Boston, MA (October 6, 2022)—When comedian Bill Burr took the stage at Boston’s famed Fenway Park in August, it was much more than merely a case of local comic makes good. The comedy star’s star turn before a hometown audience was historic—playing to a sold-out crowd of 35,000, it wasn’t just the biggest gig of Burr’s 30-year career, but also the largest comedy show in the history of Boston. Prowling the stage, Burr let loose with his trademark observations and snark, but ensuring that every punchline could be heard and appreciated was another regional mainstay—Bridgewater, MA’s Scorpio Sound Systems.
Audio clarity is always important, but for an outdoor comedy gig, it’s crucial or the jokes simply won’t be understood. To cover the massive crowd, Scorpio chose a d&b audiotechnik KSL and V-Series loudspeaker system. Gary King, owner of Scorpio Sound, also noted that just as important as covering the crowd was ensuring that the surrounding streets didn’t get affected by noise from the show, and that in turn was part of why the company opted for the KSL rig. “Fenway is in a residential neighborhood,” said King. “The stage is in center field and faces the tall stands, so it’s easy to have coverage control. The noise level there, especially with musical events, is quite high, of course, but it’s more about the strict curfew. Protecting the field and covering the seating are the goals that must be met.”
For the Bill Burr: Slight Return show at Fenway, Scorpio fielded 20 KSLs per side (14 KSL8s and 6 KSL12s) as well as side hangs with 20 V-Series per side (18 V8s and a pair of V12s), plus a dozen SL-GSUBs.
“The four delays each had a pair of J-SUBs and seven V12s on carts with pneumatic wheels to respect the field,” says King. “Aiming up from that position was perfect for hitting the bottom to the top of the stands—it’s a tried-and-true method that has been used there for years and it works well. We used a dozen Y7P loudspeakers for front fill along with 12 M2s for artist monitoring.”
The solid sound made life easier for Burr’s FOH engineer/tour production manager, Travis “Bickle” Walat, who credited Scorpio’s systems tech, Andy Vickery, for helping make the Fenway show a success. “There are many times where my attention is directed to non-audio situations,” he noted. “Andy made it so that all I had to do was push up faders and focus on the show, instead of systems correction; that is something I am extremely grateful for.”
