Pitbull Can’t Stop Us Now with JBL VTX
- Details
Following the success of his I Feel Good Tour in 2021, Pitbull’s Can’t Stop Us Now 2022 Tour is presented by Live Nation and features performances by Iggy Azalea and Sirius XM’s Globalization DJs in addition to the Cuban-American superstar himself. The 50+ date North American tour began in Raleigh, North Carolina in July and concluded in Hollywood, Florida on 19 October.
Pitbull’s veteran front-of-house engineer Will Madera and production manager Victor Martinez hired Thunder Audio to supply a complete stadium-ready JBL VTX system for the three-month tour. With the help of system engineer Nick Turner, the audio team selected and designed a touring sound solution consisting of VTX line array speakers and subwoofers, powered by Crown amplifiers.
“I wanted the unique sound that the JBL VTX Series provides,” said Will Madera, front-of-house engineer with Pitbull. “We needed a system that could simultaneously deliver an urban sound and a pop sound. The VTX system checks all the boxes we were looking for on this tour, which requires me to mix a live band with an urban pop sound. The system response is balanced with plenty of lows and translates my mix very clearly. I definitely look forward to carrying JBL VTX line arrays on future tours.”
The tour’s sound system features numerous speaker models from the VTX family of pro sound solutions. The main left-right hang consisted of 36 JBL VTX V25 speakers (18 boxes per side).
Turner’s system design also included 24 VTX A12 speakers as suspended out-fills (12 boxes per side), 16 VTX A8 as 270-degree wrap around speakers (eight per side), and eight VTX A8 as front-fills. The VTX A Series helped Madera and the Thunder Audio team - Alex Martinez, James Romeo and Jamichael Partridge -deliver powerful and balanced sound quality in every seat of every stadium and amphitheatreon the tour.
“The V25 speakers are nice as mains because of how much horsepower they provide,” said Nick Turner, system engineer with Pitbull and audio crew chief with Thunder Audio. “The A8 sounds absolutely stunning. I’m a big fan of the A8 because we can use it as front fills and wraparounds and it blends very well with the mains. The A12s sound great when paired with the B28 subs, which are pretty amazing.”
To supplement the extreme lows, 16 VTX S28 dual 18-inch arrayable subwoofers (eight subs per side) were flown behind or beside the V25 boxes, depending on the venue’s rigging capabilities. Additionally, the Thunder Audio team deployed 24 VTX B28 subwoofers on the floor in front of the stage, arranged in eight cardioid arrays of three boxes each. Turner and his team powered the entire system with a total of 92 Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers, which provided more than enough headroom to deliver an impactful live sound experience in any venue.
“With sold-out shows, coverage is key,” said Turner. “There are many packed houses on this tour, and the staff is always asking if we can open additional seating. It feels great knowing that with the VTX system, we can say yes to covering any seat in the house and make it happen for them. The system has way more headroom than I’ve ever experienced in other systems.”
Greg Snyder, VP of sales at Thunder Audio comments, “Our experience with JBL VTX over the last 10 years has proven to be extremely successful. The VTX system performs beyond all expectations in every situation we have ever used it in.”
