France - Set along the northern edge of the Pyrenees, Pau is a city in southwestern France located some 85km from the Spanish border. A total population of less than 80,000 enjoys a rich cultural life with a range of theatre and concert venues, among them the Foirail.
A former livestock market, Foirail opened in 2022 and quickly established itself as a vibrant cultural space hosting a varied programme of cinema, jazz and classical music concerts, theatre and dance.
“The Nexo Geo M6 system originally installed at the Foirail was perfect for the venue at the time,” reports technical director Eric Vilchez. “However, the popularity of the theatre grew very quickly, and we soon found ourselves hiring in supplementary sound equipment for larger shows, particularly live music.”
So, members of the Nexo Engineering Support team revisited their designs for the Foirail and configured a new Nexo GeoM12 system capable of higher SPL and a greater dynamic range and arranged a demo to coincide with a Manu Katché concert at the venue.
Suitably impressed, a tender was produced, and the supply of the new system awarded to local technical services company Axilon.
The full system at the Foirail comprises left and right hangs of seven Nexo GeoM12 with three MSUB18s on the floor, a centre cluster of three Geo M10, 3 of the original Geo M6s per side for side-fills and four Nexo P8s for front-fills. Additional P+ Series cabinets are used for stage monitoring.
“We were able to redeploy a large part of the original Geo M6 system at the Théâtre Saint-Louis, the city's small 19th century Italian theatre located less than 2 km from the Foirail,” comments Jean Phillipe Bordenave, general sound manager at Foirail. “And of course, the original NXAMPMk2 amplifiers could also be used in a reconfigured system because all the Nexo speaker processing presets are integrated.”
At the Théâtre Saint-Louis, the system comprises a single Geo M12 + L18 Sub per side covering the stalls, three Geo M6 per side for the first balcony and two Geo M6 per side for the second balcony.
“From now on, spectators at Foirail and Théâtre Saint-Louis can benefit from a world-class Nexo system, perfectly adapted to the locations and types of shows they host,” concludes Eric. “Best of all, the city is getting great value for its investment in Nexo sound.”
