San Francisco, CA (August 28, 2023)—For 15 years, Outside Lands has been one of the Bay Area’s premiere music events, each summer attracting music fans from around the world who gather to catch cutting-edge lineups—and this year’s edition, held August 11-13, was no exception. The three-day event in Golden Gate Park featured music on eight stages with performances by more than 100 acts, including Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, Odesza, and Megan Thee Stallion.
Once again, UltraSound, LLC and McCune Audio provided sound for 225,000 music fans in attendance, using Meyer Sound solutions on stages throughout the festival, including the Lands End main stage, Dolores’, Cocktail Magic, the SOMA Tent, and The Music Den by Toyota. Notably, for the second year, UltraSound provided Meyer’s Panther large-format linear array loudspeakers for the Lands End main stage.
Outside Lands takes place in a wooded oasis in a dense urban environment, creating a number of challenges for the sound companies. “A lot of times the artists that we’re speaking with don’t fully understand that we’re two blocks away from a residential community with people who are trying to enjoy a quiet weekend at home, and we don’t want to disturb them, to the extent possible,” says Mary Conde, senior vice president of production at Another Planet Entertainment.
“The big sound challenge here is to keep things aimed down to the ground where the people are and not let it get too far into the air,” explains Bob McCarthy, Meyer Sound’s director of system optimization. “What we’ve done is use a three-part approach: We start with the main stage, then we hit delays, and then we hit delays again. This allowed me to get the mains aimed down more because they have to throw a shorter distance. And then the second set of delays, which are almost as powerful as the mains, restart the process from a nice, high position and aim down again. And then we finish it with a small system to end the system peacefully. The result is a better-quality experience for the audience from front to back and a better-quality experience for the neighborhood.”
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The Lands End stage featured 14 80-degree Panther-L over four 110-degree Panther-W loudspeakers per side, supplemented by Meyer Sound 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements deployed in gradient cardioid arrays behind each main array and across the front of the stage and Lyon linear line array loudspeakers serving as side hangs. Two primary delay towers combined wide- and narrow-coverage Panther loudspeakers, with Meyer Sound Leopard compact linear line array loudspeakers powering four secondary delay towers, VIP fills, and ancillary areas.
“What I really enjoy about Panther is its consistency and coverage on its wide ways,” says Tom Lyon, senior systems engineer at UltraSound. “The narrow speakers, the long throws, which have 80-degree patterns, are literally 80 degrees. You go right to that outside edge and it sounds exactly the same until it cuts off. That’s great for aiming the speakers away from things you don’t want to hit.”
The 15th anniversary also applies to the enduring partnership between promoter Another Planet, UltraSound, and Meyer Sound. “We knew 15 years ago before we confirmed our first artist that the main stage was going to be powered by Meyer Sound,” says Conde. “It was just a match made in heaven and it was going to represent the Bay Area and San Francisco and how we do live music here.”
The Outside Lands Music Festival will return to San Francisco on August 9–11, 2024.
