SES NEWS

SES News

Articles Written By: Rikki-Lauren Wallace

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M-techs.

At SES, we pride ourselves on being the best in our league. It is our goal to deliver the best in lighting and audio in our business. Recently we debuted the coveted MLA speakers for their first US tour with the Grammy award winners Zac Brown Band. Our efforts to provide the best in the business continued recently with all of our staff audio techs completing Martin- Audio’s three day training course with the instructor Martyn “Ferrit” Rowe, MLA’s technical training manager. This completed course certifies our technicians to be MLA “M-tech’s.” With more knowledge in our base, we are now open to even more possibilities to serve our ever- growing client list. Now, not only can we provide you with the MLA audio systems, but we can guarantee that they can be run the way they should be. When the house lights go down, and the show lights go up, our clients don’t have to worry about their sound. With our “M-techs,” everything is handled. ------------------------------------------------------------------

Oprah Winfrey Show

With Oprah Winfrey, bigger is always better. For her final week in her 25 year run as the host of the Oprah Winfrey show, it was only appropriate for her to go out with a bang. That’s where we came in. Taking over Chicago’s United Center, SES was proud to lend the lights and the sounds to some of the biggest performers of our generation. With the addition of our extremely accurate MLA speakers, the show was over the top, perfect for wowing the 20,000 in attendance who came to wave goodbye to America’s favorite talk show host. Performances from the greats brought shivers to audience’s arms and tears to their eyes. Beyonce, Rascall Flatts, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Patti LaBelle, Jamie Foxx, Stevie Wonder, Kristin Chenoweth, and Usher (with an actual choir in tow) - all wowed the crowd with their voices. The arena which is famous for it’s legendary basketball players said goodbye to tv’s legend, but the night was also legendary in our own history. We were honored and proud to be a part of this outstanding salute. ------------------------------------------------------------------

Glenn Beck Restoring Courage Israel 2011

This past August, SES had the immense pleasure of traveling to Israel to help consult for Glenn Beckʼs Restoring Courage event. We sent one of our Nashville-based team members across the ocean for the event held in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem. Our consultant worked closely with the producing staff to make this very high profile event unforgettable. The three day event was broadcast around the world to show that Israel does not stand alone. We thoroughly enjoyed working and coordinating this monumental event. We look forward to working on more projects like this in the future with our ever-growing staff and abilities. From the USA to Europe to the Middle East, we are there for you as a team.

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Dave Matthew Caravan Tour: Governors Island, New York

This August, SES had the privilege to work with one of our long time staging clients on a whole new level, Dave Matthews Band for their Caravan Tour when it came through Governors Island, New York. While their usual touring vendors were setting up their next show at the Gorge in Washington, DC, we were called in to provide a complete turnkey production package. For this concert on Governorʼs Island, we provided all the audio, lighting, video, staging, and flooring services. This high-profile stage was the perfect place for us to put our new flafship PA system the Outline GTO, and our extensive Vari*Lite Inventory (Series 3000, 3500, and VLX) into action. K2 Structures, a SES partner company, Dave Matthews Bandʼs longtime preferred staging vendor provided the staging for this event. This is one of the many examples of how we can serve you as a company. From touring to one time special events, we are there when you need us to be providing the best turnkey production solutions. Our long history with Dave Matthews Band made us very happy to work with them on this stage. We look forward to serving them more in the future. ------------------------------------------------------------------

Zac Brown Band

SES is proud to be partnered with the Grammy winner and CMA winner Zac Brown Band. Following their multi-platinum success with their album “Foundation” and their hit song, “Toes,” they didnʼt disappoint in September 2010 with the release of their new album, “You Get What You Give.” The album not only debuted at #1 on the Billboardʼs Hot 200 and Billboard Country, but also had awesome success with initial sales of 142,000 copies becoming the 3rd country artist of 2010 to debut with over 100,000 sales! Nominated for five 2010 CMA awards, they took home the award for New Artist of the Year following their Grammy win earlier in the year of the exact same award. Both the Grammyʼs and the CMAʼs clearly agree that Zac Brown Band has made an impression as a new artist; one that is not to be forgotten. During the year, they also wowed crowds with duets with both Jimmy Buffet and Alan Jackson. With the partnership just off the ground and national and international tours scheduled for this summer, SES is excited to see where this strong relationship will go.

