The Illinois State Fair staged its annual 11-day run from August 11-21 in the state capital of Springfield. Music is a big part of the fair, with a nightly grandstand stage attraction for crowds of up to 15,000. Mason Sound of nearby Jacksonville, IL, provided the sound system for the 13th year straight.
For 2016, the long-time Electro-Voice XLC users brought along the new X-Line Advance system they purchased in March.
X2-212/120 line arrays formed the core of the system, with twin 18-box arrays flanking the stage. Mason Sound opted for the 120-degree dispersion model, allowing the system to cover virtually the entire grandstand, which spans the straightaway of the fairground’s one-mile racetrack.
For the extreme edges of the grandstand, two time-aligned stacks of six X2-212/120 were strategically placed as out fills; six XLD281 very compact line array loudspeakers served as front fills.
The subwoofers on duty were EV’s latest and most powerful ever, the X12-128, a dual 18-inch design that delivers clean, linear LF output down to 27 Hz, and matches seamlessly with the X2 arrays. Mason Sound used a total of 32 X12-128 boxes for the grandstand shows, deployed in 4×4 stacks flanking both sides of the stage. The entire sound system was powered by 38 EV TG7 amplifiers and digitally networked via EV’s IRIS-Net.
The morning after more than five inches of rain fell in just two hours, causing the previous night’s concert to be cancelled, Mason Sound reported zero failures among the 86 loudspeakers and 38 amps.
State fair attendees were treated to a wide range of musical styles over the course of 11 days. As always, country music was well represented with at the fair, with headliners including Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Jake Owen and Cole Swindell.
In addition, the main stage hosted the classic rock of ZZ Top and KISS, plus the pop of Meghan Trainor. All of them performed through the X-Line Advance system. Mason Sound was pleased to report uniformly positive feedback for the sound quality and coverage the new system delivered to audiences nightly across the fair’s varied lineup.
