JBL amplifies BIGSOUND 2024
JBL amplifies BIGSOUND 2024
Four prominent venues at the Australian music conference and showcase BIGSOUND 2024 featured a JBL audio solution, deployed by Madison AV. Taking place earlier this month at Fortitude Valley in Queensland, the event attracted thousands of music enthusiasts, industry professionals and emerging talent.
MadisonAV partnered with BIGSOUND to provide sound systems for Blute's, The Sound Garden, Eclipse and the JBL Live at BIGSOUND stage. In addition, the company held two private JBL VTX A-Series listening experiences in two venues, allowing guests to personally experience the A6 and A8 system performance, as well as to learn about configuration, rigging, transportation and deployment of the systems. Attendees included audio engineers, venue operators, systems integrators and production companies.
Blute’s, a hub for intimate and impactful performances, hosted a private VTX A-Series listening event. The venue also showcased a diverse range of artists, including Lucy Sugerman, Neptune and Rowena Wise. The compact JBL VTX A6 system was deployed for this venue.
“The walk-in engineers were happy with the PA,” noted audio engineer at Blute’s, Kayla Stew. “Some of them thought it was quite bright but just altered the graphic to their liking. The PA was more than enough coverage for the venue.”
The Sound Garden, dubbed as the Goolwal Garden during BIGSOUND, was home to insightful panels, electrifying showcase performances and events. A BL VTX A8 system was incorporated downstairs to support the beats and rhythms of First Nations performers. BIGSOUND production co-ordinator and local music producer, Nell Forster told us that there was “limited space in there to set it up so it ended up being quite wide but sounded great – the bands sounded really good and the system is visually attractive too.”
The upstairs are offered a calm environment for attendees to engage in workshops and explore art displays. This experience was supported by the use of a single VRX 900 series element and subwoofer for background music and as a public address system.
Eclipse, Fortitude Valley’s newest nightclub, was equipped with the VTX A8 Series compact line array system which powered sound for a private listening event as well as evening showcase performances from some of the big names of the event.
Lastly, JBL Live at BIGSOUND Stage featured the creation of a feature stage in the central location of Brunswick Street Mall. Serving as a public focal point for the event, it was decked out with the VTX A12 system used for dynamic performances from a variety of genres, including pioneers of a new flavour of “bogan funk”, Playlunch, newly signed solo artist ISHAN and emotive country performer Bella Mackenzie. It also hosted JBL’s own supported emerging artists including Athanasia, Sophie Edwards, Nicole Issa and Brittany Jacinto Garcia.
“There were many comments about the performance of the JBL VTX A-Series across all four venues,” remarked Peter Kubow, head of tour sound at MadisonAV. “The venues themselves were full of praise and we were happy to hear positive feedback from all the audio engineers using the systems at each of the venues. A couple of the venues provide quite challenging environments, but the VTX A Series performed exceptionally, delivering fantastic clarity, coverage and power straight out of the box, allowing every artist to shine and every audience member to enjoy the music to its fullest.”
