The Opportunity
For more than three decades, Third Day helped define contemporary Christian music through chart-topping albums, arena tours and live worship performances. The Grammy Award-winning band’s 30th anniversary reunion tour marked its first large-scale tour together in more than a decade, bringing fans back together across 30 cities in the United States. To support the band’s return, the production required a touring audio system capable of delivering the power, musicality and vocal clarity that audiences associated with Third Day’s live performances while adapting efficiently to a wide range of venue types and acoustic environments.
The Solution
CTS AVL partnered with Awakening Events to provide audio, video and lighting production for the anniversary tour, selecting a JBL Professional VTX system powered by Crown amplifiers as the foundation of the audio package.
The main PA featured two hangs of JBL Professional VTX A12 line array loudspeakers for primary coverage, supported by additional VTX A12 arrays for side coverage. Low-frequency reinforcement was provided by JBL VTX B28 subwoofers in both ground-stacked and flown configurations. JBL VTX F12 loudspeakers handled stage monitoring, while JBL VTX B18 subwoofers supported drum and keyboard monitoring. JBL VRX932 loudspeakers were deployed for front-fill coverage, with Crown I-Tech 12000HD and I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifiers powering the entire system.
CTS AVL selected the JBL VTX Series for its combination of sonic consistency, scalability and deployment efficiency. Because the system could be configured for different venue sizes while maintaining the same tonal characteristics, the production team was able to deliver a consistent audience experience throughout the tour without requiring supplemental PA systems.
The Result
The JBL Professional VTX system delivered consistent coverage, high output and strong vocal intelligibility throughout the tour, including in older venues with challenging acoustics. The system maintained clarity during both musical performances and spoken moments, ensuring audiences could clearly hear every lyric and message regardless of venue configuration.
For CTS AVL, the VTX platform streamlined daily operations through efficient rigging and deployment, allowing the crew to scale the system quickly while maintaining a consistent sound signature from city to city. The combination of JBL Professional loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers helped support the production demands of Third Day’s long-awaited reunion, providing the audio foundation for a successful anniversary tour that reconnected one of Christian music’s most influential bands with audiences across North America.
