Summary:
- Dream Live marks the first installation using the L-Acoustics L2 and L2D speakers systems.
- Included are eight KS21i subs, three KS28, six A10i Focus spread across the stage lip, four arrays of one A15i Focus overone A15i Wide, and under-balcony fills featuring six A15i Wide mounted with a second, concentric ring of twelve 8Xi coaxial systems.
- Boulevard Carroll president Anthony Cioffi sees the new L-Acoustics system at Dream Live as a sign of where live music venues are headed.
Located in New Jersey next to the larger-than-life home of the New York Giants and Jets stands the American Dream. Dubbed the second-largest indoor shopping mall in the United States, its directory is dizzying; there are 450 stores, more than 65 dining and drinking locations, the country’s largest indoor waterpark, North America’s only indoor ski resort, the largest indoor theme park in the Western Hemisphere, and now, American Dream Live Performing Arts Center. The three-tiered, nearly 2,800-capacity live performance venue opened its doors with an L-Acoustics L Series loudspeaker system in place, designed and installed by Boulevard Carroll Entertainment Group.
The project transformed a long-dormant space into a PAC with high-end audio, video, and lighting that caters to private parties and corporate events as well as top-name concerts and theatrical productions. According to Sean Conner, general manager of Dream Live, the venue underwent a $65 million build-out and now features IMAG capability, including six RED cinema cameras used for live performances.
L-Acoustics turned to Boulevard Carroll, its Certified Provider for the region. Anthony Fischetta, Boulevard Carroll CFO, along with head of audio and lead designer Daryl Moore, president Anthony Cioffi, and project manager Joe Smith, visited the space and partnered with L-Acoustics on a Soundvision design for the venue. The design was then presented to the mall’s owners and, in turn, to the construction team overseeing the entire project.
The space had sat empty since the mall opened more than 20 years earlier. Conner joined Dream Live in March to help bring the venue online, after new owners invested to expand and upgrade a space that, as Fischetta noted, “was built 20 years before the infrastructure was designed, so we were limited on what we could change.” With nowhere to add holes, wires, or speakers where the design called for, Boulevard Carroll routed cable into the balcony and under-balcony and adapted the system to existing rigging points from two decades earlier, maneuvering conduit layouts and fly points into position for the Soundvision model until the rig came within inches of its target despite very tight constraints.
Although Boulevard Carroll has carried L-Acoustics L2 and L2D speakers in its rental inventory for some time, Dream Live marks the first installation using the systems. The L Series main arrays include one L-Acoustics L2 over one L2D per side. “There are eight KS21i subs under the stage, plus three KS28 flown behind each main array,” said Moore.
Front-fills consist of six A10i Focus spread across the stage lip. Over-balcony fills include four arrays of one A15i Focus over one A15i Wide, two per side, addressing the far left and right balcony seats. Under-balcony fills feature an arc of six A15i Wide mounted just under the front edge of the balcony, with a second, concentric ring of twelve 8Xi coaxial systems mounted farther back on the under-balcony ceiling “because the balcony is so deep.
“There are speakers everywhere,” Moore continued. “Every inch of seating is perfectly covered. It’s pretty impressive. Because the balcony sticks out so far, the main arrays don’t really get under there, so they rely on two separate rows of under-balcony speakers.”
LA7.16i amplified controllers drive the main arrays and the over-balcony and under-balcony fills, while LA12X power the front-fills and subs. Boulevard Carroll also delivered a full audio package that included two Yamaha DM7 consoles with Rios, Shure Axiom Wireless, Shure PSM 1000, and ClearCom antenna distribution.
The team credits Dream Live’s construction crew, who were meticulous in treating the walls and flooring. The results surprised them. “When we were initially looking at it, the entire place was just concrete, and it’s not very deep, so you’d expect a lot of reflection off of the back walls,” Fischetta said. “But they did a lot of treatment, either wood slats or Homasote paneling, behind the decorative wood slats. And to the credit of Sully Sullivan at L-Acoustics, who came out to tune it, he did a great job with it as well.”
Dream Live had its soft opening in March, followed by a 10-date run of Dog Man: The Musical that marked its official launch. “The venue’s management put their money where their mouth was,” Cioffi concluded. “They wanted the best possible outcome for audio, and they got it. They’re super pleased with the results, and when they kick off ticketed, rolling events, they’re going to be a very popular venue because the production value of audio is absolutely first-rate.”
