Off_Corso, a multifunctional building, is housed in the former Corso cinema in Kruiskade, close to the central train station. As well as live music and DJ nights the venue also targets corporate events, seminars, fashion shows, cultural festivals, awards dinners and product launches.
Director and owner Pim Bottema has a long history in the Dutch club scene, having formerly managed the Tivoli in Utrecht, Night Town in Rotterdam and latterly the nearby Calypso, where he bought his first PA system from Ampco, which founded the Synco Network. Elements of that sound system were moved to Off Corso after the Calypso's closure and are now incorporated into the new Synco PA.
Bottema comments, "We started doing club nights at Off Corso in 2001, and when I bought it in 2005 we planned to move into live concerts. Now we've chosen the Synco system so that we have an internationally recognised system that's acceptable to bigger bands than we used to have here."
Dieter van Denzel, senior system designer and account manager for Ampco, project managed the installation. He said, "A lot of bands are used to Synco by Martin Audio systems, as well as Synco stage monitors, having experienced them at festivals like Lowlands, Pinkpop and Glastonbury, so it's a great selling point for Off Corso."
The PA consists of six flown Synco by Martin Audio W8LC line array cabinets a side, supplemented by underhung W8LM and W8LMD cabinets for front-fill in the mosh pit. Six Synco RH-STS 18RRs a side provide the subwoofer component, and the whole rig is fine tuned with Synco-specific XTA processing.
A full Synco CW152 (15") monitor rig provides eight monitor groups plus a triple drum-fill with subwoofer.
Control is via a 48 channel Midas XL200 console at front of house and a DDA Forum for monitors, and the Synco package included upgrading microphones, cabling and effects to international touring standards.
Among the first artists to play through the new system were Fun Loving Criminals, Burning Spear and Israel Vibration.
Adds Bottema, "It's a very nice hall, with great sightlines because we've retained the rising floor levels of the old cinema. So even when there's 500 people in, to a band it looks and feels like a full house just as it does when it's completely full, and from the audience's point of view it means the sight lines are great. Plus the acoustics are amazing for live performances. It's a great feeling to be at the heart of live music in Rotterdam."
(Jim Evans)
