It's no exaggeration to say that MGM Resorts is an empire. Growing from a single hotel and casino in the '70s to a conglomerate that now stretches from Circus Circus at the north end of the Strip to Mandalay Bay at the south end, MGM Resorts today encompasses more than a dozen properties in that short stretch of desert alone.
When MGM Resorts began researching and seeking out a new portable sound reinforcement system, the primary requirement was that it would perform exceptionally for every property in the family - a mean feat considering that each hotel and casino has its own crew and gear complement that a new system would to have to "play nice" with.
Enter MGM Resorts production supervisor Shad Groverland who had been tapped by director of production services Sid Pike a couple of years ago to head up an effort to unify systems across the entire company. "We were spending a lot of money on gear rentals," notes Groverland. "For example, Bellagio might have a large corporate event for which they needed more of a rig than they had in their own stock, so they would rent something from a local provider. Meanwhile, the gear they needed might be sitting unused at The Mirage."
Getting everyone onboard meant, first of all, finding a system that everyone would be satisfied with. After extensive talks with crews throughout the chain, the name L-Acoustics rose to the top. "We needed a system that was rider-friendly, quick to set up, natural sounding with any type of sound source and, most importantly, something that all MGM Resorts property sound departments could agree upon," he says.
The resulting system - comprising 24 Kara cabinets and eight SB18 subs, all powered by six LA8 amplified controllers housed in a pair of LA-RAK touring racks - has now been in service for a few months and is an unqualified hit with both clients and crews.
Standing in the corporate production facility located behind The Mirage resort, Groverland says, "This is where the Kara rig would be if it was in the warehouse. But it's almost never here; it's literally out on a show 80 percent of the time."
(Jim Evans)
