Pitbull & Enrique Iglesias Tour

The Opportunity:

One of the recent top grossing tours, the Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull co-headliner tour, features a massive stage production that alternates between Iglesias and Pitbull as headliners each night. As the lead FOH engineer for Iglesias, Brad Divens knew the tour needed a PA that could accurately reproduce the eclectic and dynamic musical styles of both performers.

Mixing Pitbull, FOH engineer Wil Madera’s focus is to go for a club vibe no matter the size of the venue: “Even though we play a lot of arenas and stadiums, I don’t want to hurt people with overwhelming bass frequencies,” Madera says. “I like a nice low-end, like in a club, with a nice attack on the drums and focus on the clarity of each individual instrument on stage.”

For lighting, lighting designer team Travis Shirley (Iglesias) and Tom Sutherland (Pitbull) wanted a versatile configuration that offered plenty of headroom to complement two headliner shows in just one set design that still reaches out to two different audiences. For both lighting and audio, it was international availability was a crucial aspect, as the tour spanned several continents.

The Solution:

FOH engineers Brad Divens and Wil Madera selected JBL Professional speakers and Crown amplifiers for their power, versatility, and transparent sound quality while lighting designers Travis Shirley and Tom Sutherland light the entire gig up with Martin lighting fixtures. After hearing a JBL Professional VTX Series system at a show in Turkey, Divens knew he had found the perfect PA for the tour.

Shared by both headliners and the opening band, CNCO, the main sound system is comprised of 80 VTX V25-II-CS speakers, 18 JBL VTX S28 subwoofers that are flown with the main arrays, and 16 JBL VTX G28 subwoofers on the ground. In addition, 14 JBL VerTec 4886 cabinets are used as front fills. Power is provided by 104 Crown Amplification I-Tech 1200HD amplifiers.

LDs Shirley and Sutherland packed the entire stage roof with Martin’s workhorse, the MAC Viper Profile, arrayed on a seven-finger overhead truss. Add to this the MAC Viper Wash DX and yet another Martin workhorse, the MAC Axiom Hybrid, and you’ve got a massive roof of beams and wash effects that completes the full HARMAN Professional solution.

Finally, with HARMAN’s worldwide availability and service, the choice of HARMAN Professional Solutions was a no-brainer for this international tour.

The Impact:

“What I like about the VTX V25 is the clarity and the imaging of the box itself, and how sweet and pristine the top end is,” Divens said. “It can handle everything from an acoustic guitar and vocal to a full-on rock band. There’s separation, clarity and power. Whether I’m mixing at 80 or 102 dBA, all the dynamics are still there. Everyone has been 100 percent happy with the system.”

“The VTX V25-II allows me to convey exactly what I want when transmitting Pitbull’s energy to the crowd, and it makes my mixing go smoothly and helps me maintain consistency,” says Madera. “The low-end can change a lot song-to-song, so I make sure to blend it with the rest of the sound to keep the rhythms balanced.”