After being forced to cancel in 2020 and making a tentative, socially distanced outdoor comeback in 2021, outdoor music festivals started returning in a big way in 2022 and went full bloom in 2023. Here’s a look back at some of the memorable events (along with discussions of some effective audio solutions) that took place during the warm-weather months of 2023.
CMA Music Festival, Nashville, TN
The largest and longest-running country music festival celebrated its 50-year milestone, drawing record crowds of 90,000 daily attendees to Nashville’s Nissan Stadium from June 8-11. More than 300 country music artists and acts performed at this year’s event, with performers playing from five music venues in all.
At Nissan Stadium, headliners included Luke Combs, Alabama, Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Dierks Bentley, Elle King, Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Tanya Tucker, Tim McGraw and more. Sound Image Nashville once again provided an L-Acoustics K Series system, continuing a decade-long tradition of supporting the festival’s biggest stage.
“It was a festival of primarily A-level artists who all have their very specific demands for audio,” said Sound Image system engineer Bill Chase, designer for the project. “It’s also a high-profile event with very high expectations. Literally, everybody in the industry comes, and the festival is televised. We’ve found that no one is disappointed when they discover they’re going to be mixing on an L-Acoustics system.”
Chase noted that he worked on the project with Sound Image crew chief Philip Piercy, previous system engineer Roz Jones, and a team from L-Acoustics that included applications engineer Vic Wagner, touring engineer liaison David Brooks and applications consultant Erika West.
Although Nissan Stadium, home to the NFL Tennessee Titans, has fairly predictable acoustics, it does possess some unique features that can affect sonic response, including a very large video wall at one end. “If you were to deploy the P.A. as most would, which is to use the mains to cover as much as possible, you’d end up with a lot of slap-back. We avoided that by tightly covering the field and lower bowl with our main hangs and then using the out-fills and delays to address the rest,” Chase said. “Some of the arrays were asked to cover well beyond what one might typically think would be possible, but Soundvision showed us that the system we designed would work — and it did. There was impact from the kick drum and full frequency response everywhere — even in the farthest reaches—and no sound quality compromises whatsoever to any seat in the house.”
Nissan Stadium’s main stage system utilized 52 K1 and 68 K2 line source array enclosures. Left and right main hangs sported six K1-SB over 14 K1 and four K2 downs, while the out-fill arrays counted 12 K1 over 12 K2. Solid low-frequency coverage was reinforced by 36 ground-based KS28 subs, stacked three-high in a cardioid configuration, as well as 10 K1-SB per side flown behind the mains to aid in even coverage and rearward rejection. Eight additional K2 were hung per side as far out-fills for the upper bowl seats, and ten more K2 per side were flown out in the gridiron seating for delay. A dozen Kara II used as various fills rounded out the enclosure tally, while a whopping 90 LA12X amplified controllers powered the whole system, which was processed via the L-Acoustics P1 Milan AVB processor and M1 measurement tool.
A concert sound system’s loudspeakers typically tend to get the most credit for delivering great audio reinforcement, but there’s plenty under the hood that helps make a show like this sound amazing, and that was certainly the case for CMA Fest. In particular, Chase cites the significant benefits of the Autoclimate function, which allows for the simultaneous adjustment of all air-compensation filters based on measured temperature and humidity conditions, accounting for the specific shooting distance of each zoning group.
“It’s pretty amazing the amount of distance we can cover with L-Acoustics, but it’s equally amazing how it can adapt to changing weather conditions using Autoclimate and Autofilter,” he said, the latter processor further assisting with uniformity and flatness of the high-frequency response, determining and applying linear-phased FIR filters to zoning groups within an array. “For instance, when these crews come in the morning for sound checks, it’s hot and dry, but at night, it cools down and becomes more humid. Yet we can keep the P.A. sounding consistent throughout the whole venue the entire day thanks to tools like these that make a system engineer’s job easy, especially with the P.A. as large as this. With an event as big as CMA Fest, L-Acoustics is as good as it gets.”
Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland
The 57th Montreux Jazz Festival returned to the shores of Switzerland’s Lake Geneva from June 30 to July 15 along with Meyer Sound, which returned for its 37th year as Strategic Partner and Official Sound Provider. Meyer Sound’s systems connected artists and audiences at the two paid-ticket venues and 11 free music stages.
The Auditorium Stravinski once again hosted world-renowned artists spanning generations and genres, including Bob Dylan, Lil Nas X, Iggy Pop, Gilberto Gil & Family, Buddy Guy, and Nile Rodgers & Chic. And for the second year, the system at the 4,000-capacity venue centered on a complement of 24 Meyer Sound Panther line array loudspeakers.
“The reactions to Panther have again been very positive overall,” said Martin Reich, audio coordinator for the festival as a whole, who also served as house engineer at the Auditorium Stravinski. “Some engineers are often surprised by what they hear from Panther because, for the first time, they are hearing the sounds with such high resolution.”
During the headline show by Seal, the performance of Panther made a striking impression on Rob Stanley, production manager and senior project manager for ZEROdB Live, who works with the R&B superstar as well as other top British artists. “Nothing can ever take away from that amazing show on an amazing P.A. system,” he said. “In what must be pushing 10,000 shows in my career, this was the best sounding, and put it up there in the top three career moments for me.”
Lucas Pinzón, the FOH engineer for Maluma, immediately felt comfortable with the system. “I have been using Meyer speakers for many years, and I am pleased with the results achieved with Panther. It was my first time with this system, and I can’t wait to encounter it again.”
Mixing a set in the Stravinski during the festival was also a memorable career moment for Montreux native Sam Nussbaum. His primary job during the festival was as the house engineer at The Memphis, but as he had worked for two years with soulful Swiss singer-songwriter NNAVY, he was behind the board when she opened for Lionel Richie in the Stravinski.
“It was an emotional moment for me,” said Nussbaum, who grew up with the festival as his father was a technical manager at the building complex housing the hall. “I remember as a kid watching engineers mixing legends like Bob Dylan. It was a milestone for me to be behind the desk in this room.” The Panther-based reinforcement system helped give him confidence, he said, calling it “stunning” while also crediting the Meyer Sound team for their support.
The Panther arrays were complemented with 14 1100-LFC and six 900-LFC low-frequency control elements for sub-bass; 2x 4 Lina compact loudspeakers as a split center array, and six Lina loudspeakers as a center fill. Four Ultra-X40 loudspeakers were deployed for in- and out-fills, with a pair of Amie System monitors at the FOH mix position.
The scale and configuration of the Auditorium Stravinski system contrasted with Nussbaum’s home base at The Memphis, where he mixed on a system with UPQ 1P point-source loudspeakers as his mains. He also works regularly with Pilar Vega, and he mixed her set at the outdoor Super Bock stage on a system anchored by Leopard compact line array loudspeakers.
“The rooms are acoustically different and indoors is different from outdoors, but overall I always can make the Meyer Sound system work and do what I want them to do,” he said. “You feel a consistency, particularly with transients like the kick and the snare — the sound is always there. You can rely on how the speakers react when you apply EQ and compression.”
For 2023, a total of more than 380 Meyer Sound loudspeakers were deployed across festival sites, with 27 current and legacy loudspeaker models represented in the main and foldback systems. “Having Meyer Sound as a festival partner is a dream come true, and a treat for everybody,” summarized Reich.
Returning as production manager for this year’s Montreux Jazz Festival was Marco Güntensperger. The principal audio supplier was Skynight SA, based near Geneva, with on-site project managers Goran Pajic and Yvan Baronne working under the overall direction of Nicolas Walser. Eddy Broquet of Meyer Sound’s Swiss distributor, Tonspur, coordinated distribution and technical support. Ianina Canalis and José Gaudin of Meyer Sound technical support were available as needed, with Gaudin doubling as FOH mixer at Montreux Jazz Lab. Senior product manager Andy Davies and UK sales manager Roland Morcom served as liaisons with the festival’s staff and guest sound engineers.
