The 2022 edition of the annual CMA Fest, staged by the Country Music Association in Nashville, saw Alcons Audio LR24 pro-ribbon arrays and a range of additional components deployed in support of performances at the Dr Pepper Amp Stage.
Production company DCR Nashville provided the system for the stage, where Alcons co-founder Tom Back worked alongside front of house engineers Erik Rogers (Erik Rogers Audio) and Paul Owen (now vice president with DCR Nashville) to set up. Mains comprised eight flown LR24/90 three-way mid-size line array modules per side and six BC543 triple 18-inch cardioid subwoofers arrayed in front of the stage. They were complemented by six LR18 compact line array modules used as single element front fills, evenly spread across the stage front. The system was powered and controlled by 36 channels of Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers.
Alcons Audio has been presenting demonstrations of the LR24 for touring sound engineers, with Rogers (Breaking Benjamin, Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold, Stevie Wonder and more) and Owen both attending.
“My parents took me to my first concert in 1986, when I was nine years old. I still remember exactly how it felt. Now, as a professional FOH engineer, I mix every show so everyone in the audience can have the same life-changing experience I had 36 years ago,” Rogers says.
“When I first met Alcons’ co-founder Tom Back and North American sales manager David Rahn, they didn’t start talking about tech specs. Instead they talked about the audience experience, about music. We talked about what we wanted to hear. And when I heard the demo, I heard detail in music I was very familiar with that I had never heard before.
“Although I had heard several demos, I hadn’t deployed or mixed on an Alcons pro-ribbon system prior to CMA Fest,” Rogers continues. “It was an ideal situation. It was outdoors, with no roof, no reflections and no limits. My only initial concern was whether the system would cover the depth of the audience area, as the entrance was over 300 feet (91.5 meters) from the system. But I’m happy to say the LR24 covered from the barricade all the way back to the entrance flawlessly.”
