{"id":52559,"date":"2023-12-19T11:39:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T10:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/?post_type=press-release&p=52559"},"modified":"2024-04-29T12:12:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T10:12:02","slug":"first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/","title":{"rendered":"First for First Avenue: Iconic Minneapolis Venue Paves the Way with North America\u2019s First Installation of the New L-Acoustics L Series Concert Sound System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A venue famous for hosting every genre of music imaginable over more than 50 years now has a concert sound system that makes them all sound equally great<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota \u2013 December 2023 \u2013<\/strong> The fact that the venerable live music club First Avenue occupies a former Greyhound Bus terminal in downtown Minneapolis might have prompted patrons when it first opened in 1970 to joke that the venue might be going places. As it turned out, First Avenue has instead stuck around. Five decades later, the venue is celebrated as one of the longest-running, independently owned and operated venues in the United States and is widely recognized as the musical epicenter of the Twin Cities. Perhaps best known as the recording location of Prince\u2019s \u201cPurple Rain,\u201d which became the title track for the eponymous landmark film that also featured the club, First Avenue has hosted countless nationally- and internationally-acclaimed music artists like Green Day, Public Enemy, Ray Charles, Megadeth, Tina Turner, and many others over the years. The venue also became the incubator for most of the artists who formed Minneapolis\u2019 moment atop the ever-moving American music locus in the 1980s, including The Replacements, H\u00fcsker D\u00fc, Soul Asylum, The Revolution, and, of course, Prince himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping the long-running club at the leading edge of live music has been one of its top missions over the years, and that continues today, with the installation of North America\u2019s first permanently installed L-Acoustics L Series sound system, part of a full-system package that also includes a pair of DiGiCo Quantum225 consoles for front of house and monitor mixing, integrated thereby locally-based Allied Productions. The new loudspeaker system officially debuted on a recent Thanksgiving Eve Show featuring Ike Reilly on Wednesday, November 22, followed by a sold-out Atmosphere concert two days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Minneapolis\u2019
Minneapolis\u2019 venerable First Avenue has now leveled up with North America\u2019s first installation of the new L-Acoustics concert sound system L Series integrated by Allied Productions.\u00a0(Photo credit: Chris Shaffner for First Avenue)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst Avenue finally has the sound system it deserves,\u201d comments Randy Hawkins, who mixed that first Atmosphere show at First Avenue. \u201cI had the EQ flatter than ever, and I even had the subs and bus compressor turned down -7dB and we still hit 124dB C-weighted! That\u2019s how transparent and powerful the L Series is. It\u2019s surprisingly powerful for its size.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawkins should know: besides having mixed front of house for Atmosphere for the past 18 years, he had also been First Avenue\u2019s house engineer and sound supervisor for nearly 30 years and is currently the A1 at The Palace Theatre, part of the First Avenue portfolio of local venues and home to an L-Acoustics K2 system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Atmosphere
Atmosphere performing on First Avenue\u2019s new L Series system, with the compact Kiva II center-fill array also visible overhead. (Photo credit: Chris Shaffner for First Avenue)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He further notes that First Avenue could be a sonically challenging room over the years, sometimes sounding radically different between soundcheck and the night’s first show. \u201cBut with the L Series, it was clear from the front to the back of the house, and it didn\u2019t change a bit from soundcheck to downbeat,\u201d he says. \u201cThe buildup of the low-mids that often happens in that room didn\u2019t happen. I took a little bit out at 2K and 2.5K, but that was mainly because of the Beta58 mic. The L Series itself was virtually flat, and there were no headroom issues at all. It’s a great PA for a great room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Johnson, Lead Audio for First Avenue, agrees: \u201cThe new L2\/L2D concert sound system has dramatically improved many of the challenges engineers and audiences faced in First Avenue,\u201d he says. \u201cFor audience members, coverage, clarity, and sightlines are better than ever. For engineers, there is better frequency response, stereo imaging, sub extension, and headroom. The best improvement is how much less things change from soundcheck to show. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to dial in a band the way I wanted in an empty room the first time I used it. I’m very excited to hear what artists and engineers can do with it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The club now features a single L2 and L2D per side, paired with a monitoring system of two A15 and two KS21 per side as side-fills, plus 12 X15 HiQ wedges. (Photo credit: Chris Shaffner for First Avenue)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tyler Thomas, Technical Lead at Allied for the installation, was impressed with the L Series before it was even flown. \u201cThis product is so new that we had to wait for the update to Soundvision to see the design, and once we did, we were super-impressed with the results before we actually even heard it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst Avenue is known for its powerful sonic signature and being able to host such a wide variety of artists from all genres, from all over the world, so we really needed a system that would be capable of reproducing anything we have onstage. With the L-Acoustics L Series, we are achieving maximum sonic consistency and even coverage across the entire venue, so no matter where you are in the room, you will have an excellent experience. I firmly believe that any other system would have fallen short.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Atmosphere
