CLIENT
Sela / LarMac Live / LemonX
LOCATION
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
YEAR
2019
PROJECT TYPE
Live Event – Music Festival
Scope
Concert-grade audio system design for main stage and four additional stages
Services Provided
- →Audio system design and optimisation
- →Coverage modelling and sub-array design
- →On-site system calibration
- →Technical documentation and deployment strategy
The Brief
The inaugural MDL Beast marked a landmark moment in Saudi Arabia’s cultural landscape, a high-energy, three-day celebration of electronic music, art and food, drawing crowds of over 100,000 people. Our brief was to design a main stage audio system for an audience of up to 80,000, ensuring full-frequency, high-impact sound across an expansive open-air venue.
In addition to the main stage, we were asked to design four more performance spaces across the festival site, delivering world-class sound with consistency and clarity at every location.
The Challenge
The entire festival was pulled together at an astonishing pace. From concept to showtime, timelines were incredibly compressed, which placed enormous pressure on logistics, engineering and integration.
The main stage posed the biggest challenge: a colossal 80,000-capacity audience area requiring powerful, wide-reaching sound coverage, tight control of low frequencies, and a high level of precision to maintain intelligibility at every point of the site. On top of that, we designed delay towers, front fills and low-end reinforcement systems that would blend seamlessly to create a unified sonic experience.
Our Approach
We developed a high-density loudspeaker system for the main stage, built around L-Acoustics K1 and K2 systems. The main hangs featured four arrays of K1, each with 20 K1 elements and four K1-SBs, powered by LA12X amplifiers. This gave us the headroom and projection required to energise the full audience zone with headliner-level punch and clarity.
For low frequency, we implemented a monumental sub array: 48 KS28 subwoofers in a 12-wide by 4-high configuration across the front of the stage. We used sub-arc processing to broaden and even out coverage across the full listening field. Each of the seven delay towers also included a cardioid KS28 sub array, extending low-end impact deep into the crowd.
To ensure no one missed out at the barrier, the front fill system featured eight stacks of three K2, mounted on decks above the subs for elevation. These were supplemented with additional K2 loudspeakers to ensure even tonality for the most enthusiastic fans down the front.
We also deployed seven delay towers, each equipped with 20 K2 and a matched sub-bass array. These towers were carefully placed and time-aligned to ensure a seamless transition from the main PA into the extended audience zones, maintaining clarity and punch without perceptible delay.
Technical Highlights:
Audio Design
Main Stage PA
- 4 arrays of 20 x K1 + 4 x K1-SB
- LA12X amplification throughout
Sub Array Design
- 48 x KS28 in 12×4 front array
- Sub-arc processing for wide, even coverage
- Additional cardioid KS28 arrays at all delay towers
Front Fill
- 8 stacks of 3 x K2, elevated on decks
- Additional K2 enclosures on sub array for central coverage
Delays
- 7 delay positions, each with:
- 20 x K2 array
- KS28 cardioid sub array
Other Stages
We also delivered audio designs for four additional stages across the site, using a mix of L-Acoustics and Meyer Sound systems. Each venue was tailored to the style and scale of its programming, delivering tailored audio performance across the entire festival.
The Results
MDL Beast was a great success. The large-scale music event set a new standard for festivals in the Middle East. The main stage audio system performed flawlessly, delivering full-bodied, high-impact sound to tens of thousands of fans without fatigue or distortion over extended show days.
The carefully engineered sub-system provided smooth, even bass across the audience without hot spots, while the delay towers ensured energy and clarity were maintained right to the back of the venue. Despite the immense scale and speed of delivery, the system performed exactly as modelled, and the audience response was overwhelming.
Acknowledgements
Our Client
A huge thanks Ian and Jo from LarMac Live, and the whole team at LemonX for getting us involved. Congratulations to Sela for producing such a successful event.
Our Team
The Audio systems were designed by Scott Willsallen and Justin Arthur. Our team onsite consisted of Justin, Martin Dineley and Ian Cooper.
Our Supplier
Congratulations to PRG on sourcing, shipping, installing, engineering and managing such a massive scope of work in such a short time frame.
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