Originally constructed in 1832, the Stone Church in Newmarket, NH, both national and regional artists have been using the space as a live music venue by since it started hosting concerts in the late ‘60s. Despite the main room’s intimate capacity of 175, major acts like Phish, Bonnie Raitt, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Joan Osbourne have all graced the stage.
After a brief closure, Stone Church reopened in August of last year under new management. The three new co-owners chose to hire Dover-based regional sound company L. Wynn Sound to come in and completely retrofit the venue’s aging PA system.
Tim Waterhouse, who co-owns L. Wynn Sound with John Woodman, made the decision to install a 24-channel Soundcraft LX7ii console to provide both the FOH and monitor mixes. Although Waterhouse had not previously used an LX7ii, he felt confident in the choice based on his satisfaction with other Soundcraft consoles.
"We’ve had a Spirit Live 42, Monitor2, and FX16 in our inventory for several years now and they’ve all performed well for us," he says. "Plus, the Stone Church’s previous desk was a Live 42, so the engineers at the venue were familiar with the brand and equally happy with its reliability. Actually, based on the Stone Church’s positive experience so far with their new LX7ii, we’ve added one to our inventory as well. It’s a great sounding, high quality board for the money."
The club’s managing partners are now currently discussing transforming the building’s upstairs room into another live music room. "The space upstairs is even bigger than the main floor room and can probably accommodate up to 250 people," Waterhouse notes. "When they decide to pursue the project, I’m thinking that Soundcraft’s new eight-bus GB8 would be perfect. We’ve recently purchased one to augment a concert series we’ve booked for the summer."