As befits a restaurant chain founded by KISS legends Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Rock & Brews restaurants serve up food and craft beers in a setting reminiscent of a classic rock concert. Each location boasts a backstage environment showcasing iconic rock art, concert trusses and stage lighting and numerous HD LED flatscreens sharing some of rock’s all-time-greatest concert moments.
Named the seventh fastest-growing chain in 2015 by Restaurant Business Magazine, Rock & Brews’ expansion recently encompassed two new locations in California. Jon Mesko, southern California Rock & Brews franchise partner, turned to CBC Technical’s vice president David Meek to design the systems for his two new 200-capacity locations in Corona and Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Given the need for intelligibility in the high ambient-noise spaces, Meek and the CBC team selected full-range VUE i8 two-way loudspeakers to anchor each system. They deployed a total of 33 i8s in Corona and 24 i8s in Rancho Cucamonga.
One thing I’ve noticed is that everything from VUE is QC’d – every speaker comes out of the box and works; we run the systems fairly flat because the frequency response is so flat
David Meek, CBC Technical
“First off, Rock & Brews play nothing but classic rock so the sound had to be extraordinary,” explained Meek. “But even more importantly, intelligibility of the lyrics was paramount. You can turn the VUEs up enough to hear the vocals without blowing everyone away.”
Meek also specified the VUE i8 class due to their ease of installation and out-of-box performance. “The i8s use good old U brackets which you can do just about anything with – they installed on the already-existing truss like a breeze. Meek also praised the i8’s flat frequency response: “One thing I’ve noticed is that everything from VUE is QC’d – every speaker comes out of the box and works; we run the systems fairly flat because the frequency response is so flat.”
Feedback from patrons, and Mesko, has been nothing but positive. “The client absolutely loves how each restaurant sounds,” said Meek. “It was a real honour to design the systems that deliver the truest classic rock experience to hundreds of patrons each day.”
Meek joined CBC Technical in 2015 with an ambitious goal to double sales year over year. During his tenure, the company has added a range of other restaurant clients including Outback Steakhouse, Eureka! Restaurant, Yard House, Salt and Straw, Wild and Free, Lucille’s Smoke House BBQ and more. According to Meek, VUE will play a key part in that growth cycle given its versatility and sonic clarity: “While our growth plans are ambitious, the team and I have the growth track record, and the amazing-sounding line of VUE loudspeakers in our court – the sky’s the limit!”
