Cohesion on Rauw Alejandro's Cosa Nuestra World Tour

	Rauw Alejandro's Cosa Nuestra World Tour. Photo: JP Anon

Latin Grammy-winner Rauw Alejandro dreamed big for his showstopping tour in support of his 2024 album Cosa Nuestra. The global production featured salsa dancers, a seven-piece backing band, a four-act narrative reminiscent of star-crossed romances like West Side Story or Romeo and Juliet. The Cosa Nuestra World Tour was backed by Cohesion for 47 dates across North America and Europe and accrued 32 sellouts, including three evenings each at Intuit Dome in Inglewood and Brooklyn's Barclays Center as well as four consecutive sellouts in San Juan.

The Puerto Rican-born Alejandro and his team insisted on a touring audio system that would provide complete top-to-bottom arena coverage while showcasing the nuances of the performance's sonic qualities, as front-of-house mix engineer Jose Angel Rivera, Jr. describes: "Rauw wanted the entire audience to have the same show experience. This tour was different. He wanted to protect the theatricality of it. I was so impressed with his willingness to listen and how attuned he is to every aspect of production." System engineer and crew chief John Peter "JP" Anon elaborates: "Even SPL coverage was essential because the show was dynamic and intimate; we wanted it to sound 99-100dBA in the highest seats. That was quite easy with the amount of throw from Cohesion. We hovered around 100 dBA or lower so people could hear the details. We pointed the high end exactly where we wanted and got even coverage from the floor to the last row of the upper bowl. Having this PA helped with both the coverage and the detail."

Clair Global deployed the audio system, which featured twenty Cohesion CO12 left-right on the main hangs and another sixteen CO12 on either side hang. "I requested twenty CO12 on the mains because I wanted coverage everywhere and to have it sound great in the low end without the sub," says Rivera. "It had a nice, clean 100-150Hz range and didn't sound strained. The CO12 was very, very strong in the high-mid range, and the vocals distributed well. It's an impressive double-12." The tour used an end-stage show format with 270-degree hangs comprising a dozen Cohesion CO10. Six Cohesion CP218 II+ were flown in cardioid configuration at 45 degrees on the off-stage sides from the main hangs not only to accommodate production elements, but also, as Anon details, "with the power alley on the ground and to get the sub energy on the side of the arena up to the 200s and 300s." Seven stacks of two CP218 II+ were hidden on a stage deck for further low end support. "What I asked of JP was an arc configuration for more even coverage," said Rivera. "I knew we'd lose a little throw of the subs, but we got more even horizontal coverage on the floor. The 218 was a capable sub, and I wasn't afraid of pushing it because the flown subs helped to take care of the nosebleeds." Rivera prioritized a seamless listening experience, a challenge with the set switching from salsa to reggaeton to boleros and beyond. "I can't say I had ever mixed a show with this many genres, and then we had the MC, the live band, other elements," he said. "We worked the first few shows to find that 'sweet spot' for the audio and came up with 100dBA to keep the genres cohesive, song to song, with the theatrical portions."

Audiences flocked to sold-out shows decked in period-appropriate attire, as production manager Eric Duheaney III recalls: "It's mind-blowing how fans interacted with the show. I saw kids as young as eight in suits like it was the '60s. Couples were dressed up with the guys in blazers and slacks and the women in heels and beautiful dresses."

"Everyone was classy and fresh, dressed to the nines," agrees Anon. "Rhinestone dresses and the boys in their vests. It reminded me of my work with Cirque, creating this intimate feeling in big sports arenas. We wanted it to feel like a theatre show."

The tour launched in April, and the response was immediately impressive. Duheaney says, "Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Philly, LA: they went crazy. The fans did not sit. Even smaller markets like Fresno and Salt Lake showed up and showed out."

To meet global demand, Cosa Nuestra added ten dates in fourth South American cities and ten dates in three Mexican locales later this year. Cohesion will be the selected PA for the Mexican dates. "One of the rewards of what I do is looking around to watch everyone singing, dancing, and enjoying the show," says Rivera. "It's a love story, and th the fans really connected to it. I wanted the audience to experience something they could only get from a live show. People were so happy. They left trying to figure out what in the world they just saw. I never experienced anything like this." "Rauw went in a different direction with Cosa Nuestra and the tour," says Anon. "The show was a fresh, new concept, like a live-action movie. Our crew was a great crew. They thought about the big picture. It made the PA shine, and the artist loved it."

"From the audio side, we were all good on this tour. It's a beautiful show," Duheaney summarizes. "Rauw is on a tier with Bad Bunny and Karol G, and he's going to keep rising. I've toured with Beyonce, Prince, and Pink, and Rauw's got it. He has that Prince gift to snatch a crowd the first moment he gets on stage. If you didn't know his name -- watch out, brother. It's time to shine like the star he is."