March 01, 2018
-- JANDS NZ supplies FOH engineer Kevin Bennett with a complete JBL VTX A12 audio system on the Drive 20th Anniversary Tour
AUCKLAND, New Zealand-Veteran FOH engineer Kevin Bennett recently mixed Bic Runga's Drive 20th Anniversary Tour on a complete JBL by HARMAN VTX A12 sound system, provided by distributor JANDS NZ.
Released in August 1997, Bic Runga's debut release Drive is regarded as one of the most iconic albums in New Zealand music history. In addition to winning Album Of The Year at the 1998 New Zealand Music Awards, Drive sold more than 70,000 copies and catapulted Bic Runga to international success in Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and more. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album's landmark release, Bic Runga recently embarked on a series of concerts in which she performed Drive in its entirety, along with a selection of greatest hits from her subsequent multi-platinum albums.
To ensure exceptional live sound for performances of an album that won an award for its audio engineering, JANDS NZ provided FOH engineer Kevin Bennett with a complete JBL by HARMAN VTX A12 sound reinforcement system for the Auckland stop of the tour at the Civic Performance Art Theatre. Featuring a revolutionary dual 12-inch line array speaker purpose-built for mid- to large-size touring applications and high-end fixed installations, the A12 was perfectly suited for a concert at the Civic Performance Art Theatre.
When I was given the opportunity to mix with the VTX A12, it was a no-brainer, said Bennett. I've never received as many compliments from an audience as I did after this performance. Sonically, the A12 is incredibly smooth and provides excellent coverage, both on- and off-axis. The A12 sounds so great right out of the box, it didn't require much tweaking to optimize the system's performance in the theater.
Bic Runga also took note of her fans' reaction to the exceptional sound quality provided by the JBL VTX system.
The audience's response to this show was even greater than I expected, said Bic Runga. Kevin Bennett's experienced mixing combined with the sound system to give the show an extra clarity and presence that translated to a special listening experience for the audience. A lot of fans commented that they were particularly moved by the excellent sound quality of the music.
The array was comprised of four ground-stacked VTX A12 speakers per side to cover the floor area, six flown A12 speakers per side to cover the balcony, and four VTX G28 dual 18-inch subwoofers deployed on the ground to supply deep and punchy bottom end. VTX-M Series monitors provided clear and accurate monitoring for the musicians onstage, and Bennett relied on a Soundcraft Vi2000 digital console for mixing.
We're thankful for the opportunity to help Bic Runga bring her classic album Drive to life with a world-class JBL VTX sound system, said Tim Robertson, Tour Sound Manager, JANDS NZ. We've seen a tremendous amount of interest in the VTX A12 since the concert, and our goal is to have it requested on more technical riders in the New Zealand market.
VTX A12 features a completely redesigned rigging system that allowed the College Hill Productions team to deploy the entire rig with unprecedented speed and efficiency, while the Soundcraft Vi2000 digital console enabled Bennett to craft a spectacular live mix that delivered all the sonic nuances of the expertly engineered album.
The system was amazingly quick to deploy-when I arrived to set up the console, the PA was nearly flown and ready to sound check before I was, said Bennett. I've worked previously with Soundcraft Vi consoles, and their straightforward, analog-like workflow provides an intuitive and enjoyable mixing experience. The Vi2000 is now my go-to console, thanks to its superior sound quality and tour-grade reliability. And I love that it features the BSS DPR901ii Dynamic EQ.
It is a privilege to see JBL and Soundcraft products supporting a truly special performance by Bic Runga, said Ramesh Jayaraman, VP & GM, HARMAN Professional Solutions, APAC. For decades, we've worked with artists and touring personnel to better understand their challenges and provide best-in-class solutions. We thank our partners JANDS NZ for their expertise and loyalty, and we look forward to working together to facilitate more incredible live music experiences in New Zealand's touring community.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
March 01, 2018 
