EDM producer/DJ Excision (Jeff Abel) wrapped up his 36-date US Apex 2019 Tour with back-to-back shows at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco using a 225kW PK Sound PA system fro an immersive, multi-sensory musical experience.
Serving the largest venues on the tour – including Chicago’s Navy Pier and the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia – PK’s Trinity Advanced Robotic Line Arrays played a vital role in marking yet another high point in a line of Excision tours powered by PK Sound.
The tour is the latest chapter in the longstanding relationship between Abel and PK Sound CEO Jeremy Bridge – formerly performing a DJ on the EDM scene in Western Canada. When Bridge began to supply the Shambhala Music Festival stages with PK Sound loudspeakers, Excision’s sets became a regular highlight. Over time, Bridge – turned his loudspeaker manufacturing into a full-time venture and the relationship with Excision matured over the following decade.
‘I chose to tour with PK because I felt their systems were best able to replicate the low-end in my music,’ Abel says. ‘I have a long history with the PK crew and love having them as part of my touring family.’
Managing both the tour and sound system, Arlen Cormack – now PK’s Senior VP of Touring & Production – was joined in San Francisco by two colleagues who have since joined the PK Sound team, including technician Bryan Andres and production operations manager Rory Stewart, further cementing the artist’s relationship with the brand.
Adding to his rig over the years, Abel is an early adopter of the Trinity Advanced Robotic Line Array, using its wavefront technology on every date no matter the size or shape of the venue. ‘After the PK team developed the Trinity Line Array in 2015, it was a no brainer to continue working with them,’ Abel says. ‘I’ve been waiting a long time for a sound system that can truly translate what I create in the studio to a live event, in all frequency ranges.’
For the first leg of the Apex tour, Excision’s PK Sound rig comprised ten Trinity boxes per side for the main hangs, 32 CX800 subwoofers, six VX10 Compact Line Array front fill, two CX215 monitors and four Klarity 12 monitors. Later, PK Sound added four further Trinity cabinets for a total of 12 boxes per side in the main hangs, eight more CX800 boxes (40 total) and 12 VX10s for additional delays and fill. The expanded system was on full display at Excision’s April 6 outdoor performance at the NOS Events Center in San Bernadino, California, where a crowd of 20,000 enjoyed an immersive sonic experience that dazzled inside the event tent without unnecessary noise spill into the surrounding neighbourhood.
‘I’m blown away by the clarity in the midrange PK Sound’s Trinity can achieve with so much low-end in the mix,’ Abel says. ‘Everything is so clear, clean and free of distortion. It’s truly exceptional, and I love having it bring my show to life so transparently.’
More: www.pksound.ca
