TPi_Magazine__February_2018

EVENT FOCUS
IMAGINE DRAGONS CHOOSES
ADAMSON & SOUND IMAGE
Imagine Dragons have gone from playing basements and dive bars to filling major arenas in the
space of 10 years. For their Evolve World Tour in 2017, it was an Adamson E-Series system rocking
the crowds from continent to continent.
“Adamson is always my first choice when it comes to Imagine Dragons,”
began FOH Engineer Scott Eisenberg. “The E-Series offers a perfect blend
of power and musicality and I love the overall impact we get with this
system.”
The tour was the band’s biggest to date in terms of scale and overall
production value and featured a stage design that wrapped the audience
around the band in an almost 360-degree configuration. That necessitated
an equally unorthodox audio system design with a package that, like those
for all of the band’s previous production-carrying tours, was supplied by
Escondido, California’s Sound Image.
The main hangs for the Evolve World Tour were comprised of 18
Adamson E15’s per side, suspended around 30ft further upstage than
usual. Using Adamson’s Blueprint AV software, Systems Engineer, Cameron
Whaley, of Sound Image was easily able to avoid the potential pitfalls of that
configuration.
Rounding out the package were side hangs of 6 E15’s and 9 E12’s per
side, and rear hangs comprised of 8 compact S10 2-way, full-range cabinets
per side. Adamson’s E219 subwoofers handled the low end, with flown left
and right arrays of 12 cabinets and an additional 6 per side on the ground.
Speaking to the low-end distribution, Whaley said the elaborate sub
design produced some very welcome results. “Having a sub array long
enough to achieve some directionality, we can get a good amount of energy
to the back of the room without it being overwhelming in the front,” he
explained. “By playing with the timing of the ground subs to the flown subs,
we can also fill in some of the holes between the power alleys on the floor.”
As far as what made the E-Series the ideal choice for this trek - and every
major Imagine Dragons tour before it - Eisenberg said it’s largely about
power and consistency.
“I really like that it’s got a lot of horsepower, especially in the mains’
lower midrange,” he commented. “The highs are clear but not harsh, and
when the subs kick in, there’s just some really solid energy that hits you in
the best way possible.”
He added that the uniformity when transitioning from the E15’s to the
E12’s and S10’s in different parts of the room is seamless. “I love that the
quality and performance is consistent across the board with the E-Series
and S-Series,” Eisenberg said. “That’s a welcome bit of reassurance that
we’re delivering great and consistent sound to every corner of any given
venue.”
Working together, Imagine Dragons, Sound Image, and their respective
teams provided powerful live rock music for thousands of people around
the globe at a time where it’s seemingly in short supply. Fortunately for the
band’s ever-growing fanbase; they don’t show any signs of slowing down.
TPi
www.imaginedragonsmusic.com
www.adamsonsystems.com
www.sound-image.com
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