The Montreux Jazz Festival will return to the shores of Lake Geneva for its 58th edition, from July 5 through July 20 of 2024, but will face new challenges as the Montreux Music & Convention Centre — incorporating both Auditorium Stravinski and the Jazz Lab — will be closed for extensive renovations. Festival management has found replacement venues of similar capacity, and the audio teams will return to face some new challenges, and perhaps new opportunities as well.
First Festival, Genoa, Italy
First Festival returned to the expansive summer stage at Fiera Del Mare in Genoa, Italy for a 10-hour celebration of techno music on July 16. Presented by RST Events, the event’s 2023 lineup featured top international DJs including Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, CamelPhat (Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala), Mathame (Matteo and Amedeo Giovanelli), and Fel (Giovanni Galvani and Alessio Lerma).
For more than a decade, the event has relied on Outline sound systems supplied by Recco, Italy-based Show Technologies. For the 2023 event, Show Technologies provided 24 GTO modules plus two GTO-DF as mains, 20 Mantas as front-fill, six more Mantas for a private VIP area and, for the low end, 28 DBS 18-2 subwoofers, configured in an end-fire array. Outline amplifiers also powered the system, and Outline’s Open Array 3D acoustic modeling software was used to optimize the system.
“Outline has become synonymous with reliability and success for us, and it’s not just my perspective as an organizer, but it’s a sentiment echoed by our audience and the artists we host every year,” said Alessandro Orlando, representing RST Events. He added that it was “truly rewarding” to receive numerous compliments for the sound system’s clarity and power, which met the challenge of providing even coverage across a broad area.
“With Outline, we consistently succeed in engaging and immersing every attendee, be it in an indoor or outdoor setting, like our latest edition that covered an extensive area of 16,000 square meters,” Orlando added. “Even the artists themselves are in awe, often pausing monitor loudspeakers during the performances to appreciate the exceptional quality of the PA system. Their wide-eyed expressions and smiles say it all, expressing their amazement and satisfaction with the sound.”
2023 Ravenna Festival, Ravenna, Italy
The Ravenna Festival, known for its array of opera, classical music, dance, jazz and other performances, returns to Ravenna, Italy every June and July. Staged in a variety of indoor venues and outdoor venues, the festival series was founded by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti, wife of noted Italian conductor Riccardo Muti.
From the beginning, BH Audio’s Massimo Carli worked to ensure an optimum listening experience for those attending the live performances or listening to recordings of the shows. Carli had become acquainted with Lawo’s audio mixing consoles and was impressed by their sound quality, intuitive layout, flexible setup options and seamless workflow integration, even before the consoles had yet to establish their reputation in the live sound domain.
Carli, who collaborated on the 2023 event with noted Italian sound engineer Massimiliano Salin, mixed with Lawo’s mc²36 MkII and described the experience as uniquely positive. “There is no other live audio console on the market that gives me this freedom and quality,” he said.
Carli cited the flexibility in channel management and layout preparation as crucial in terms of enabling him to adapt to dynamic changes and last-minute adjustments inherent to live events. The console also gives him the ability to meticulously fine-tune the setup before the concert, which is distinct advantage “because on these kinds of jobs we never have real soundchecks.”
The mc²36 MKII offers 256 processing channels (available at both 48 and 96 kHz) and natively supports ST2110, AES67, RAVENNA, and Ember+. It provides an I/O capacity of 864 channels, with local connections that include three redundant IP network interfaces, 16 Lawo-grade mic/line inputs, 16 line outputs, eight AES3 inputs and outputs, eight GPI/O connections and an SFP MADI port.
