How a Hotel Bar, Lobby and Patio Became One Connected Event

Trulli recently partnered with Dance Party DJs and LEC to produce the DJ Battle Champion at the Marquee Show, transforming Gallagher’s bar at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg into a full-blown live-audio venue. The event was designed to bring the DJ community together while showcasing how a high-quality production could be delivered in a space not traditionally configured for a large-scale event. Approximately 340 guests experienced the event across three hotel spaces, with audio set up by two people in one hour.

The Challenge

Due to the location and hotel environment, there were a few distinct challenges the Trulli team had to overcome.

The first challenge was time. The hotel did not allow equipment to be set up until after lunch service, which meant the production team could not begin its work until approximately 2:30 p.m. With the event beginning at 7 p.m., the team had a short and highly constrained window to complete setup, sound checks, and video checks.

The second challenge was power. Only one circuit was available throughout the room, and there was no practical way to bring a gas generator or additional power source close to the event space. A conventional approach would have required significantly more building power infrastructure, or extensive cable runs from available power sources. In a tightly controlled hotel environment, that would have added considerable complexity to the production.

The limited space of the bar also provided a challenge—not only in regard to the footprint of equipment—but also for overall guest capacity. The team anticipated a large attendance, so they needed to find a solution to extend the experience beyond the bar to multiple areas of the hotel.

The Solution

What made the DJ Battle at the Marquee Show possible was the use of highly mobile, battery-powered audio and lighting. This allowed the team to create a full event experience without relying on conventional power availability throughout the hotel.

The Trulli Bass50 systems provide roll-in roll-out mobility and simple setup, which means they can be deployed quickly and efficiently. So, despite a limited window of time, a 2-man crew was able to complete the audio setup in one hour.

The event’s system relied solely on battery power—using both internal batteries for speakers and supplemental power stations for FOH or any non-battery-powered speakers. This meant the lack of access to grid power in the hotel didn’t restrict or dictate the creative plan.

To ensure an immersive experience for all guests in attendance—even those not in the bar area—the team deliberately designed the system to serve multiple areas of the hotel. Using wireless audio transmission, the team extended the experience to the lobby and patio areas by feeding the audio to multiple Bass50 systems in those locations. As the crowd shifted throughout the night, the team was able to easily relocate these highly mobile wireless stacks to bring the sound to where the people were.

Between the battery-powered systems and wireless audio transmission, the team was able to reduce an estimated 2,350 ft. of long-run power and audio cables when compared to an equivalent conventional setup.

While this was all in service of a live DJ battle, this system could be deployed in similar spaces for corporate receptions and private celebrations.

The System

The audio system was comprised of 18 Trulli Bass50s paired with 18 Universal Ports, along with 12 EV Everse12 speakers, 2 RCF TT-22Aii speakers, and 2 RCF NX932 speakers. The FOH and non-battery-powered speakers were supported by 2 Bluetti power hubs and 8 Bluetti battery units. The speakers nearest the stage were wired to minimize latency for the performers and front-row guests, while the distributed speaker stacks utilized RF Venue wireless transmission to provide audio to the surrounding areas.

The Results

Limited power access, hotel restrictions and a small setup window didn’t dictate the creative plan or rule out the space.

Battery-powered systems reduced the need long-run power cables.

Roll-in, roll-out mobility helped a 2-man crew complete audio setup in one hour.

Wireless distributed audio allowed guests in overflow areas to experience the event while reducing long-run audio cables.

I’m super excited about this contest. We’ve been doing it for many years, but it’s definitely way bigger this time because Trulli is involved. We got this whole stage setup of lighting and… sound. This is… the best that this conference has ever seen for this battle.

DJ Flipside