30 Bands including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, Arctic Monkeys, Black Eyed Peas, Depeche Mode, and Kanye West graced the main stage while Collective Soul, Death Cab for Cutie, Elbow, The Streets and many others were featured on the second Pyramid Marquee stage.
EML Belgium, who have been associated with the festival for the past 20 years, was contracted to provide the sound system and design. They know exactly what the demands are, and each year aim to fine-tune and deliver what has become one of the largest Adamson Systems Arrays used in an out-door event. This year's "Les Vielles Charrues" festival held in Carhaix, France boasted main arrays of the same magnitude. The main L and R arrays consisted of 24 Y18's on each hang. The array measures approximately 12 meters and needs a special rigging frame. In addition the main stage featured 16 Y10's, used for front and down fills. Another 12 Y18's per side were added for out-fills, and another ten Y10's were used for delays.
For the Pyramid Marquee stage, 16 Y18's were used for the mains, and 16 Y10's for delay. 16 Adamson SpekTrix compact line array enclosures provided front-fill. Both the main and Pyramid Marquee stages were powered by Lab.gruppen fP6400 and fP3400 amplifiers and were processed with Apex.
Rock Werchter's sister festival Werchter Park's TW Classic was held at the same location the following weekend using the same system and was headlined by Bryan Adams, Simple Minds, Roxy Music and Sting.
(Chris Henry)
