Now in its eighth year, the event has become a Motor City institution, routinely selling out in a matter of days or even hours. Past years' events have included performances by Franz Ferdinand, Dashboard Confessional, Good Charlotte, Jimmy Eat World and many other top names.
This year, headliners, 311, were joined by Our Lady Peace, Alien Ant Farm, Fall Out Boy, Rise Against, Coheed and Cambria, Switchfoot, Motion City Soundtrack and Social Code. The show's organisers promised an experience bordering on "sensory overload," and Detroit-based concert sound providers Thunder Audio helped deliver the goods with a powerful Meyer Sound line array.
With a total of 48 MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers - 16 per side for the main arrays and eight more for each side of the arena - the slamming holiday jam was anything but sedate. A dozen UPJ-1P compact VariO loudspeakers were added to cover the audience up front in the mosh pit.
FOH mixer Jamie Repham drove the mix from three Midas XL4 consoles, with monitor mixes on stage handled by two Midas Heritage H3000 desks and a Yamaha PM5D. Systems engineer Dave Bernas and monitor tech Bruce Danz were joined by systems techs Brent Hertz and Chris Moon.
"The MILO is more and more becoming our 'go-to' rig," remarked Thunder Audio VP Paul Owen. "It's got the eloquence and articulation for delicate acoustics, as well as the raw power to handle a sledgehammer lineup like this one."
(Jim Evans)
