Allen & Heath SQ-6 Duo Powers Red Rocks

Photo courtesy Backstage Flash

Gasoline Lollipops recently performed at the Morrison, Colorado venue Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Live sound and staging company Rockfan Productions was tasked with a quick deployment and an even tighter production schedule. Recognized worldwide for its richly colored sedimentary strata and natural acoustics, Red Rocks didn’t disappoint as the socially-distanced audience experienced high definition Allen & Heath SQ-6 sonic power at both front of house and monitors.

“This show came with a challenging set of requirements, but ultimately it came together like a charm,” notes Rockfan Productions system audio technician Lee Putnam. “I was excited to get back in the production saddle again at Red Rocks, even if it was with a very limited crowd capacity and strict social distancing rules in place. We rocked two shows in one day and setup and teardown was a breeze with the SQ pair connected via SLink.”

Two Allen & Heath SQ-6 consoles outfitted with SLink cards and a GX4816 48 input / 16 output portable GX expander handled the mix duties with ease. With the same functionality as the built-in SQ SLink port, an optional secondary SLink card allows connection to a further 128 inputs and 128 outputs of 96kHz digital audio, extending the system’s expansion and potential for digital FOH to monitor splits and/or broadcast feeds.

“The Gasoline Lollipops were joined by Bonnie and Taylor Sims [Everybody Loves An Outlaw] and the arrangement of the musicians onstage varied a lot during the set and kept things interesting. Being able to configure SQ with whatever channel layout we needed is such a helpful and powerful tool,” Putnam adds. “Drag and drop your channels or mixes to your heart’s desire. Hardware-wise, SQ is just unbeatable for a quick deployment on a tight schedule. The flexibility of SLink allowed for easy communication between FOH and monitors, along with a digital split for quick patching. Both consoles were also recording at 96kHz to USB [SQ-Drive] for the videographers. And of course it all sounded great.”

“We’ve seen a number of shows at Red Rocks with larger dLive surfaces in both FOH and monitor roles over the years,” comments Allen & Heath USA marketing maestro Jeff Hawley. “I was blown away to hear from our area rep Travis [Stefl] that Lee had gone in with SQ and rocked it with a rig that would fit in the back of a midsize car. It also feels good to see that venues and production companies of all sizes are getting creative and finding our way forward in these challenging times. Big shout out to the Rockfan team for the great work making it happen!”