The 21,000-seat Nanjing Olympic Sports Park Arena recently hosted a special immersive concert of Rebuilding the Rights of Statues (Re-TROS). Nanjing natives, Re-TROS’s unique Post-Punk/Gothic rock sound has received widespread recognition and multiple accolades over two decades. Since 2003, the three-piece musical outfit has garnered popularity with legions of fans across the People’s Republic of China and beyond through three full-length albums and various EP/singles.

The Nanjing Olympic Sports Park Arena is part of a larger sports complex designed by Populous for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games. Almost ten years later, the soaring glass and steel elliptical dome is an integral part of the mega-city’s skyline, and an essential stop for the world’s most prominent artists. The arena made a fitting home for Re-TROS’ homecoming stop of the AFTER THE APPLAUSE tour. For this important show, the band introduced an impressive 360° L-ISA immersive audio experience to complement the stunning live concert visuals and offer fans a more intimate and enveloping experience.

Jin Shaogang, sound engineer for Re-TROS, has also served as the sound engineer for The Big Band, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and the television show The Voice of China, where in 2019, he was the first to use L-ISA immersive sound in the country. He has also served as a sound engineer for many leading artists in the region.

Jin explained how he and the band visited the L-ISA Auditoria three years ago at the Beijing headquarters of Rightway Audio Consultants (RAC), an L-Acoustics Certified Provider Distributor. “They were instantly impressed by the precise positioning and clarity of sound objects in the mix. With the support from their record label, Modern Sky and Rightway, they wished to implement immersive sound in their live concerts,” he reveals.

Following three years of planning and preparation, Nanjing Olympic Sports Park was identified as the ideal venue for an L-ISA immersive concert experience for its “high-quality architectural acoustics which help to minimise reflections,” according to Zhou Fengxin, technical director of RAC. Jin began preparing 3D mixes for live versions of the tracks using L-ISA Studio. At the same time, Re-TROS conducted rehearsal sessions in a Nanjing studio space equipped with a smaller-scale L-ISA configuration, similar to that deployed in the arena.

“Re-TROS’ music spans a wide range of sound. OB engineer Zhang Yin and I analysed all the songs in their set list and used L-ISA Studio to help create specific sound objects within the songs. We then received creative input from Jin Shaogang and the band members and fine-tuned the immersive mix,” explained FOH engineer Xu Zhen. “Being able to preview the L-ISA mixes in the immersive sound rehearsal room in Nanjing helped us fully prepare key moments in the show.”

The arena dimensions were imported into Soundvision, L-Acoustics 3D modelling software along with the proposed L-ISA configuration design. Using the L-Acoustics P1 Milan AVB processing and measurement platform, and LA Network Manager, the team improved system optimization and shortened the testing process, clearing the arena space for other teams to prepare.

Li Feng, director of Immersive Sound Application at RAC, welcomed this transition from the design to the deployment stage, “Simulated measurements and optimised results before deployment allowed Jin Shaogang to focus creatively on the live mix once the system was rigged up in the arena.”

The L-ISA immersive configuration, provided by Certified Rental Partner Beijing Xingchen Shiji Culture Communication Co. Ltd., consisted of a Focus system of five hangs of 14 x K2 flown above the stage, with further arrays of 15 x Kara, two on either side, providing extension. Two hangs of 8 x KS28 were flown centrally for low-end reinforcement. Side-fill consisted of 12 x K2 per side, and six hangs of 8 x Kara each were placed around the audience for surrounds. Front-fill consisted of five sets of 2 x KS28 subwoofers with 2 x Kara II stacked on top.

With 241 L-Acoustics speakers carefully placed throughout the arena, Jin had an expansive canvas to mix Re-TROS’ dense, intricate songs. “Re-TROS’s versatility within the range of rock music styles gave me a large canvas of sound creation and reproduction. From musical arrangements to sound design in the live mix, I could push L-ISA technology to play a major role in the concert’s overall experience,” Jin enthused.

The band closed out the special performance with their hit Sounds of Celebration, with the audience giving way to euphoric applause. The sound team was no less enthusiastic, with FOH Xu Zhen reporting that “for us as engineers, it was exhilarating to hear the exact mix we had been practising on the massive arena sound system!”

L-Acoustics