Rapidly recognised as one of the Japanese capital’s leading theatre venues, the Tokyo Garden Theatre is located in the city’s waterfront area within a major new development that also includes a retail mall, hotel, spa facility and housing complex. In a country where most theatres and halls operate on weekends only, the Tokyo Garden Theatre is designed to stage events every day of the week, where shows can load in/out quickly, with easy access to a versatile, world-class, and permanently installed sound system.
“At my previous job, I was in charge of establishing Sendai PIT, a small live club in the city of Sendai” explains Katsushi Kamuki from the theatre’s Operation Department. “We used NEXO speakers there, and I felt that their bold and powerful sound would be well-suited for the sound at Tokyo Garden Theatre. So, I took everyone involved in making the decision to Sendai PIT for a test listen before deciding to use NEXO.”
Two hangs of NEXO STM M28 and B112 are rigged on either side of the stage as the main speakers, with adjacent hangs of GEO M10 and MSUB15 subs as outfills. STM S118 subwoofers are located under the stage and PS15-R2s are used as frontfills. Small clusters of STM M28s are installed on the ceiling as delays, and NEXO’s compact and powerful ID24s are used to extend coverage under balconies. Amplification and processing come from a bank of NEXO’s 4-channel, networkable NXAMP4X4MK2 powered controllers, and Yamaha RIVAGE PM7 digital consoles are used for FOH and monitor mixing.
Commenting on behalf of the Theatre Operation Department at Sumitomo Fudosan Retail Management Co., General Manager Hiroyuki Honda says “On weekdays, we aim to be like a large live music club that you can just pop into when the mood strikes you and, on weekends, a hall that major artists can include in their arena tours. We wanted to cut down on set-up time by preparing permanent equipment that performers can use as much as possible. Performers use our permanent speakers even more than we expected. I believe that this percentage will increase even more in the future.”
Despite a capacity of 8,000 seats, the venue is relatively intimate, with a maximum viewing distance of just 54 metres. “Performers have praised the closeness to audience seating, saying that it’s easy to feel the energy from the audience” continues Mr Kamuki. “On the stage, it feels as if the audience surrounds you. One artist who came to see the hall before their performance said, ‘This is amazing!’ when they stood on stage.”
