H.A.S. Productions Selects VUE Audiotechnik Sound System for City of Lights Festival in Las Vegas

Organizers of Las Vegas' 23rd Annual City of Lights Jazz Rhythm & Blues Festival asked H.A.S Productions to provide a full spectrum of audio services for the event that took place on April 18 and 19. With 2015 being the first year the company has serviced the festival, the H.A.S. team knew that they needed a complete sound system that could convey every nuance and subtlety of jazz, and the VUE Audiotechnik al-Class Line Array system was their number one choice, the company says.

The two-day festival, featured such artists as the Family Stone, Kenny Lattimore, Gerald Albright, the Jazz Attack Band and Pieces of a Dream. Michael Schivo, the promoter and founder of the festival, is known for his tough and exacting standards. When he relayed to H.A.S. engineers how pleased he was with the sound, Jay Easley, H.A.S. Productions' chief operating officer, and his colleagues were elated, the company says. "Mr. Schivo has been doing this for a very long time and was thrilled at how good the sound was," Easley says. "We're really excited that we were able to exceed his expectations.

"When you're doing a jazz festival, every nuance is important," he continues. "Subtleties and dynamics are everything with these amazing, talented musicians, therefore the VUE rig is the only system we would have taken to a festival like this." Onstage, the eight hm-212 high-output stage monitors and eight hm-112 high-definition stage monitors drew compliments from many of the artists, Easley says. "Many of the performers and guests told us 'Wow, this is truly the best this show has ever sounded,' " he says. The engineers were very impressed, too."

H.A.S. Productions, a Las Vegas-based full-service production company that is independently owned and operated, provided a sound-reinforcement system comprising 32 VUE Audiotechnik al-8 high-output loudspeakers, 16 al-4 subcompact loudspeakers, 12 powered hs-28 dual 18-inch ACM subwoofers and four al-4SB flyable isobaric subwoofers. "We bought the VUE al-8s because we think it is the best-sounding PA out there," Easley says. "The al-8 and al-4 are the perfect loudspeakers to use at many of the Las Vegas venues in which we work. With VUE Audiotechnik, we were able to cover the entire 3,500-person SRO venue perfectly."

H.A.S. also employed VUE V4 and V6 Systems Engines to power the FOH al-Class Line Array systems and the hm line of monitors used on stage. "It was a complete VUE production, and it was all from our own inventory," says Easley. "I think we may be the biggest VUE house in the world right now."

He also noted that his company recently employed the VUE al-8s at some rock 'n' roll shows. "They absolutely have enough horsepower to knock your socks off," he remarks. "But it was the finesse and clarity of the system that was of essence at this Jazz-centric festival. We couldn't be happier with the way the VUE system performed on the City of Lights stage. We heard positive comments from so many people. Even the festival M.C. at the end of each night said, 'This is the best sound we've ever had.' We were just blown away by that feedback."