Abelardo Management and Keiko Matsui – Alfresco Concert Series
December 5, 2009
Atlantic Professional Audio, Inc. wishes to extend a warm thank you to Sonny Abelardo of Abelardo Management for selecting us to provide Lighting and Sound at The Westin Image for Keiko Matsui.
The concert was the first show in the Alfresco Outdoor Concert Series but thanks to a slow-moving cold front that pelted Central Florida with heavy rain for two consecutive days, Abelardo Management and the Westin Management team made a decision to move the concert indoors.
Turning the hotel’s lobby into a concert venue was a bit tricky; everything had to be changed on the fly. Luckily, this is something our guys are very accustomed to and a challenge that all parties were ready to take on. The size of the main audio rig was suitably amended and since we knew the bar would be a popular place for guests to congregate, we added a couple of our recently acquired Turbosound NuQ12DP for out-fills.
Lighting was another challenge that needed to be addressed. The original plan was to fly a par-bar rig off the roof of a SL100 mobile stage. Moving the stage into the lobby meant reducing the size of the rig and adding some truss to support the fixtures. The lobby has varying ceiling heights with the tallest point being only 12’ and the stage height was set at 12”. Four MAC 700s were used for effects and dramatic looks.
Once the stage and seating was in place, the real estate left to work with was limited. With all the tile, marble and glass, one would think that the lobby would be an acoustical nightmare but our team made sure it was crystal clear. APA’s team consisted of Jeremy Miller as monitor tech, Mike Ramey as Lighting Designer and Darryl Phillips as FOH systems tech, assisting Keiko Matsui’s Tour Manager and FOH engineer Pierre Rochman. Rochman stepped up to our new Soundcraft SI3 like a champ. His mixing was superb.