In addition to the large MILO complement, Exton and Sound Hire between them also supplied 24 M3D-Sub directional subwoofers, 12 650-P high-power subwoofers, 12 MSL-4 horn-loaded long-throw loudspeakers (including eight for flown side fills), and eight UPA-1C compact wide coverage loudspeakers for front fill (the only conventionally-powered cabinets in the system), mounted below the stage lip. Four DS-4P horn-loaded mid-bass loudspeakers provided additional suspended side fill. Everything was flown with Meyer Sound's QuickFly rigging hardware.
With 18,000 people - just over 6% of the country's total population - crammed into the venue, the sound crew soon found themselves faced with an unforeseen challenge, as the crowd caused significant alterations in temperature and humidity. "Due to the fact that the venue quickly became extremely hot and sweaty, it was drastically different from when the system was aligned and the sound checks were preformed," says Exton's Kari Eythorsson.
Thankfully, Exton had provided a Meyer Sound LD-3 compensating line driver with the system, and it received a real workout, says Eythorsson. "The atmospheric correction circuit on the LD-3 came into good use. Ingvar (Jonsson - system engineer) and Luke (Jenks, Meyer Sound's European technical support director) followed the change in temperature and humidity closely throughout the show and tweaked the LD-3 accordingly."
Jenks seconds Eythorsson's observations on the impact of the environmental changes: "We went from 20°C and 36% humidity before the show to 31°C and 78% humidity by the middle of the set. The LD-3 played a priceless role in keeping the high frequencies steady throughout. It allowed us to compensate for the changes as they happened, so that the sound remained consistent. This was a big hit at front-of-house." Exton supplied LD-1 and LD-2 line driver systems as well as the LD-3, allowing seamless integration of the various components of the huge Meyer Sound system.
With this being the very first music concert to be held in the new stadium, Exton, which typically provides equipment for any artists visiting Iceland, was faced with supplying its biggest ever rig in a room with which no one was familiar. The challenge left the crew unfazed. "We were simply hanging more cabinets on each side of the stage than we are used to, so for us there was no sweat," reports Eythorsson, noting the long hours that the riggers worked leading up to the show.
System engineer Ingvar Jonsson says: "Having made my living during the past 18 years mixing rock 'n' roll acts as well as being a small-scale musician, I can only say that I was impressed. The system seemed to have everything I would have liked to have in terms of power, coverage and fidelity in this venue, had I been mixing a heavy metal show. The M3D-Subs proved themselves as being the most excellent tools in a room where the beats from the kick drum would have become a pool of indistinguishable mud using traditional omnidirectional subwoofers."
Oli Oder Magnusson, Exton's general manager, observes that, although the show was larger than anything the company had mounted previously, the scalability of Meyer Sound's products ensured that everything went smoothly. "This is, by far, the largest single undertaking that our company has pulled off, and being equipped with Meyer products has made our lives so much easier in making this work."
(Lee Baldock)
