JBL, Crown combo powers Alice in Chains’ North American tour

Live production company Creative Audio provided JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD power amps for US rock band Alice in Chains’ North American tour.

Playing four or five shows a week in theatres and arenas with capacities ranging from 1,500 to 4,000 seats, the Alice in Chains tour unsurprisingly featured very high SPL levels. To support the intensity of the shows, Creative Audio supplied 24 JBL VTX V25 loudspeakers, 16 VTX G28 subwoofers, 12 VERTEC VT4888 speakers and 28 Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers.

“We’ve recently graduated from VERTEC to the VTX line arrays, and so far the results have been positive,” said Chris Mentzel, owner of Creative Audio. “These boxes are absolutely comfortable with reaching the high SPL levels of heavy rock music. The sheer output is amazing, and thus we can use fewer subs and have twice as much low end when compared with the older boxes. The high end is great, because it’s so smooth without sounding piercing at all.”

Two Creative Audio technicians travelled with the band, assisting with setup and teardown for every show. Having transitioned to the latest JBL technologies, they took full advantage of the manufacturer’s HiQnet Performance Manager software.

“When we started getting into Performance Manager, we liked it so much that it has now completely replaced our old system. It’s a real lifesaver,” Mentzel continued. “Combined with the I-Tech 12000HD amps, everything is easier to navigate. The amps are so powerful that we no longer need an external processor in line.”

Creative Audio currently plans to double its VTX inventory within nine months.

Keep up to date with the latest developments from the world of pro audio by registering for our free daily newsletter.