USA – Set against the backdrop of Glacier National Park, Under the Big Sky Festival has grown into one of the country’s premier destinations for country, americana and bluegrass music. The three-day event draws more than 20,000 fans each summer to Big Mountain Ranch outside Whitefish, Montana, where this year’s lineup featured dozens of top country and americana artists across two outdoor stages. Built each year on a working ranch rather than a permanent concert venue, the festival requires production teams to deliver concert-level sound while remaining mindful of nearby residents and local noise requirements.
To support performances on the Big Mountain Stage, Show Imaging deployed a JBL Professional VTX system centered on the new VTX B35 cardioid subwoofer, one of the first major festival deployments of the B35 subwoofer. The Big Mountain Stage featured JBL Professional VTX A12 and VTX A12W line arrays with VTX B35 flown subwoofers, complemented by ground-stacked VTX B28 subwoofers, VTX A8 loudspeakers for front-fill and outfills, and VTX M22 stage monitors. Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers powered the system throughout the venue.
Unlike permanent amphitheaters, the Big Mountain Stage is constructed each year on an active ranch with little permanent infrastructure. The stage plays to one of the ranch’s natural hillsides, with a creek dividing the flat audience area from the elevated hillside, creating a natural amphitheater. Because site restrictions ruled out delay towers, the approximately 350-foot throw and more than 30 feet of elevation change had to be covered entirely from the main PA. At the same time, nearby residences and county noise requirements demanded careful control of low-frequency energy beyond the festival grounds. Show Imaging designed the system around the JBL Professional VTX B35 cardioid subwoofers, helping direct bass energy toward the audience while minimizing sound behind the stage and maintaining the festival’s longstanding commitment to being a good neighbor.
“We’ve always used cardioid on both stages because we’re mindful of the residents,” said Mark Lopez, Chief Experience Officer at Show Imaging. “The stage is pointed away from nearby homes, and we’re always conscious of how the festival impacts the community. The VTX B35 helps us continue to be good neighbors while delivering the coverage we need for the Big Mountain Stage.”
The VTX B35’s integrated cardioid design allowed Show Imaging to achieve directional low-frequency control without the traditional requirement of rear-facing subwoofers, additional amplifier channels or complex wiring. By eliminating reverse-facing cabinets and simplifying deployment, the system reduced rigging complexity and overall cost while maintaining the low-frequency performance required to cover the venue’s expansive natural amphitheater.
“In a traditional cardioid hang, every third subwoofer is reversed and wired differently,” said Taylor Wade, Technical Director at Show Imaging. “With the VTX B35, the cardioid is integrated into the enclosure. You hang it, load the presets and you’re done. It made deployment faster and easier while coupling really well with the VTX A12 system.”
The simplified deployment also proved valuable during setup. Rather than configuring traditional cardioid arrays with alternating loudspeaker orientations and amplifier routing, crews were able to fly the subwoofers in a conventional configuration while relying on the VTX B35’s integrated cardioid technology. The approach reduced setup time, system weight, and overall system complexity while remaining compatible with the VTX A Series main arrays.
“We’ve been doing this festival for several years, and this was the best coverage we’ve had without delay hangs,” Wade said. “We had consistent low-frequency coverage all the way to the top of the hillside, and we didn’t receive a single noise complaint during the festival, which is significant for an event of this scale. It speaks to the quality of the system and its ability to put the sound where you want it instead of where you don’t.”
By combining JBL Professional VTX loudspeakers with Crown amplifiers and the integrated cardioid design of the VTX B35, the Big Mountain Stage at Under the Big Sky Festival delivered consistent coverage across one of the country’s most distinctive outdoor festival sites while simplifying deployment and helping reduce off-site low-frequency energy. The project demonstrates how modern subwoofer design can enable live event productions to balance concert-quality performance, operational efficiency and responsible community stewardship.
