MEMPHIS, TN — FOH was on hand for the start of the annual Memphis event called the Beale Street Music Festival, hanging out with Allstar Audio’s president Mike Borne and the rest of the crew. (You can see the video interview at www.fohonline.com under FOH Press.) As part of the Memphis in May International Festival, the Beale Street Music Festival, along with the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the Sunset Symphony, are all spread across 33 acres overlooking the Mississippi River. This year’s rock portion of the festival hosted over 45 national acts from Steely Dan to Corinne Bailey Rae over three large stages. Contractor Allstar Audio Systems, Inc., along with crew chief Tony “Coop” Cooper selected D.A.S. Audio equipment for the event. For the center stage, Allstar Audio erected a massive D.A.S. Audio system for performances by Boston-based alternative metal group Godsmack, five-time Grammy-Award-winning R&B vocalist, songwriter and pianist John Legend, as well classic rockers The Allman Brothers Band with Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes,. On each side of the stage, Allstar Audio flew ten D.A.S. Aero 38A self- powered, 3-way medium format line array modules with an additional four Aero 28A self- powered, two-way compact line array modules hung beneath the Aero 38A’s. Filling in the bottom end, each cluster was supported by an additional seven D.A.S. Compact 218 2K subwoofers aligned vertically beneath the flown rig. According to Cooper, “The entire system was self-powered, with the top Aero 38As flown twenty feet above the stage and the Aero 28As beneath serving as the nearfield enclosures.”
When queried about the system’s performance, Cooper was enthusiastic. “The system performed really well,” said Cooper. “The night Godsmack played, approximately 49,000 people came through the gates, and approximately 20,000 of them were there for the band — the place was packed. Godsmack’s engineer seemed very pleased with the system, and we actually received a complaint that we were too loud. The north stage—half a mile away—called and asked us to back off a bit. I couldn’t believe it. There was plenty of PA.”
For additional information, please see www.D.A.S.audio.com.
