Pro-Ribbons Power Åge Aleksandersen’s Farewell Concerts

Trondheim Lyd delivers consistent stadium coverage for 75,000 fans (© Yngve Forsland)

For the final chapter of legendary Norwegian artist Åge Aleksandersen’s career, sound company Trondheim Lyd deployed an extensive Alcons Audio pro-ribbon system to deliver pristine coverage to 75,000 fans across three sold-out concerts at Lerkendal Stadium in Trondheim.

The “Åge & Sambandet – Takk for Oss” tour marked the last performances of Aleksandersen with the band he formed in 1976, spanning nearly five decades. With a 25,000-capacity venue filled to maximum between 4 and 6 September, sound reinforcement needed to meet uncompromising requirements for SPL consistency, frequency response, sightlines, and stage management.

The audience area spanned approximately 130m / 427ft  x 130m / 427ft, with the highest seats reaching 19m / 62ft. Coverage specifications called for a tolerance of ±6 dB from 32 Hz to 18 kHz across all seating zones. Visual considerations added another layer of complexity: the concerts were filmed for future release, so loudspeaker placement had to minimise visual intrusion while respecting sightlines for cameras, lighting, and pyrotechnics. With FOH positioned 30 metres / 98ft to the side and only two delay towers permitted, system design demanded careful precision.

“Consistency in voicing across all Alcons systems, combined with the extended HF throw (…), allowed us to achieve smooth coverage and maintain a consistent tonal signature across all audience areas.”, Erwan Thomas, TrondheimLyd system tech.

A flown subwoofer design was requested to achieve even low-frequency distribution and an optimal front-to-back SPL ratio. Minimizing on-stage leakage from PA and fill systems was equally critical, given the shows were filmed for future release.

Trondheim Lyd was supported by JUR from The Netherlands and Electrosound from Sweden through The Ribbon Network, Alcons’ global dry-hire support network. TrondheimLyd won the tender by presenting a system that met every requirement, designed by Trondheim Lyd system tech Erwan Thomas and consultant Arnstein Fossvik.

(© Yngve Forsland)

Their solution combined 40 pcs Alcons’ flagship LR28 larger-format pro-ribbon line-array modules, 20 per side, with 28 pcs LR24s mid-size pro-ribbon line-arrays, 14 per side, for outfill,.

The main systems were supported by 24 pcs flown double 18” subwoofers and 16 pcs ground-stacked triple-18” cardioid subwoofers to achieve the desired front-to-back balance. The delay system comprised 48 pcs LR24 line-arrays with 12 pcs flown double 18” subwoofer arrays.

A wide range of Alcons pro-ribbon loaded fill systems, consisting of LR18 line-arrays, RR12 point-source arrays, VR12 point source monitors provided seamless transitions between coverage zones.

In total, 188 Alcons cabinets were deployed, powered by 66x Sentinel10 4ch. 10kW amplified loudspeaker controllers. All Sentinel units were fed with 96kHz AES3 digital signal and configured with the recently introduced AES-priority with analogue fallback function.

“Stadiums are notoriously difficult acoustic environments, with unforgiving hard reflective surfaces and inherent slap-back echo,” explains Erwan. “Consistency in voicing across all Alcons systems, combined with the extended HF throw and the very coherent wavefront of the pro-ribbon transducer, allowed us to achieve smooth coverage and maintain a consistent tonal signature across all audience areas.”

The results were met with unanimous praise. “Best stadium sound,” commented the production manager. The promoter added, “Great job,” while FOH engineer Sturla Samuelsen remarked he was “extremely happy with the production at Lerkendal.”

Arnstein concluded: “Having the right loudspeakers is important, but understanding the client’s needs and offering the flexibility to meet them, is what truly makes a project succeed. With this setup, we felt we had enough speakers to do the job properly – and the customer, the band and the audience were all very happy.”

For more information, please visit  www.trondheimlyd.no

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