TWAUDiO goes Above & Beyond in Hanoi

With the popularity of electronic dance music continuing to surge in Vietnam, ground-breaking British progressive trance trio Above & Beyond recently became the latest stars to appear in the country with a sold-out headline show in Hanoi. Taking place as part of the NEX Music Festival, the concert was hosted in a specially cleared area of forest near to the city, where a TW AUDiO sound reinforcement system overcame challenging weather to deliver perfect coverage across the site.

Formed in 2000 when band-members Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäki met in London, Above & Beyond are amongst the EDM world’s most recognisable stars, having been consistently included in DJ Magazine’s poll of the world’s top 100 DJs. The January 2018 release of the group’s fourth studio album, Common Ground, prompted the world tour which bought them to Hanoi in May.

Just as local production company Zeit Media recently opted for an enormous TW AUDiO rig for its record-breaking Armin Van Buuren show in Ho-Chi-Minh-City, so the same organiser chose to rely upon an extremely powerful VERA36 solution for Above & Beyond. But while pristine sound and impactful low-end were must have ingredients for the sound system, it was the weather that proved most challenging.

“The event took place in a purpose-cleared outdoors arena, so acoustics were not so much of an issue, but the rain certainly was!” explains Augustine Edward, TW AUDiO’s Technical Support Manager for Asia. “The main problem was that the entire set-up for the gig took place in tropical conditions that were really very difficult. We experienced very heavy rain that caused delays for the set-up and also because the equipment was coming from Ho-Chi-Minh-City, where our partner Phuc Thinh is based, when the system was flown it had to go up quickly – the TWAUDiO hardware and easy rigging was invaluable. We worked overnight getting soaked in rain and covered in mud, but when we were finished the system sounded fantastic.”

Ensuring that the difficult conditions were no barrier to great sound reinforcement, the core system was made up of six hangs serving main front of house, out-fills and far out-fills. The main left-right FOH hangs comprised 15 VERA36 per side, while the out-fills contained 12 VERA36 per side, and the far field was served by six VERA10 and two L24 enclosures per side. Front fills were taken care of with a mixture of four M15, four M12 and eight C15 speakers, while the VIP section of the venue was covered by a delay tower hosting a total of 24 T24N and T24P enclosures plus 10 B18 and eight B30 subwoofers. The all-important main low-end extension was delivered courtesy of a mighty sub-array comprising 28 BSX and 20 S33 subwoofers.

“This was a very significant project for TWAUDiO, demonstrating the acceptance of the brand amongst high profile touring acts and the great reputation that it’s building around the world,” considers Edward. “The system sounded outstanding with wonderful clarity and muscle in the low-end – always a must-have for EDM. We’re very proud to have been part of such a special event and we look forward to many more to come.”

Photo / video credit: NEX Festival / Zeit Media