Gaant?! is a Belgian events organiser based in the city of Lokeren, whose name in the local Belgian-Dutch dialect Lokers, means “Are you ok?!” In the light of the current impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, the question has perhaps never been more relevant, and the creative team at Gaant?! recently reached out to locked-down music fans by staging a live stream event featuring DJs DEEDEE, J.Roots and Hakimm.
The charity event, aimed at getting people to dance at home, took place at Cultuurcentrum, Lokeren’s 400-capacity multi-use theatre, although for obvious reasons, no fans were present in the building.
Production specialist LJKE is Gaant?!’s exclusive rental partner, and works on a wide range of the brand’s events, featuring top Belgian bands like The Van Jets and Goose as well as a number of top DJs. On this occasion they supplied audio, lighting, visuals and live stream facilities for an event that had to comply with the stringent requirements of the local authorities.
LJKE recently purchased a brand new CODA N-RAY system, the first in the Benelux region (and one of the first worldwide), and decided it would deliver the perfect audio for the centre stage DJ booth.
Stefaan Vanderbeeken of LJKE commented: “The idea for the event was great, but at first we were not sure if we would obtain permission from the authorities. They expressed some concerns that it might attract people out of lockdown in the direction of the venue, but having spoken with the local police and council officials the Gaant?! team got the go-ahead to stage under the watchful eye of the local cultural centre. We observed very carefully every social distancing and hygiene measure – if you watch the stream, you can even see the DJs sanitising the decks before handing over, which was a great visual message to put out.”
Vanderbeeken and his team felt that using a full CODA Audio N-RAY set-up for the booth would provide both high fidelity sound quality and a level of energy that would lift the atmosphere on the stage.
“These top DJs are used to working in big, high energy settings, so in conjunction with the light show and visuals, we wanted to create a genuine club vibe. The quality and power of the N-RAY allowed us to achieve that with loads of headroom, and because it was a live video stream, the arrays looked fantastic as well! The whole thing had a real high-powered feel. Anyone who watched the stream could see that there was a real buzz on the stage – the DJs and the Gaant?! team told us that the power and clarity of the sound was exceptional and helped them forget about the lockdown for a while.”
The Gaant?! live-streaming event perfectly demonstrated N-RAY’s flexibility of application. LJKE, a customer of Hans Engelen at Viladco, CODA’s Benelux distributor, has used CODA Audio for several years and as Vanderbeeken concluded: “Were not sure if N-RAY has ever been used as a booth monitoring system before, but it did a fantastic job! The compactness, light weight and power of the new N-RAY means that we have to find less truck space and use fewer man-hours to obtain a powerful and full sound image.
The matching sensor-controlled extensions and SCV subwoofers really complete the set. We are very happy with our investment in CODA Audio and look forward to bringing people together again soon in safe conditions, and putting smiles on people’s faces with great bands and great audio.”
