Asheville, NC 7.9.19—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, IL. 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, CO 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 were 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 x 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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