Re: Purpose of having a small array facing the stage?...
+1 to all of the people who said that they are sidefills.
They are usually only used by the bands who don't use IEMs, or in the event that the IEMs fail during the show. Personally I don't think it makes sense for one musician to use wedge monitors and IEMs at the same time, but it happens all the time. Usually the sidefills aren't used when the band has IEMs. Unless you're Evan Ks band, then you use sidefill subs to fill in the bass for the band.
They are flown for the reasons others have stated.
1)Its a huge stage, you can get more even coverage by flying them.
2)The artist can't get the microphone right into the grill of the speaker (inducing feedback)
3)It keeps the stage clear
etc.
