"Leopard is a sound revolution at its extreme limit," says Fredrik "Matazz" Holmstedt, production manager for Way Out West. "So much power and headroom from such a small, lightweight box is simply astonishing. There was no doubt that Leopard was perfect for a small stage that had limited clearance, troublesome marquee reflections, and half the crowd outside the tent canopy."
Håkan Axlid, Starlight's project manager on site, agrees, "We tried three different systems in past years, but I can't see using anything other than LLeopard for the Linné stage from now on. It sounded the same through the whole tent, and the crowd outside could hear properly for the first time. And at the main Flamingo stage, LEO gave us clarity and headroom, and also allowed us to remove the delay towers to make more space for the audience."
The system for Linné comprised 24 Leopard line array loudspeakers, six flown 900-LFC low-frequency control elements, and 12 ground-stacked 700-HP subwoofers. The Flamingo stage system consisted of 15 LEO-M and two Lyon-W wide-coverage line array loudspeakers per side, 32 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements, and 20 Milo line array loudspeakers for out-fills.
The Azalea stage deployed 18 M3D line array loudspeakers, with M3D-Sub directional subwoofers and Mica line array loudspeakers as side-fills.
The Dungen stage featured 22 M'elodie line array loudspeakers with M3D-Sub subwoofers. For artist foldback, Starlight provided MJF-212A stage monitors and stage-fill systems of Mica and JM-1P arrayable loudspeakers and 700-HP and 600-HP subwoofers. All four stages relied on Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management systems for system drive and optimization.
Way Out West has been held in Gothenburg's Slottskogen Park every August since 2007. This is the festival's first year relying entirely on Meyer Sound loudspeaker systems.
(Jim Evans)
