October 28, 2000

Randy 'The Friar' Frierson of Concert Systems USA
with NEXO USA's own Jim Sides

Voodoofest is fast becoming one of the highlights of the New Orleans live music season. Held in the City Park’s Marconi Meadows, the day-long event featured three main stages, and attracted a total audience in excess of 50,000 to see performances by rock and rap royalty ranging from Eminem to the Stone Temple Pilots.

In front of 15-20,000 people, the Counting Crows and Live were headliners on a stage sponsored by Rolling Stone Magazine, using a NEXO Alpha system provided by Concert Systems USA (Ocean Springs, MS, near Biloxi), the main event of their busy summer/fall schedule.

According to Concert Systems president Randy "The Friar" Frierson, "this was our biggest undertaking to date with the NEXO Alpha: the coverage area was quite large, about 400 ft wide x 600 ft in length and we needed to produce some serious SPLs without adding delays. The next stage had a V-DOSC rig which was quite a bit larger than ours, and I was a bit worried we might not have enough PA…..until we turned it on!"

Concert Systems USA ran a 54-box NEXO Alpha rig, flown 4 wide, with 9 x M3s, 12 x B1s and 6 x S2 sub-bass each side. The system was controlled by NEXO’s digital processors, with 2 x NX241 per side. NEXO PS15s were also used for front fill. All amplification was Cyberlogic. The front-of-house console, a 48-channel Soundcraft Series FIVE, was operated by Concert Systems’ Darren Dawson for the opening acts Ben Hoag and Section Eight, both successful regional bands. Counting Crowes, Live and Ben Harper brought their own engineers, including Michael Pollock, who is currently on a full US tour using NEXO Alpha with Ben Harper.

Crew Chief Chris Buckman doubled as monitor engineer, using a Soundcraft SM24 console to control an on-stage monitor system of Concert Systems USA proprietary wedges.

"We didn’t have a single glitch, throughout the show," says Randy Frierson. "The Alpha flew like a dream, the NX241s worked flawlessly, and personally, I think we stood out as the premier stage. We certainly had way better low end: at 600 feet from the NEXO stage, everything is in place — hi’s, mid’s and low’s.

"Nobody walked away from the Alpha system saying ‘yeah, that was OK’. They walked away with their tongues hanging out! I can only say that business has improved and become more profitable for us since becoming involved with NEXO. It is by far the best purchase decision we have ever made"