Donetsk, Ukraine – June 2010… Newly opened in the latter half of 2009, Donbass Arena is the first stadium in Eastern Europe designed and built to meet UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) regulations for elite stadiums. On Sunday, May 30th, Donbass Arena played host to its first mega-concert: The Hits of the 80s. From France’s salsa-funk band The Gypsy Kings and the British R&B/dance band London Beat to Greek-Egyptian singer Demis Roussos and the Spanish vocal duo Baccara, there was something for everyone. With approximately 40,000 attendees at the concert, this was the place to be as music filled the air—thanks to the power and efficiency of a massive sound reinforcement system from D.A.S. Audio.
Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine-based Indigo Music Company, Ltd., which handles a wide range of projects encompassing live sound for concerts, commercial installations, as well as broadcast and telecommunications applications, was contracted to provide sound reinforcement for the event. Dmitry Lokshin, company president, discussed the challenges of the project.
“One of the biggest obstacles we faced on this concert was the relatively short amount of time between the performances of the different artists,� explained Lokshin. “There really wasn’t time to make major system changes between each act. For this reason, we needed a versatile sound system that had the long throw and broad horizontal dispersion characteristics required to cover a crowd this large that was capable of handling a wide range of musical styles. The D.A.S. system we assembled, which used Aero 48 line array elements as the centerpiece, was the ideal choice for this concert.�
The primary system Lokshin and his crew deployed for The Hits of the 80s concert included thirty-two D.A.S. Audio Aero 48 line array cabinets—flown sixteen modules per left-right side at a height of 12.5 meters. Of particular note, Lokshin says that his company installed the D.A.S. high frequency upgrade kit which includes the new M-75N drivers in all of the Aero 48 systems. Designed for use in applications where high SPL and low distortion are required, the new drivers had quite an impact on the sound. “The upgraded Aero 48s sounded terrific,� Dmitry Lokshin reports. “The sound was clean and powerful—and both the spectators and the various sound engineers quickly took notice.�
Complementing the Aero 48s, low frequency support was provided by twenty-four D.A.S. Audio LX-218 subwoofers, positioned across the front of the stage. Further, Storm-Line & Miraldi V.S.’s crew deployed twelve Aero CA-28A powered, 2-way mid-high line array modules—six per side—as an outfield system for supplemental coverage. For side fills, the setup included four D.A.S. Audio Compact 2, 3-way mid-high enclosures, four Compact 218 Sub 2K powered subwoofers, four of D.A.S. Audio’s new Sub 18G passive subwoofers featuring a bass reflex enclosure and an 18-inch driver, and two Rf-15.64 2-way enclosures.
Stage monitoring systems were assigned according to the technical rider from the individual artists. There were eight available monitor lines for use with various combinations drawn from six D.A.S. SML-15 2-way stage monitors and six SML-12A powered monitor systems. Both FOH and monitor systems were mixed using Yamaha M-7CL digital consoles.
With The Hits of the 80s concert successfully completed, Indigo reports the event was a huge success. “With each passing year,� he says, “D.A.S. Audio becomes increasingly popular in our market, both for mobile and fixed installations. We see more and more artists requesting D.A.S. on their technical riders and I’m confident this trend will continue because the equipment sounds terrific and is very reliable. After this concert, our client was extremely happy and has since contracted with us for a few events this coming August and September. When one project leads to repeat business, that’s as good as it gets!�
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