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Darius Rucker

Back in 1993 SES partnered with the award winning band Hootie and the Blow Fish. At the time, we had no idea where their lead singer, Darius Rucker would go in the world of country music. Switching from rock to country, Darius shook the country world with his platinum album “Learn to Live.” His first three singles from the album reached #1 on the country charts, making him the first country singer since 1992 to achieve such success. In 2010, his success continued with the release of his album “Charleston, SC 1966.” He became the 4th country artist in 2010 to debut with over 100,000 sales, selling just over 101,000 copies initially. The album not only debuted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 200, but also #1 on the Billboard Country and #1 on Itunes. The album includes his #1 single “Comeback Song.” Dariusʼ success has spanned rock and country, and SES is very proud to be partnered with his remarkable journey. From the very beginning, itʼs been a wonderful journey, and we look forward to where this relationship goes. We consider him family and SES is home.

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NEEDTOBREATHE

In the fall of 2010, SES was proud to announce their partnership with the southern rooted faith-based rock and roll band, NEEDTOBREATHE. From October to December 2010, SES provided full production support for the “Young and Far From Home” tour, their first tour where they played in larger theatre venues. Hailing from South Carolina, the band is composed of brothers Bear and Bo Reinhart, Joe Stillwell, and Seth Bolt. The Reinhart brothers had the unique upbringing of being raised by an Assembly of Godpastor. As a result, their music is heavily influenced by their faith and achieving great success on the Christian billboard charts with their album, “The Outsiders” which debuted at #2. The album also debuted at #20 on the Billboard Hot 200 signaling the crossover appeal of the band. Their music has been compared as a cross between Coldplay and the Fray, but has a distinct southern rock sound to it. Big things are happening for NEEDTOBREATHE. On October 24, 2010, the band released their first LIVE EP, they have a new album in the works, and Taylor Swift picked them as her opening act of her upcoming national tour starting in May 2011. NEEDTOBREATHEʼs journey seems to just be heating up, and it doesnʼt look like there is a breather in sight for them for a while. SES is excited to build a relationship with them and looks forward to where it may take them in the future.

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Black Country Communion
with superstar guitarist Joe Bonamassa.

Hailed as one of the best guitar players of todayʼs generation, Joe Bonamassa has had giant success as a solo guitarist. He has had duets with the great Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The following live performance album achieved the #1 spot on the Itunes Blues Chart. In 2010, his career took a different turn, and he formed “the supergroup” of Black Country Communion. Composed of Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, and Derek Sherinian, the bandʼs sound has a range from rock to blues with a British flair. The bandʼs debut album, “Black Country,” debuted at #54 on Billboard Hot 200, #19 on Billboard Hard Rock, and #6 on Indie, and has already experienced huge success. Glenn Hughes recently announced that he was already writing for the bandʼs second album which will hopefully be released later this year. SES is honored to work with Joe and the “supergroup.” We are very eager to see where this relationship goes in the future.

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MLA

This past year, we invested in many upgrades, but the one that sticks out the most is the impeccable Martin Audioʼs MLA (Multi Cellular Loudspeaker Array). Delivering unprecedented coverage throughout an entire venue, this game-changing, incredibly efficient speaker is a system techʼs dream PA. Now with SES, our clients get the brilliant use of this outstanding product. Everyone in the business knows that the specs change for every venue. What frequency worked for one show might not work at another. Now thanks to the introduction and adaption of the MLA, gone are the days of inconsistency from venue to venue. No longer does an audio tech have to worry about the different sound levels from seat to seat. Thanks to the impeccable technology out of Martinʼs Audio, the audio engineer can preset the audio so that each show has precision, consistency, and repeatability. Sound is meant to be impeccable for every member in the audience, now with MLA and SES, it can be.

Martin Audio MLA Deployed At Chicago’s US Cellular Field For Osteen Event

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SES Teams Up with Outline Audio to Launch the GTO Line Array System

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Zac Brown Band Chooses Avid Profile

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Tour Profile for NEEDTOBREATHE’s Young and Far From Home Tour

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SES and Zac Brown bring in the New Year with the help of MLA

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More Game Changing Results from the Martin MLA System

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