THE's At van Barneveld said: "The idea of the Sessions arose from the wish to couple music to the brand Tommy Hilfiger. In the USA, combinations with music have been developed, literally from the beginning of the brand (as Tommy Hilfiger is a musician himself). This can be sponsoring of concerts, the close-cooperation with young artists or the development of own TH formats. The Sessions is one of those concepts."
The plan is to have a roll-out throughout Europe, with sessions in a number of European cities in a period of six months, March, April May and September, October, November with a planned total of 36 concerts. So far, The Hilfiger Sessions have taken place in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Mannheim, Berlin, Dublin, Düsseldorf and Zurich, with more to follow. Hilfiger Europe targets to develop a platform for young and upcoming talent, where, in example, also the production of CD's and DVD's is a possible option.
Alcons Audio explains: "One of the features of the concept is that the band is not positioned on stage, but in the middle of the venue, for an "in the round" concert experience. The audience is sitting around the band - on beanbags! This means a very different setting, requiring a totally different set-up of the sound system. Furthermore, gain-before-feedback is very critical in this position. The applied system consists of four clusters of each three units LR14 ultra-compact pro-ribbon line-array (powered and controlled by ALC controller-amps), that are flown from a circular truss, positioned above the band. All audio equipment is supplied by the members of The Ribbon Network.
Van Barneveld continues: "It's not primarily about volume, but mainly about intensity and detail. With this set-up, the intimate "unplugged" atmosphere with the musicians is best conserved. As a brand, Tommy Hilfiger strives for the best possible quality in all it undertakes; Alcons gives us the quality that makes the difference between a good sound system and a perfect sound system."
(Lee Baldock)
