Metal Festival Gets New d&b GSL and KSL Treatment Chicago Open Air presented a massive stadium show in mid-May with an overall attendance of 25,000 at the SeatGeek Stadium (formerly Toyota Park) in Bridgeview, Illinois. Headlining sets by chart topping acts included System Of A Down, Tool, Ghost, and many more appearances from today's biggest hard rock and metal artists. The event was co-produced by Live Nation and Danny Wimmer Presents. Brown Note Productions, Inc. of Thornton, Colorado, provided a substantial d&b audiotechnik GSL and KSL system for the two-day festival. The company also provided audio for the festival in 2017 and was brought in again this spring (Chicago Open Air took a hiatus in 2018). With just one main stage, Brown Note knew the GSL/KSL combination would be the best application for the venue. "Two of the headliners, Tool and System Of A Down, have been d&b end users for many years so we thought the two new systems would be a great solution for them," states Ryan Knutson, president of Brown Note. "The d&b systems are well suited to our needs," states Alan "Nobby" Hopkinson, front-of-house engineer for Tool. "In fact, we continue to carry a large GSL arena system with us. It provides the punch, definition, and clarity required for the sonic assault that is Tool." The festival system consisted of 20 GSL per side for mains with KSL loudspeakers for sides, eight SL-SUBs per side in the air and 32 on the ground; V-Series point source loudspeakers were tapped for outfills, and three arrays of J-Series for delays. For the monitor system, Brown Note utilized M4 wedges, V-Series for drum fill, and J-Series for sidefills. The entire system was powered by D80 and D20 amplifiers. "The concert promoters had prior experience with the d&b brand and were very happy with the system," said Knutson.
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