Jason Derulo blazed through European arenas in 2018 on his 2Sides World Tour. To deliver Derulo’s blend of R&B, hip-hop and pop, Production Manager and FOH Engineer Rick Wright Jr. relied on a Meyer Sound LEO Family reinforcement system supplied by UK-based Wigwam Acoustics.
For Wright, who has mixed Derulo’s live shows before, the Meyer Sound rig was a welcome reprise of what he had experienced on a prior European tour. “I decided to go with LEO Family again because sonically this PA has everything I’m looking for,” Commented Wright.
“The high end is very controlled, and the low-mids translate smoothly and evenly throughout the largest arenas. You never have the problem of getting 200 feet out and having the sound fall apart. It’s coherent out to the far seats across the full frequency range.”
In the larger arena configuration, the Wigwam-supplied LEO Family allowed deployment of 11 LEO LYON line array loudspeakers, with 24 additional LYON plus 16 LEOPARD line array loudspeakers available for side hangs and front fills. Bass impact was supplied by dual flown cardioid arrays of 6 900-LFC low-frequency control elements along with floor-stacked, 3-high cardioid arrays of 12 total 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements and stage side fill, 3 LEOPARD line arrays were flown under a single 900-LFC.
Wright mixes Derulo behind a DiGiCo SD7 augmented by his hand-picked outboard gear, including 3 Midas XL-48 preamps and Universal Audio Apollo interfaces. The vocal chain for Derulo included a Neve 1073 preamp, an Empirical Labs Distressor and a Manley Vox Box.
“I’m always experimenting with front end gear, always trying to get a better sound,” admitted Wright: “And that’s another thing I like about this Meyer PA. When I try something new at front-of-house, I can immediately tell if it’s better or worse. There’s no hiding anything. It’s the perfect litmus test.”
The European leg of Jason Derulo’s 2Sides World Tour kicked off in 19 September 2018 and wrapped up on 30 October 2018, with 27 shows across Ireland, the U.K. and Western and Eastern Europe.