Operational features include Button Glow and touch-sensitive rotary controls, color TFT fader-strip displays, LiveView video thumbnails, and super-precise 21.5” full-HD touchscreens. Loudness control is built-in and complies with the ITU 1770 (EBU/R128 or ATSC/A85) standard, providing peak and loudness metering for individual channels as well as summing busses.
“For me, there is no real alternative to the mc²36 MkII,” said Carli. “The use of RAVENNA/AES67 makes the setup very clean compared to the past,” he added, streamlining signal flow between the Lawo mc²36 MkII console and the d&b SoundScape DS100 processor. Carli efficiently routes 128 direct outs post-fader from the mc²36 to the DS100 processors, which in turn drives loudspeakers via its AES/EBU outputs. The inclusion of a tracking system further enhances the experience, dynamically transmitting performers’ positions to the DS100.
Facing evolving requirements, Carli’s partnership with the Ravenna Festival remained steadfast. When the need to stream concerts online arose, Carli sought a solution to merge the Ravenna IP technology of the mc²36 with the Dante protocol utilized by d&b Soundscape. The Lawo Power Core, equipped with a Dante card, effectively united these technologies, ensuring setup redundancy.
City Sounds of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Luxembourg’s capital city comes alive each year on June 22-23 for the National Day celebrations. The highlight is the free, two-day “City Sounds Luxembourg” open-air concert series. The 2023 event featured performances by Lost Frequencies, Wade, Flavour Trip, The 1975, and The Script on a grand stage equipped with state-of-the-art audio technology.
The powerful sound system, which included TT+ line array modules from the TTL series, ensured that the performances could be heard loud and clear across the massive venue. “We used the TTL 55, 16 pieces per side,” said Thomas Mundorf, RCF product manager, technical support, supplementing that with another two hangs of eight elements as delays, “because we had to deal with a very deep” festival layout, requiring “over 100 meters” of coverage.
For the low end, the setup included TTS 56 subwoofers – “24 of them in cardioid arrangement,” along with TTL 33 loudspeakers used for near fills, “a total of 24 stacked on the subwoofers.”
Mundorf added that, “actually, it was a relatively normal situation there on site, with the exception of the volume regulations in Luxembourg. There was a maximum of 95 dB allowed. And in order to get the whole thing reasonably in the depth of the place, we had to think a bit about the planning in advance, of course. I then simulated the whole thing with the help of EASE Focus, and that’s how we arrived at the setup that was ultimately used there.”
Shortly after City Sounds of Luxembourg took place, Reggio Emilia, Italy-based RCF announced the launch of TT+ Audio as a separate brand that promises to serve as a premium solution touring professionals and high-quality permanent installations alike. The first product line displaying the new logo is the GTX Line Array System.
“When we introduced the TT+ product line in 2006, our vision was to offer professional audio equipment that delivers the highest performance in both Touring and Theatre applications,” said RCF’s general manager, Fausto Incerti. “TT+ has exceeded expectations and established itself as a leader through its innovation and success. It has now demonstrated its potential to evolve into a new and independent premium brand.”
Bahamas’ 50th Independence Celebration, Nassau, Bahamas
July 10, 2023 marked 50 years since the island nation, which had been a British crown colony since 1718, gained governmental independence. As part of the milestone festivities, a concert was held the week before the main event featuring more than 10 different Bahamian bands.
For this showcase of the country’s diverse musical talent, Rashad Mcphee (a.k.a. Shaddy Einstein), FOH engineer and owner of rental company Audio Doctors, relied on an Allen & Heath dLive system to provide a seamless and immersive audio experience for both the live performances and production aspects of the musical celebrations.
