Prog-metal merchants Dream Theater recently played the 2,700-seat Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, New York, marking milestone in Wizzard Sound Company’s longstanding partnership with RCF.
The Landmark, a 1920s movie-palace masterpiece designed by renowned architect Thomas W Lamb and listed on the US National Register of Historic Places, presented a challenging acoustic environment, with a steep rake and deep balcony. For the Dream Theater performance, Wizzard Sound deployed an RCF HDL system of two hangs of HDL 50-A4K Active Three-Way Line Array Module with 13 cabinets per side, supported by six TTS 36-A Active High Power Subwoofers per side in a cardioid configuration.
Additional coverage was provided by RCF TT 4-A loudspeakers for lift when the audience stood, along with multiple front fills to serve the space near the orchestra pit and forward seating areas. The system was powered using RCF RDNet processing and managed by Wizzard’s lead systems engineer, Dylan Spencer, who has been with the company for more than 20 years.
‘The Landmark Theatre is steep and deep, so you need a PA with horsepower and finesse,’ says Wizzard Sound founder and owner, Jon Arrigo. ‘We used six boxes to hit the upper balcony and seven for the lower seating, all flown in one array and zoned. Dream Theater pushed every inch of that system, and it delivered.’ The band employed a DiGiCo touring control package, while Wizzard provided racks and stacks.
Wizzard Sound has built a reputation as one of the US Northeast’s most trusted live sound providers, offering full production services for concerts, festivals, performing arts centres, corporate events and touring artists, and artists ranging from Alice in Chains, Tim McGraw, Black Label Society, ZZ Top and Foreigner to Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, David Lee Roth and Dark Star Orchestra.
The company has relied on RCF systems for more than a decade, building an inventory that includes HDL 50-A, HDL 30-A, HDL 6-A, TT+ series loudspeakers, wedges and subwoofers. The main rig currently includes 36 HDL 50-A tops and 18 TTS 36-A subs to cover everything from theatres to outdoor festivals.
‘Our relationship with RCF goes back many years,’ Arrigo says. ‘They listen, they support, and they build incredibly reliable gear. In all our time running RCF rigs, we’ve had one amp module go down, and it was repaired overnight. Their support is fantastic, and the gear speaks for itself. Even engineers who don’t have RCF on their rider walk away impressed.’
Beyond touring, Wizzard also specifies RCF in its system-integration division, which supports theatres, performing arts venues, churches and schools.
More: www.rcf.it