API TV: Meyer Sound LEO selected for Way Out West festival

A Meyer Sound LEO sound reinforcement system was picked for the 2013 Way Out West festival in Sweden.

Located in Gothenburg’s Slottsskogen park, this year’s event was headlined by Alicia Keys, Public Enemy, and Bat For Lashes. Full service event technology provider Starlight supplied all sound, lighting and staging gear for the festival, including the LEO set-up for the Flamingo stage, which provided the long throw and headroom that enabled the crew to waive the delay support often required for these venue types.

“The equipment we deploy is all driven by demand, and this is why we invested in LEO,” said Håkan Axlid, Starlight’s production manager. “The clarity of this system at 120 metres is totally flabbergasting, and we’ve been able to eliminate all our delay towers.”

Marcus Agnesund, front-of-house engineer for Swedish artist Daniel Adams-Ray, added: “The experience was great – so much headroom and clarity meant less to worry about. With LEO, you get a completely constant EQ. Unlike many other systems, the sound doesn’t change when you turn it up, which is fantastic. The configuration here meant a lot of thump at the bottom end. I’d recommend LEO to all engineers.”

The Flamingo stage arrangement featured 16 LEO-M and a pair of MICA line array loudspeakers per side, with nine 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements flown next to each array. Four rows of 32 700-HP subs in end-fired configuration were spread across the front of the stage, while two hangs of 12 MILO line array speakers per side provided out fill. A Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system, comprising four Galileo Callisto 616 array processors and one Galileo 616 AES processor provided system control and optimisation.

Starlight’s system tech Fredrik Arwidson and Oscar Meijer were both given the role of system tech for the Flamingo stage.

“LEO is a great step forward,” Meijer commented. “The system is very exact, and flies quickly. I’m also fond of the pull-back possibility to make the array stay angled as you wish, whether you’re taking it upwards or downwards.”

As well as the LEO, Starlight provided a Meyer Sound M3D line array loudspeaker system for the smaller Azalea stage at Way Out West.

Check out this video for interviews with the festival’s production crew: Hakan Axlid; Fredrik "Matazz" Holmstedt, production manager; Starlight CEO Hakan Alfredsson and Fredrik Arwidson.

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