The Novak Djokovic Airbus, named after Serbian tennis champion, was purchased following an agreement between the Government of Serbia and Etihad Airways to reorganise and rebrand the country's largest air traffic company, Jat Airways, into Air Serbia. Three unveilings of the aircraft were organised in the main hangar of Jat Tehnika. The first was for the company's 900 employees, the second for press, and finally the aircraft was unveiled to members of the government and diplomatic core, as well as local businessmen.
Aventeq, which handles all Etihad events in Europe, coordinated all three launches, which consisted of speeches and presentations interspersed with dramatic recorded music and rounded off by a live string quartet accompanied by percussion. Rental company Light and Sound Design supplied Aventeq with a complete audio system. 10x Nexo Geo S12 flexible mid-sized cabinets and two CD18 cardioid sub basses were groundstacked, with four PS15-R2 speakers used around the hangar as infills, and four 45°N12 line monitors for stage sound, all powered by five NXAMPs.
Providing sound reinforcement in a hangar large enough to accommodate six aeroplanes was a challenge, but one that Nexo handled admirably. "The sound was superb, with even coverage, and intelligibility uncompromised by the hangar's difficult acoustics and a large number of open condenser microphones," says Milan Scepanovic, general manager of Light and Sound Design. "The sound quality was highly praised by professionals and attendees alike."
Another S12/CD18 system was used in Belgrade's Kombank Arena for a humanitarian concert, 21 Songs of Tose Proeski for 1 Life, celebrating the life of Macedonian singer, songwriter and actor Todor 'Tose' Proeski, who was killed in a car crash in 2007 aged 26. Sound was handled by Belgrade-based rental company EventRent, who joined forces with two other local Nexo Geo users, full production from Subotica and Performer from Kikinda. Their combined system of 36 Nexo Geo S12s was flown throughout the arena, with groundstacked CD18 and RS15 subs, all powered by NXAMPs.
Some of Serbia's greatest pop and folk stars appeared on the bill, performing songs by Proeski to raise funds for surgery for a local child. "This was a brilliant opportunity to showcase the modular nature of the Nexo Geo S12 system," says Scepanovic. "It was an arena-sized event, and it had all the coverage and sound quality you would expect from an S12 system."
Musicians performing at the concert included the Lexington band, Sasa Kovacevic, Tanja Banjanin, Bojan Marovic, Ana Stajdohar band, Miligram band, Zana, Vampiri, Viva Vox Choir and the Tropico band.
