the jazz festival for the last three years, and joins Solotech as one of the two sound department's technical coordinators, along with Daniel Rioux. Solotech again provided production this year for the three-mega stages, along with NEXO products provided by Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. "Having a very good understanding of the festival's needs, and after dealing with the architectural difficulties of a sound system bouncing against the downtown area buildings, the choice for a good line array system was clear," states Tardif.
"Many different brands of line arrays were used in the past but were difficult to tune because the location is not a real open field situation," says Tardif. "The NEXO cabinets were much more manageable in this particular situation." After discussing the matter with Yamaha's Michel Trepanier, the opportunity was born. "When we installed the small, light weight GEO D and T rigs, everybody was amazed with the power and clarity of the system. To be able to provide such a clear and crisp sounding system was a relief and a blessing for us," Tardif adds. "The lightweight aspect of the GEO T system was also very helpful for the festival's team, as this year two giant video screens were added, which limited the weight capacity of the mobile stage."
NEXO gear included a NEXO GEO T rig (10 x T4805 and 1 x T2815 with 6 x CD18 per side) for the main stage with Alpha EF side fills on the stage. A NEXO GEO D rig (6 x D10 and 2 x GEO Sub per side) with PS15 fills was used on a second stage, and a GEO S system (7 x S805 and 1 x S830 with 4 x CD12s per side) with PS8 fills was provided for the third stage.
"This turned out to be one of the busiest festival periods Solotech has ever seen in our market, and the Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. staff provided a welcome assist with the NEXO hangs," Tardif notes.
For more information on Solotech, visit www.solotech.qc.ca.
For more information on NEXO products, write Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc., 6600 Orangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90620; telephone 714-522-9011; e-mail casales@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamahaca.com.
 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal |
 NEXO GEO T at Montréal Jazz Festival |
NEXO gear included a NEXO GEO T rig (10 x T4805 and 1 x T2815 with 6 x CD18 per side) for the main stage with Alpha EF side fills on the stage. A NEXO GEO D rig (6 x D10 and 2 x GEO Sub per side) with PS15 fills was used on a second stage, and a GEO S system (7 x S805 and 1 x S830 with 4 x CD12s per side) with PS8 fills was provided for the third stage.
 Downtown Stage Crowd |
For more information on Solotech, visit www.solotech.qc.ca.
For more information on NEXO products, write Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc., 6600 Orangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90620; telephone 714-522-9011; e-mail casales@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamahaca.com.