"I was immediately struck by the linearity of the Leo system, even when it was pushed to very high levels," says Freddy Kot, chief engineer for Ling Hua ProSLV. "Even with sustained readings of over 112 dB at FOH, there was no distortion. And of course, the audience was just ecstatic with what they heard."
The system configuration for the show was handled by 'Big Mick' Hughes, Metallica's long-time FOH engineer, with assistance from consultant 'dB Dave' Dennison. The core flown LEO system comprised main front-hangs of 18-each Leo-M line array loudspeakers, 32 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements deployed in dual steerable arrays, and a Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system featuring four Galileo Callisto 616 array processors and one Galileo 616 AES processor.
"The mix position was placed quite a long way from the stage so as to avoid taking up good audience seats," says Hughes. "This wasn't really problematic as the main LEO system easily threw that far. The crowd was great and sang along to a lot of the songs, despite the language barrier."
Rounding out FOH reinforcement were dual side-hangs of 14-each Milo line array loudspeakers, six Mica line array loudspeakers for down-fill, six Milo loudspeakers for front and lower corner-fill, and 18 floor-stacked 700-HP subwoofers.
On stage, 20 Meyer Sound monitors were placed around the band's two-level platform, with twin hangs of five-each Mica loudspeakers for side-fill.
Hughes mixed behind a Midas XL8 console, while monitor engineer Bob Cowan and monitor assist Adam Correia manned Midas PRO9 and PRO2 boards. On stage, Metallica's vocals were captured by Shure Super 55 Deluxe Vocal Microphones.
(Jim Evans)
