Situated on 60 acres in the heart of the Richmond City Centre, the O Zone featured large high-definition video screens to display the competitions, along with outdoor ice skating, art exhibits, ice sculptures and even a virtual reality bobsled attraction. The O Zone also hosted theme nights celebrating Canada's diverse cultures and regions, including a Chinese New Year Celebration on 14 February.
"There were all kinds of performers throughout the two-and-a-half weeks the O Zone was open," said event audio engineer Rob Aarden of SW Audio Visual. "The variety of talent was impressive, but it also posed a challenge because every act had its own set of requirements. We made sure we had enough gear to adapt to each situation."
The main stage at the O Zone featured 16 JBL Vertec VT4889 full-size line array elements per side, along with six VT4888DP-CN powered midsize line array elements with DrivePack technology per side in place for out-fill arrays. A total of 14 JBL SR4718 subwoofers provided supplemental low-frequency support for the system, which also included 14 JBL TTM149 stage monitors.
"I was really happy with the performance of the VT4889's and was pleased with the outstanding amount of high end the system had," Aarden said. "Because we had so many guest engineers working for the different artists, it was crucial to have a reliable and dynamic system. Everything ran smoothly."
(Jim Evans)
