MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Three soundcos joined forces to support Guns N' Roses' stop at Centenario Stadium here recently on the band's Chinese Democracy tour. Close to 30,000 fans heard the band with the help of a large quantity of Aero Series 2 and Aero loudspeaker models from D.A.S. Audio.
The three soundcos included Leggio Sonido (directed by Jorge Leggio), Ariel Marti's Marti Audio and Victor Lampariello's Compañía Uruguaya de Sonido.
Jorge Leggio, director of Leggio Sonido, discussed the nature of the setup. "This was an outdoor concert where the crowd was situated on the soccer field, in an area about 100 wide meters by 85 meters long," he said. "There was also a second area, which was elevated 20 meters high with an incline of 35 degrees in regard to the ground. The stage was used in a lateral position facing 85 meters across the distance of the second level."
The main PA system consisted of two distinct loudspeaker setups – one for the instruments and a second system dedicated solely to lead vocalist Axel Rose's voice.
The "instrument" system was built using 32 D.A.S. Audio Aero 50 large format, 3-way line array modules – flown 16 elements per side at a height of 12 meters.
These loudspeakers were driven by Lab.gruppen FP 10,000Q power amps, with loudspeaker management tasks handled by a Lake processor. The "vocal" system used another 16 Aero 50s – flown eight per side at a height of 10 meters. These were accompanied by an additional eight Aero 12A powered, 2-way loudspeaker systems that were positioned over the center of the stage and flown at a height of 12 meters.
For those in search of low end "oomph," the Guns N' Roses concert provided 64 D.A.S. Audio LX-218 subwoofers-each incorporating dual D.A.S. 18LXN long excursion, neodymium transducers in a front loaded, bass reflex configuration. These sub bass enclosures were deployed 32 units per side.
Victor Lampariello described the delay system used in addition to the FOH mains. "Due to the nature of this setup, we decided against using outfills. Instead, we erected four delay towers, which were placed 50 meters from the main PA. Two of these towers were comprised of 16 D.A.S. Audio Aero 38A powered, 3-way line array elements (eight per side) while the other two side clusters consisted of twelve Aero 38s (six per side). These side clusters were driven by Crest power amps and were controlled by a Lake Contour processor."
Ariel Marti, director of Marti Audio, noted a number of serious challenges. "This event was complicated by a variety of technical coordination issues, structural conditions that weren't anticipated, and heavy rain throughout the setup period, Marti said. "Everything from stage rigging and alignment issues to having too little time for setup made this one of the most difficult projects I've encountered. Thanks to the efficiency, build quality, integrated flyware, and power of the D.A.S. Audio Aero 50s, the end result was extremely positive and that is, ultimately, what matters. As has happened so many times before, the D.A.S. Audio system was able to overcome the problems frequently encountered in touring sound work."
Jorge Leggio summarized the Guns N' Roses project, "As Ariel explained, there were a number of serious obstacles on this job, but thanks to its controlled dispersion characteristics, along with the ease of handling and cabling, the D.A.S. Audio Aero 50 system enabled us to pull everything together in time for a really memorable event. I'd also like to thank Marcelo Lampariello, Gustavo Arévalo, Jorge González, Omar Diaz Blasco, Joan La Roda, and everyone at D.A.S. Audio for their incredible support and assistance. Thanks to the knowledge and experience of everyone involved, the Guns N' Roses concert was a very special project that none of us will ever forget."
For more information, please visit www.dasaudio.com.
