Firehouse Productions Powers Nine Inch Nails “Live: With Teeth” Tour WITH JBL Professional VERTEC® Line Arrays
United States
English
NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA, November 8, 2006 — Demonstrating the unmatched power and controllability of JBL Professional VERTEC® line arrays, New York-based Firehouse Productions has supplied a VERTEC system for the 2006 Nine Inch Nails “Live: With Teeth” North American tour. Providing front of house engineering duties was veteran mixer Pete Keppler.
The tour system featured an arrangement of JBL VERTEC VT4889 full-sized line arrays on either side of the stage. Depending on the size of the venue, up to 14 VT4889 speakers were hung per side. The system was augmented by VT4887 compact line arrays and VT4880 line array subwoofers.
As the longtime front of house engineer for rocker David Bowie, Keppler was well-equipped to handle the dynamic, and often unpredictable, productions for which Nine Inch Nails has earned a reputation. “The show is a real sensory assault, visually and aurally,” Keppler said. “[Lead singer] Trent Reznor didn’t want us to play it safe. To me, that doesn’t necessarily equate to making the sound as loud as possible, just making it larger than life.”
According to Keppler, the VERTEC system met those “larger than life” challenges. “The VERTEC is a great rock and roll system, it really kicks and has a really nice edge to it,” he said. “The majority of the shows on this tour were outdoor/shed venues, so it was important to have a powerful and controllable line array.”
“The high performance of VERTEC line arrays is readily apparent when used to the satisfaction of experienced professionals like Pete Keppler and Bryan Olson of Firehouse Productions,” said David Scheirman, Vice President, Tour Sound, JBL Professional. “The deployment of VERTEC products for this major, demanding tour speaks to JBL’s commitment to provide the most powerful, sonically-accurate and versatile loudspeakers in the industry.”
The tour system featured an arrangement of JBL VERTEC VT4889 full-sized line arrays on either side of the stage. Depending on the size of the venue, up to 14 VT4889 speakers were hung per side. The system was augmented by VT4887 compact line arrays and VT4880 line array subwoofers.
As the longtime front of house engineer for rocker David Bowie, Keppler was well-equipped to handle the dynamic, and often unpredictable, productions for which Nine Inch Nails has earned a reputation. “The show is a real sensory assault, visually and aurally,” Keppler said. “[Lead singer] Trent Reznor didn’t want us to play it safe. To me, that doesn’t necessarily equate to making the sound as loud as possible, just making it larger than life.”
According to Keppler, the VERTEC system met those “larger than life” challenges. “The VERTEC is a great rock and roll system, it really kicks and has a really nice edge to it,” he said. “The majority of the shows on this tour were outdoor/shed venues, so it was important to have a powerful and controllable line array.”
“The high performance of VERTEC line arrays is readily apparent when used to the satisfaction of experienced professionals like Pete Keppler and Bryan Olson of Firehouse Productions,” said David Scheirman, Vice President, Tour Sound, JBL Professional. “The deployment of VERTEC products for this major, demanding tour speaks to JBL’s commitment to provide the most powerful, sonically-accurate and versatile loudspeakers in the industry.”
