One Direction World Tour Kicks Off With Adamson Systems in Colombia

	A ring of seven pairs of Adamson Point 8 loudspeakers hangs from the ceiling grid, serving the two seating tiers -- a mono pair of Point 12 cabinets fit just out-of-sight above the timber cloud serving as the acoustic focus of the system.

English-Irish pop boy band One Direction, along with 60,000 of their fans, recently kicked off their Where We Are world tour at the Estadio el Campin in Bogota, Colombia.

C. Vilar LTDA, a sound company in Colombia, was charged with providing sound reinforcement for the event. Long-time Adamson Systems supporters, company owners Mauricio and Cesar Vilar designed a system that featured Energia line arrays along with an assortment of other Adamson loudspeakers in support roles.

"The Energia system is extremely powerful," explains Mauricio Vilar. "The fact that it is loaded with two 15" woofers makes it ideal for a venue the size of Estadio el Campin. Other line arrays would need a flown subwoofer to provide low frequency energy. Energia didn't need that at all."

The left-right line arrays each consisted of 18 E15 and 4 E12 enclosures. The arrays were flown at 16m with the goal to cover as much of the stadium as possible. Additional low end was provided by 24 T21 subwoofers, ground stacked 3x4 under each array.

"We worked with Brian Fraser, applications engineer at Adamson, to help create a 3D design of the system using the new Blueprint AV software," explains Mauricio Vilar. "It was incredibly accurate and made system set-up that much easier."

Front fill was covered by eight pairs of SpekTrix enclosures positioned at stage level on speaker cases across the width of the performance area. In order to avoid having monitors on stage, five Adamson M15 monitors were stacked on top of the SpekTrix pairs located directly in front of the stage. Outhangs consisted of two Y18 line arrays comprised of 12 enclosures each hung at the outer edges of the stage.

Unlike previous concerts C. Vilar had provided sound for at Estadio el Campin, the client wanted the delay towers -- each equipped with Y10 line arrays of 10 enclosures -- placed behind front-of-stage, not further back in the field as they normally would be. With front-of-house approximately 74m away from the PA, Vilar was initially a bit concerned about the design providing seamless coverage.

"Fortunately after some very good system tuning we achieved great results from that location," he adds. "The client was extremely happy with the sound quality and that we could accommodate their request."

"I was absolutely impressed to listen to the system coverage, especially when walking on the outer area, close to the outhangs, by the upper balconys," Vilar continues. "The clarity of the main PA in this area was amazing. More importantly, the client was equally impressed noting that the definition was incredible even at 150m away."

C. Vilar has been the number one choice for the three most important shows at Estadio el Campin -- Paul McCartney, Justin Beiber, and One Direction -- since the stadium reopened. The world-class sound systems they provide have earned them a quality reputation.

"The fact that we get a call every time a big show comes to Colombia makes us think we must be doing things right," Vilar concludes. "Choosing to partner with Adamson has been a great decision for us."