Along with reliability and power, the dLive setup provided Einstein with its renowned processing capabilities, user-friendly interface, and DCA Spill functionality, which proved invaluable in enabling quick access and control over related groups of inputs. “The Bahamas’ 50th Independence Celebration was a moment of great pride for our nation, and I wanted to ensure that the audio experience was nothing short of exceptional,” he said. “The dLive S5000 control surface allowed me to manage a vast number of channels effortlessly, and its intuitive drag-and-drop functionality streamlined my workflow, allowing me to focus on delivering the best sound experience possible.”
One of the main reasons Einstein chose the dLive ecosystem was that it could handle up to 128 input channels within a compact and manageable footprint. A total of 101 channels were utilized throughout the events, with the full system including the 28-fader dLive S5000 Surface fitted with a Waves V3 card for additional processing and multi-tracking, a DM0 MixRack fitted with two gigaACE audio networking cards, and three expanders comprising a pair of GX4816s and a DX168.
In addition to the dLive system handling FOH duties, an SQ-6 mixer was incorporated during the concert as a production console dedicated to handling continuity, MCs and house music. The 48-channel SQ-6’s compact size and flexibility complemented the dLive system, allowing for smooth coordination between live performances, announcements, and background music.
“The combination of the dLive series and the SQ-6 enabled us to create a flawless audio experience for the concert, amplifying the talent and creativity of our local artists,” said Einstein. “The dLive series has proven its worth time and again, and I’m proud to have been a part of this historic celebration.”
Dinamitas Hip-Hop Culture Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania
After an eight-year hiatus, the Dinamitas hip-hop culture festival returned in a big way to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Thousands of fans rocked to the beat of artists and bands on five stages at the Loft Art Factory, the former electromagnetic device factory Elfa, located in the capital’s new town district.
SONUS Exsertus, DiGiCo’s distributor for the Baltics and Georgia and local rental partner NGR Service, supplied DiGiCo SD12 and S21 consoles. Tomas Ždanovičius, sound system designer/engineer at SONUS Exsertus, who also worked as a system designer and sound engineer at the Outdoor stage during the festival, credited the desks for sound quality and workflow flexibility.
“It meets every sound engineer’s demands and working habits,” he said. “DiGiCo consoles can be found on almost every technical rider in the Lithuanian scene. For hip-hop music, dynamic multi-band EQ is a crucial feature, and DiGiCo offers plenty of these wonderful tools integrated into their SD Series consoles.”
Because of the extensive input requirements on the Meyer Sound Stage, the main stage at the event, the SD12 was deployed for both FOH and monitors, Ždanovičius added. “The console’s two screens and its large capacity made it ideal to handle the two roles simultaneously,” he said. “Similarly, the S21 handled FOH and monitors for the smaller The Outdoor Stage, which had the same requirements for audio quality, but slightly lower technical demands. The SD12 was set up with Optocore and a full 56/48/4 AES out SD-Rack, while the S21 was equipped with a DMI-MADI-B and a 48/24/4 AES out D2-Rack.”
The first day of the festival was dedicated to Trap, a subgenre of hip-hop music, allowing lesser-known artists to appear in the program. The second day began with an international street dance championship called The Circle. Street dance enthusiasts and professionals from Lithuania, Poland, France, Latvia, Estonia, and Vietnam competed in a tournament across seven categories, divided into different age groups and dance styles.
One of the key highlights was the performance of the popular Lithuanian band G&G Sindikatas, who took to the main stage just before midnight on the second day. Later, Lithuanian artist Pijus Opera joined them on stage and entertained the enthusiastic crowds while the band performed their big hit, Vokiečių gatvė (Vokiečiai Street).
SONUS also created a special backstage area for festival participants as a chillout zone with drinks and snacks where they could talk to the team about DiGiCo, among other things.
“Once again, the SONUS team was delighted to support such a high-profile event and bring DiGiCo’s sound signature to Lithuania’s biggest street culture festival,” Ždanovičius said. “With the SD Series delivering rock-solid stability, crystal-clear sound and workflow flexibility, we can always count on DiGiCo to deliver an excellent result.”
