Inside the sound of Canada’s biggest music night: L-Acoustics at the Junos

Each year, the Juno Awards celebrates Canada’s top singers and musical artists in a televised event broadcast live on CBC. This year’s three-plus-hour ceremony took place at the cavernous Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Hosted by local native Michael Bublé, the 54th annual show featured performances by Bublé himself, Josh Ross, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Aqyila, and Tia Wood, among others. Anne Murray was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the band Sum 41 was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, playing its last-ever farewell performance, capping off the group’s nearly 30-year run. The Juno Awards is a fast-paced production with numerous moving elements and no room for error – or poor sound – which is why KiAN Sound brought in L-Acoustics L Series and K Series loudspeaker systems to ensure that not a note was missed throughout the 19,000-capacity venue.

This was one of the first deployments of KiAN’s newly acquired L-Acoustics L2 and L2D enclosures. The L Series is optimised to deliver exceptional sonic performance with superior clarity, precise coverage, and low-frequency extension. 

Not to mention, these eco-conscious systems require 56% less paint, 30% less wood, and 60% less steel than traditional line arrays, highlighting L-Acoustics’ commitment to sustainability.

It was, says KiAN GM Derek Mahaffey, a winning outing as it was also the company’s first-ever Juno Awards ceremony show, after over a decade of providing live sound for many of the event’s peripheral shows. “The Junos sounded wonderful this year,” enthuses Mahaffey. 

“Many of the Canadian music industry’s leading artists and execs were in the audience, and we deployed an L-Acoustics sound system that let everyone hear the music perfectly in every seat. 

The system’s coverage was extremely consistent; there were no dead spots. When it comes to sound reinforcement systems, KiAN’s owner, Mark Reimann, always goes the extra distance to ensure every single component is perfect, right down to the cables and connectors. With a production of this importance, we needed the very best system in place, and that was the L Series.”

The system brought in by KiAN (pronounced “cayenne,” like the pepper) for this year’s Juno Awards was specifically designed to address the 270° seating configuration. It consisted of six L2 and two L2D in total for the left and right main arrays. 

Two hangs of 12 K2 per side served as side-fills, with another set of 12 K2 used for the rear out-fills. Cardioid-configured KS28 subs were flown eight per side, with eight more ground-stacked to anchor the LFE. Delay coverage was delivered by two hangs of 12 Kara II per side, while six X8 front-fills were built into the stage and buttressed by four A15 side front-fills. 

The performers who preferred traditional monitor wedges enjoyed a dozen available X15 at their feet, plus a pair of A15 as side-fill monitors and an SB18 sub for the low notes. Eight LA7.16 and 31 LA12X amplified controllers powered the entire setup, with system management achieved via a pair of P1 Milan-AVB processors.

The Juno Awards sought the Holy Grail of all awards shows: top-flight musical reproduction combined with crystal-clear speech intelligibility. “Rogers Arena is a pretty good venue, sound-wise, but it’s an arena, so it can get a little boomy in the back,” Mahaffey adds. 

“But every element of our L-Acoustics system combined to create a single experience. The transition in coverage between L2 to K2 was seamless, and the front-to-back of the system was virtually flawless as well. Rear rejection off the PA was also excellent, with almost no bleed onto the stage. Out in the house, when I walked the entire arena – from the lower bowl on the floor to the upper bowl – everything sounded just spectacular everywhere.”

“I loved working on the L2 system,” enthuses Juno Awards Head of Sound Mark Vreeken, who also mixed front-of-house sound for the production. “It had great coverage and more consistent throw than any other rig I’ve used. Also, I have never heard that kind of rejection on stage, so the vocal tone and clarity was really nice. 

"We were very well supported by Patricia Carr from L-Acoustics, who brought in André Pichette and Phil Hornung to help tune and set up with the KiAN crew. We also had our longtime trusted systems engineer, François Hallé and audio crew chief Alex Bibeau there from Solotech, who provided the control package. Tal Ophir and the guys from KiAN had the PA flown in record time and did a great job as they always do. We were in good hands!”

“Insight Productions sends a huge ‘thank you’ to Patricia Carr and the L-Acoustics team for their partnership and collaboration,” says Lindsay Cox, co-chief content officer and executive producer for Insight Productions, which produced the show. 

“We were thrilled to be working with such an incredible group of professionals who focus so carefully on the artists as they bring their sound to life. As showrunner of The Juno Awards, I’m tasked with delivering the best possible live and broadcast experience to the artists, and I have great appreciation for L-Acoustics’ attention to detail and client care. 

"They planned for months how to provide the best possible experience for our arena Juno audience with a unique focus on each artist’s style and genre. We are additionally grateful to KiAN Sound, which made certain that all of the live audio requirements for a show of this magnitude were met. We could not be more appreciative of the team from KiAN and L-Acoustics for bringing our show to life."

Image credits:

Image 1: CARAS_Ry_One

Image 2: CARAS/Lindsey Blane

Image 3: CARAS_Ry_Ones

Image 4: CARAS/Ryan Bolton