The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, NY, has a new Meyer Sound system provided by Masque Sound.
The Bearsville Center, nestled in the heart of the Catskills, was built in the 1960s by music impresario Albert Grossman, manager of artists including Bob Dylan, The Band, and Janis Joplin. Conceiving the complex as a home for creative inspiration, Grossman built cabins, a record label, and a recording studio that hosted the likes of the Rolling Stones, REM, Muddy Waters, and The Pretenders. Today, the complex comprises two restaurants; a café and bar; residences; Utopia Studios, designed in 1979 for Todd Rundgren; and the Bearsville Theater.
The Bearsville Theater entered a new chapter in 2024 under the direction of Dayglo Presents, led by concert promoter and multi-venue proprietor Peter Shapiro. Shapiro – who has breathed new life into iconic venues like New York City nightclub Wetlands and The Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY – believed it was time for the venue to realise its full sonic potential.
“The performance space was built to be acoustically perfect,” he said. “It was designed by John Storyk, who created Electric Lady Studios, and was constructed from an 18th-century barn by master craftsmen. But it never had a perfect sound system. When I was fortunate enough to take it over, there was only one plan, really, which was to put in the best sound in the world; the theatre deserved it. So, we reached out to Meyer Sound.”
Event production company G4D Productions, led by Jon Dindas, was instrumental in the renovation. G4D has partnered with Dayglo to build or renovate numerous venues, including Brooklyn Bowl clubs. Dindas’ connection to Woodstock dates back decades, to his work with Levon Helm at his Woodstock studio complex, The Barn.
Dindas said that while acoustically pristine, the intimate 500-capacity venue presents some sound reinforcement challenges, with its asymmetrical space that features a bar along one side wall and a steep balcony. “The concert area is in front of the stage, and it’s not very big,” he said. “On the left side, you have this area that is not directly attacked by the mains. For me, it was about balance and making sure that that immediacy, the in-your-face clarity, was going to be the same whether you’re seated in the third row, whether you’re standing for a rock show, whether you’re back up in this severely raked balcony, or if you’re over to the side; that there are no dead spots.”
The new Meyer Sound system, installed by Masque Sound’s Anthony Nittoli, Dave Francisco, Matt Garvey, and Leigh Pietz with support from Meyer Sound technical design and services specialist Brian Bolly, is centred around a pair of UPQ-D1 wide-coverage full-size loudspeakers that are soffit-mounted stage left and right. The system is supported by 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements and Ultra-X20 compact wide-coverage loudspeaker front fills and delays, and is managed by a Galileo Galaxy 408 Network Platform. The system also uses MJF high-power stage monitors. A Dolby Atmos speaker system, used for film screenings, is available for immersive music performances.
“We’re not hanging a line array,” said Dindas. “They gave me array renderings and it just didn’t feel like the Bearsville Theater. So we went with cabinets set into the wood. I think it feels right in terms of the aesthetic. And it sounds great.”
Dindas added that the wide-coverage UPQ-D1 loudspeakers, with their 80 x 50° pattern, are perfect for providing uniform coverage over a broad listening area. “You have the seated or the standing room right in front of you, but then you have the stage right area,” he said. “So having the wideness of those boxes was really great for the room. There were dead spots in the past, which the UPQs have addressed.”
A pair of 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements are positioned under the lip of the deck to bring low-end clarity. “For the most part, we’re not going to be shaking the room,” said Dindas. “Not everyone has a subtle sub. Everybody has something that can push a lot of air, but something that can make you feel like you’re sitting in your living room with a really good sound system, that’s a treat. And that’s what these subs sound like.”
“The coverage pre-Meyer Sound to now is really night and day, in every point of the room,” Dindas continued. “When we were doing sound checking and I was up in the balcony, or sitting in the fourth row, I really got that living room sound, which I think more often than not is what’s going to be performed here. Whatever you loved about the room, about its vibe, is still going to be there. But now it’s just going to sound better.”
On 1 June, Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble performed the first show in the new theatre. “There is an incredible intimacy between the people on the stage and the people in the audience,” said Was. “The sound system is incredible. I actually can’t think of a comparable room.”
The rejuvenated Bearsville Theater will this year host performances by artists including Guster, Dawes, Guided By Voices, Drive-By Truckers, Dresden Dolls, The Zombies, and The Jayhawks.
“I believe that the Bearsville Theater now has the preeminent sound of any comparable venue of its size in America,” said Shapiro. “It was built to be acoustically perfect, and now it has the acoustically perfect sound system. It’s extraordinary.”
