USA - Sound Image San Francisco supplied 30 events in three weeks for the annual Festival Napa Valley Summer Season, including the Lionel Richie-headlined Arts for All Gala, which raised $4.5m for education and the arts.
Over the years, the annual societal event in San Francisco’s wine country has raised $28m through contributions, sponsors, and sought-after auction items. Sound Image’s Bay Area team, led by account executives Jon Morris and George Edwards, facilitated the design and delivery of audio, video, lighting, staging and power for the Gala, working closely with Lionel Richie’s touring crew to retain high-end production values for his intimate, one-off performance.
To bring the vision to fruition, the audio design had to deliver impact and clarity for a variety of needs including a distributed system in the guest reception area, strategically placed audience microphones for the children’s choir, a spoken word, fast-paced auction segment, the house band, multiple DJ booths and Lionel Richie’s concert for the 450 attendees.
Sound Image audio dept manager, Mike Brown, chose a Meyer Sound Leopard system for the main PA. The design was hung from the roof and included ground subs for front row energy.
Brown reports: “The venue is wider than it is deep in the audience area, so we deployed a traditional main L-R system as well as extensive front-fills. Two sets of front-fills were placed directly in front of the rounded part of the stage and as well on the wings. We then deployed out-fills to cover the wider areas of the room.
“We chose the Leopard with absolute intent as we had weight limitations. The boxes are small in form factor yet out-punch for their weight; power and size were very important here. We also needed clear intelligibility of the auctioneer calling out items very quickly for the event’s high dollar bidders.”
A plethora of control surfaces from Sound Image San Francisco included a Yamaha DM3-S for the reception area, Allen & Heath dLive C3500 for monitors and DiGiCo SD12s for the main room FOH and monitor positions for Richie’s touring crew.
Lionel Richie’s FOH engineer, Gordon Mack, says: “I’ve been using Sound Image for a while now and I’ve only had good experiences. The gear is first-class, and the people working there are also first-class individuals with a keen knowledge of how to help their clients. I really appreciate the company for their support.”
Monitor tech Matthew Bock adds: “For Lionel’s tours, Sound Image has provided excellent systems that have come out of the shop very well prepped by knowledgeable and capable staff. When we have one-offs and special events, the local offices can support our high-end gear needs and requirements without any issue.”
For the visual elements, which included sizable LED screens, the team helped to create a combination of decorative lighting designs, from the venue pathways and artist green rooms, to the tour vibes of Richie’s performance for lighting designer Eric Wade.
Sound Image lighting dept manager, Kyle Slaugh, furthers: “Our client comes to us with the design concept, inspiration and ideas that they want to see drawn out, and we go back and forth with what is possible. There were a lot of things to consider such as large mirror balls, plus some bright video elements. To create the right atmosphere throughout, ambient lighting was key, as was facilitating Lionel’s rig.”
For the latter, Wade designed a lighting package that would both fit inside the tent and really deliver for his artist. For operation, he opted for an MA Lighting grandMA3 full size console, and his chosen fixtures across stage towers, floor packages, and flown elements included: GLP JDC1; a host of Robe Megapointes, Esprites, RoboSpot BaseStation and BMFL Blades; Martin Professional Mac Ones; GLP Impression X4 Bar 20s; and classic ETC Source Fours.
Wade states that he was “pleasantly surprised” by the experience: “I’ve never thought of Sound Image as a full-scale provider, and I was completely and pleasantly surprised by the first-class service we received. We experience many different situations with the types of shows we do with Lionel, and this was a fantastic day with every detail seen to. I would never hesitate to use Sound Image again, and would in fact, look forward to it.”
In conclusion, Slaugh summarises: “The calibre of production that we can offer our touring clients on these types of events is what separates us from most of the corporate market, as we have a stronger grasp on getting tours what they want or need for their production. We supply a lot of unique events from our location but being part of a company that supplies world tours, we also bridge the gap on what artists and touring crews expect.”
