California Festival Summer with VERA

Over the course of four weekends, TW AUDiO solutions were deployed for the first time at St. Bruno’s Catholic Church Festival, O.C. Music Fest, Brea Summer Fest and the Rancho St. Margarita Family Fest – all boasting technical production by DJE Sound & Lighting. Yet despite the challenges of different venues and styles of entertainment, each of the events was declared a triumph.

Both the St. Bruno’s Catholic Church Festival and Brea Summerfest are presented annually by leading regional company TEI Entertainment, and have represented cornerstone dates for the local community for decades. Offering a mixture of fun-fair style attractions and performances by local tribute artists such as Bee Gees Gold and Zeppelin USA, the events benefitted from the same TW AUDiO set-ups.

Front of house sound was delivered by six VERA36 per side plus eight S33 subwoofers in a cardioid configuration plus two dual 21-inch BSX subs in an end-fire configuration. Out-fills were handled by two T24N enclosures while three VERA20s provided front-fills. On stage sound was delivered by C12 and C15 wedge monitors plus two B18s and two T20s for the drums. Six SYSRACK-X with Powersoft X4 Dante amplifiers powered the system.

Following the events, TEI Entertainment President John McEntee was quick to praise the TW AUDiO solution, which he described as “the best sound system that we have ever had in 32 years of Summerfest and 58 years of Bruno’s Spring Fest. We have been in the concert business for over five decades, producing more than 2,000 events and TW AUDiO’s state-of-the-art technology is superior to anything we have previously rented.”

Later, O.C. Music Fest took place beside Irvine Lake in Silverado Canyon, with two stages located within an Amphitheatre. For the main stage, eight VERA20 cabinets were ground-stacked at either side of the stage with eight S33 subwoofers positioned in an arc in front of the stage. A further two M10s and T20s served as front- and out-fills, while the system was driven by five SYSRACK-X with Powersoft X4.

"This was my first-time using TWAUDiO and I can say that it was very impressive – I really enjoyed mixing on this rig,” commented front of house engineer Philip Johnson. “The dual 10" drivers in the VERA20s were warm without being boxy and the 3-inch compression driver/waveguide was smooth and articulate."

"This is perfect for a festival like ours with a bunch of improv and jam bands that are playing intricate music, where all of the instruments really need to be heard clearly. This rig excelled in that area."

"But as great as the arrays sounded, the real star of the show was the S33 subwoofers. We ran them in cardioid mode as each box has an 18-inch and a rear firing 15-inch for rear cancellation. They were warm, tight and extended into the low 30hz range with ease. We had headroom for days and the result was big, full, rich low end, with a fantastic dispersion throughout the audience area. The fans’ reaction was extremely positive – after ever set people would stop by to say how much they loved it."

The Second stage was equipped with a PA-SYS-ONE, a ground stack of a reversed B18 sub, two B30 subs and a T24N top per side – a combination designed to deliver passive cardioid extension with only one SYSRACK-L with a 4 channel Lab.gruppen PLM 12K44 amplifier required.

Finally, the Rancho St. Margarita Family Fest provided an appropriately celebratory end to TW AUDiO’s Californian adventure with live music and entertainment, child-friendly fun zones and more.