Atmosphere performed a sold-out gig at the venue on November 24. (Photo credit: Chris Shaffner for First Avenue)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First Avenue\u2019s new concert sound system is a left-right design comprising one L2<\/a> over one L2D<\/a> per side with four KS28<\/a> subwoofers below each main array as an LF extension, four Kiva II<\/a> center-fills (as an optional assist for replacing lost stage volume for artists that are completely on in-ear monitors), and five X12<\/a> to fill areas obstructed by staircases or walls. The system is driven by five new LA7.16i amplified controllers plus two LA12X<\/a> for the KS28 subs. For monitoring, there are two A15 per side\u2014one Focus<\/a> and one Wide<\/a>\u2014as flown side fills, two KS21<\/a> per side for side-fill LF extensions, a dozen X15 HiQ<\/a> wedges, and one KS21 as a drum sub, collectively powered by eight LA12X. All amplifiers are driven with redundant Milan AVB and AES as a fallback. A P1<\/a> processor resides in the amp rack and is responsible for the master Milan AVB stream and any additional inputs needed to run into the system separately from the FOH console. A second P1 in the drive rack at FOH converts the console outputs to an AVB stream that is received by the amp rack P1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas notes some of the instrumental nuances of the L Series design. \u201cThe L2D greatly assists with mechanically attenuating the SPL to make sure we have the appropriate amount of headroom while also not producing harmful volume levels in the front of the audience, and its internal cardioid driver stops low end from building up on stage,\u201d he explains, adding that monitor engineers have reported a \u201chuge improvement\u201d in the sound on stage. \u201cIt also provides an extra-wide 140-degree horizontal pattern to adequately cover the entire front row without the need for placing front-fills on an already crowded stage.\u201d Thomas further points out that the L Series\u2019 low profile has also given better sightlines to the stage from every audience vantage point in the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"No
No Fun opened up the recent Atmosphere show at First Avenue. (Photo credit: Chris Shaffner for First Avenue)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis system, being the first L-Acoustics L Series installation in North America, underscores First Avenue\u2019s commitment to investing in the latest and greatest technology on the market with the goal of bringing fans closer to the music,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s already greatly raised the bar for artists and their audiences here, and I know that engineers will truly enjoy mixing on this system for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more info on First Avenue, visit w<\/a>ww.first-avenue.com<\/a>. Allied Productions can be found online at www.allie<\/a>d.productions<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The First Avenue Minneapolis venue becomes the first North American installation of the new L-Acoustics L Series concert sound system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":52564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"news_tags":"","tags_api":"","footnotes":""},"news-tag":[],"class_list":["post-52559","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNorth America's First Installation of L Series Concert Sound System - L-Acoustics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The First Avenue Minneapolis venue becomes the first North American installation of the new L-Acoustics L Series concert sound system.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North America's First Installation of L Series Concert Sound System - L-Acoustics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The First Avenue Minneapolis venue becomes the first North American installation of the new L-Acoustics L Series concert sound system.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"L-Acoustics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-29T10:12:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/la-first-ave-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"North America's First Installation of L Series Concert Sound System - L-Acoustics","description":"The First Avenue Minneapolis venue becomes the first North American installation of the new L-Acoustics L Series concert sound system.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"North America's First Installation of L Series Concert Sound System - L-Acoustics","og_description":"The First Avenue Minneapolis venue becomes the first North American installation of the new L-Acoustics L Series concert sound system.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/","og_site_name":"L-Acoustics","article_modified_time":"2024-04-29T10:12:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/la-first-ave-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/","url":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/","name":"North America's First Installation of L Series Concert Sound System - L-Acoustics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/la-first-ave-3.jpg","datePublished":"2023-12-19T10:39:49+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-29T10:12:02+00:00","description":"The First Avenue Minneapolis venue becomes the first North American installation of the new L-Acoustics L Series concert sound system.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/#primaryimage","url":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/la-first-ave-3.jpg","contentUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/la-first-ave-3.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/first-for-first-avenue-iconic-minneapolis-venue-paves-the-way-with-north-americas-first-installation-of-the-new-l-acoustics-l-series-concert-sound-system\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Press Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/press-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First for First Avenue: Iconic Minneapolis Venue Paves the Way with North America\u2019s First Installation of the New L-Acoustics L Series Concert Sound System"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/","name":"L-Acoustics","description":"The Best Sound comes from one source","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/#organization","name":"L-Acoustics","url":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/logo_tablet-1.jpg","contentUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/logo_tablet-1.jpg","width":143,"height":140,"caption":"L-Acoustics"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/52559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/52559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.l-acoustics.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tag?post=52559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}