Founded
in 1933, Threadgill’s is a historic restaurant and live music house in Austin,
Texas where well-known artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Willy Nelson and Janis
Joplin have performed.
For the 2016
South by Southwest music festival (SXSW) Threadgill’s hosted multiple bands
over several days on its outdoor stage equipped with dB Technologies line arrays, stage monitors and
subwoofers.
Jay Thomas,
front of house engineer for Bob Schneider, an Austin-based artist, suggested to
Threadgill’s that they replace the existing outdoor system during SXSW to
compete with other venues and to serve the large crowds expected for the
festival.
Based on
Thomas’ suggestion, a dB Technologies line array system was installed for the
six days of the festival supplemented by four single-18-inch active subwoofers
and a pair of line arrays ground-stacked to cover the outer bar area. The stage
included four dB Technologies 12-inch active foldback monitors and a single dB
Technologies 15-inch drum monitor. Threadgill’s outdoor stage does not have
rigging points so the line arrays and subs were ground stacked using dB
Technologies fly bars to maintain proper spacing and orientation. The
loudspeaker system, which features polypropylene enclosures and rear rain
covers, was left outside for the six-day festival.
Front of
house engineer Andrew Twenter mixed many of the groups at Threadgill’s during
SXSW. He says, “The dB Technologies arrays and subs were impressively cleaner
sounding than the house system with more definition and clarity especially in
the vocal range. I also really enjoyed the monitors which sounded great
even after being ‘rung out.’” He added, “Every band complimented the sound
after they performed which, to me, is one of the greatest complements.”
Thomas says,
“When I got on the rig with Bob Schneider, it was great. The system was crisp
and clear and it had plenty of low-end but the sound was tight and it filled
the house.” Thomas said that he needed very little EQ on the mains or
monitors and had no feedback problems for Schneider’s performance. He
added, “I’d be happy to do that rig at any venue."
