In Scandinavia, Sweden's annual Hultsfred Festival has attracted increasing hordes of hard-rock fans with each successive event. In recent years, audio provider Starlight AB has responded with larger complements of Meyer Sound loudspeakers to provide both crowd-pleasing power and the precise directional control needed to comply with Sweden's tough noise ordinances. This year Meyer Sound is powering four main stages: M3D line arrays anchor the systems for the Hawaii and Pampas stages, while MILO high-power curvilinear arrays cover at the Atlantis stage and M2D compact curvilinear arrays pump up a crowd of 2,000 in the indoor theatre.
"We have been very happy with the results," says Anders Hagström of Dynamic Duo, the production management company for the festival. "The planning and configuration was done with (Meyer Sound) MAPP Online and followed up with SIM, which helps us achieve much better directional control."
Spain has always loved a good party, and the Iberian tradition continues with at least four major festivals employing Meyer Sound systems. At Viña Rock near Villarrobledo, festivalgoers feel the music through 42 M3Ds and 36 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofers. At the New Rock stage, 26 MILOs and two MILO 120 high-power expanded coverage curvilinear array loudspeakers team up with 28 650-P high power subwoofers to deliver the good times, with at least three other festivals on tap for Spain's thriving Meyer Sound rental companies.
Meyer Sound notches its 19th consecutive year as a sponsor of and official sound supplier to the Montreux Jazz Festival. Once again, more than a dozen systems of all sizes and configurations will be deployed indoors and out, with Switzerland's own Hyperson working in tandem with Dispatch of Paris as primary sound providers.
North Germany will host the Wacken Open Air festival, using Meyer Sound systems from Procon AG of Hamburg. Moving East to Budapest, Hungary, Meyer Sound systems will also be used at the Sziget Festival spreads. Finally, the Red Bull Air Races at Holland's Rotterdam Harbour will utilize 56 Meyer Sound MILO loudspeakers, 80 subwoofers and many smaller cabinets for frontfill and VIP area coverage.
The festival season is a hectic time for Meyer Sound's European sound hire companies. "The Meyer Sound systems move around Europe very quickly during the season," notes Scott Gledhill, Meyer Sound's director of international sales. "It's often only after the season ends that people catch their breath enough to remember to tell us about half of the shows they used their systems on."
(Cheryl Constable)
