Tour Tech East of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, served as the sound reinforcement provider for the group's 19-city coast-to-coast Canadian arena trek, which benefited from large quantities of L-Acoustics gear, including up to 21 Kudos per side (many of which were provided by Rocky Mountain Production Services of Vancouver, BC).
Certified V-Dosc engineer (CVE) Trevor Coppen, who has been Simple Plan's FOH engineer for nearly four years, ultimately made the call to utilize Kudo based on his respect for V-Dosc and faith in L-Acoustics' technologies.
"V-Dosc has been 'number one' on my audio rider for quite some time now, so after talking with other engineers about Kudo and reading about it on the web, I was interested in trying it," Coppen says. "I'm happy to say that I was genuinely impressed with the fidelity of the box and its projection. The other engineers mixing the support acts on the tour were also very pleased with it, the general comment being that it was effortless to get a sound out of the system that they were extremely happy with.
"I also really like how Kudo looks and pieces together with the integral rigging hardware. It impressed a lot of local audio crews who were seeing it for the first time. The first time we flew the PA, which was in Victoria, BC, both the band and promoter rep commented on how sleek and low profile it looked in the air, affording better sightlines to the seating areas to the sides of the stage. Kudo's smaller size also meant that it required less space for truck packing, which was nice as well."
Coppen further appreciated the adjustable directivity of Kudo's HF section. "This was an arena tour, so being able to adapt the box's dispersion pattern was very useful in situations where, say, an electronic scoreboard hung down in the middle of the room. Being able to narrow the left and right dispersion width on the upper cabinets saved us from wasting all of that reflective energy on the scoreboard and improved our overall sound and coverage."
Simple Plan's largest production of the tour was a sold-out show at the 15,000-seat Bell Centre in the band's hometown of Montréal. On that particular night, Tour Tech flew a total of 42 Kudos - 21 per side - with additional arrays of 15 dV-Doscs plus two Arcs down-fills addressing the far left and right seating areas. Eight SB218 subs per side were ground-stacked just below the Kudos for low-frequency reinforcement.
The resulting sound both packed a punch and was remarkable in its consistency throughout the venue. "While Steve Doherty, our PA tech for the tour, and I set up and tuned the rig, I walked the room and listened," recalls Coppen. "I found the audio coverage to be extremely even throughout the seating areas with a seamless blend between all of the arrays. In fact, I think that the segue between the Kudos and dV-Doscs seemed to be even a little smoother than I've previously experienced going from V-Doscs to dV-Doscs, which says a lot."
Once more engineers have had a chance to hear Kudo for themselves, Coppen foresees the loudspeaker becoming a very popular option for the touring market, particularly for theatre-sized venues. "Like other L-Acoustics systems, Kudo provides an incredible amount of gain before producing any audible distortion, and I'm very pleased with the ease of being able to place things in the mix at any level with the fidelity I desire," he says. "As with any new product, Kudo simply needs exposure. Once people have had a chance to personally experience the product I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be included on riders for artists of all calibers and genres. It's certainly now on mine."
(Chris Henry)
