Australian pop innovator Sia set numerous attendance records on her Nostalgic for the Present Tour, which crisscrossed North America during the autumn of 2016 in promotion of her latest chart-topper, This Is Acting. The artist is continually redefining performance art and relied heavily on Adamson E-Series loudspeakers to do so on her most recent run.
FOH Engineer Jon Lemon received the original mix sessions and holed up in a rehearsal room with Playback Engineer Marco Gamboa to build and convert the studio material for the live arena.
The tour featured Adamson E-Series loudspeakers, supplied by California-based Sound Image, and the large arena shows utilised left-right hangs of 15 E15 line array enclosures with a side hang of 12 E15’s. Up to six E12’s were hung below the main and side arrays, audience geometry permitting, to provide more coverage when needed. Six E119 subwoofers were flown just behind the main arrays to fill out the low end, with further support provided by 16 E219 ground-stacked subwoofers – eight stacks of two forming a continuous spaced sub array about 65ft long.
Sound Image Systems Tech Vic Wagner used Adamson’s Blueprint AV software in 3D mode to design the system for each venue. He commented: “I really like that I can see how the arrays are interacting off-axis and the seams between hangs and optimise before deploying the PA.”
Additionally, Adamson S10 line array modules handle front fill and near out fill where coverage of the main and side arrays could fall off. Stacks of two enclosures were placed on top of each E219 sub stack to complete the PA picture.