L-Acoustics Triumphs at Trifesta posted: 12/12/2019
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts performing on the L-Acoustics K1/K2 system at Bourbon & Beyond's Oak Stage
Brown Note Productions and Danny Wimmer Presents deploy K Series rig for three back-to-back weekend festivals: Hometown Rising, Bourbon & Beyond, and Louder Than Life
Although Louisville residents have long associated the term Triple Crown with Kentucky Derby thoroughbred horse racing at their own Churchill Downs, this year's Trifesta may well pose a legitimate threat to that reigning royal trio title. Produced by Los Angeles-based Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP)-the concert promoter behind popular US music festivals like Sacramento's Aftershock, Columbus' Sonic Temple and Charlotte's Epicenter-a Trifesta pass served as the golden ticket to get into three large Louisville music festivals held on consecutive weekends during September, each of which utilized an L-Acoustics K Series loudspeaker system deployed by Brown Note Productions (BNP) of Thornton, Colorado.
Zac Brown Band on Bourbon & Beyond's Barrel Stage, sonically reinforced by Brown Note Productions' K1/K2 rig 3
Staged at the Kentucky Expo Center's Highland Festival Grounds, the inaugural Hometown Rising festival packed in more than 70,000 country music fans over September 14 and 15 to hear from headliners Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, and Keith Urban, among others. The following weekend, a crowd of more than 90,000 attended the eclectic, three-day Bourbon & Beyond festival featuring performances from a wide variety of artists, including Foo Fighters, Robert Plant, and Zac Brown Band. Anchoring the final weekend of the month was the three-day Louder Than Life, which brought out 128,000 hard rock and heavy metal enthusiasts to headbang along with Guns N' Roses, Slipknot, Disturbed, and many more.
According to BNP President Ryan Knutson, who, with the help of Soundvision, created the system design for Trifesta, each of the three weekend festivals featured two similar and adjacent stages. The primary left and right main arrays for each stage-so four in total-were comprised of six L-Acoustics K1-SB low-frequency extension enclosures flown over 12 K1 full-range elements, with six K2 hung below for downfill. Behind each of these 24-enclosure arrays was a hang of eight KS28 flown in a cardioid configuration to improve LF directivity. For added impact, two dozen more KS28 per stage were groundstacked down below, topped by 16 Kara for frontfill, while 12 additional K2 were used as far outfill arrays.
To further optimize coverage and control residential noise spill for the two larger festivals-Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life-Brown Note additionally deployed three delay towers, each flying eight K2. This brought the site's total L-Acoustics enclosure count from 232 up to 256, all of which were collectively powered and processed by 95 LA12X amplified controllers housed in custom Brown Note touring racks.
We designed the system based on the layouts that Les Targonski, DWP's Director of Production and Logistics, had provided us early on, Knutson recalls. Although the system for each of the three festivals was very similar, we still had to deal with slightly different layouts of stage thrusts, barricades, and so on. With a combination of the new Autosolver tools in Soundvision, the L-Acoustics P1 processor and M1 measurement platform, and our own workflow for system design and tuning, we felt like we were well equipped for dealing with the festivals' challenging layout and central mix position. The use of the P1, in particular, was probably the most notable change in our workflow. Having this as part of our toolbox to analyze the system was a great addition to our normal practice of using SMAARTs analytical software platform.
As an official L-Acoustics Certified Provider for rental (CPr) and install (CPi), and on the cusp of also being a new distributor (CPd), BNP keeps its K Series system busy throughout the year on festivals, national tours, cross-rentals to other rental network providers, and at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in the company's back yard. And Knutson notes that his PA never fails to elicit smiles from engineers and audiences alike.
The K1 system, especially with the LA12X amplified controllers, delivers a quality, power, and transient response that is world renowned, he says. Most, if not all, top engineers have toured with or had great experiences mixing on K1 for festivals like this. With its system control, filtering, power, and tonality, it delivers a voice that is undeniable. Other manufacturers have great systems as well, but when you are in front of a K1/K2 system, the sound is clearly L-Acoustics and what many engineers, like us, have come to love.
DWP's Les Targonski points out that the combination of the right tools in the right hands has firmly established BNP as the promoter's production partner for all of its festivals since 2014. Over the course of the three Louisville festivals, I had multiple production managers and audio engineers give kudos to the Brown Note team, Targonski shares. From their willingness to make adjustments for the comfort of an engineer, or the ease of an engineer simply being able to plug in and mix because the analyzing work had already been done, Ryan and his team are incredibly efficient, accommodating and thoughtful.
A bird's eye view of Trifesta's third and final 2019 festival, Louder Than Life, which drew 128,000 hard rock fans to Louisville's Highland Festival Grounds
When I called Ryan five years ago for Aftershock, I knew what I was getting, but I needed everyone else at DWP to witness it, he adds. All it took was that one festival to prove a point. These days, when I advance with an artist that has played one of our events, t
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
24/07/2026
First string library captured at Studio Richter Mahr
The latest sample library to be created at Max Richter's Studio Richter Mahr facility captures the ...
24/07/2026
Official emulation of Blackbird Studios reverb chamber
In their latest collaboration with Blackbird Studios, KIT Plugins have captured the sound of the Stud...
24/07/2026
Angela Gomez brings over 14 years of experience in broadcast communications and audio engineering, specialising in live outside broadcasts, live sports and larg...
24/07/2026
Article courtesy of postPerspective
Read the article
While Toy Story 5 maintai...
24/07/2026
Kerry and Mayo fans Up For The Match as excitement builds in Croke Park on the e...
23/07/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 23rd, JULY, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisem...
23/07/2026
Quickly creates reverse reverb effects
Low End Candy have recently released a new plug-in that offers a quick and simple way to create reverse reverb effect...
23/07/2026
New engines, resonators, effects & more
Expressive E's versatile soft synth has just been treated to an update that greatly expands its sonic range. Noi...
23/07/2026
SGL Carbon has further expanded its photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site in Austria. With the commissioning of new PV carports, the sites solar sys...
23/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO seri...
23/07/2026
In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...
23/07/2026
Download Now!
To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name ...
23/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Partner to Advance Digi...
23/07/2026
Thursday 23 July 2026
New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile
Sky Mobile, the award-winning network voted this year by Expe...
23/07/2026
Thursday 23 July 2026
Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailerTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy optio...
23/07/2026
Wuppertal July 23, 2026
Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year.
Ce...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
High-end analogue channel strip boasts plug-in recall
Originally revealed as a prototype back at NAMM 2024, the Channex Studio channel strip represented a b...
21/07/2026
Relies on same DSP as plug-in range
Musik Hack's line-up has been influenced heavily by founder Stan Greene's work as a mixing engineer, and their M...
21/07/2026
Official collaboration with boutique builder Dirty Boy Pedals
Warm Audio have just announced the launch of a new guitar pedal range created in collaboration...
21/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases broad range of EMC test solutions at EMC SIPI 2026 in ...
21/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and NIFT Partner to Build Color Management Skills for India's...
21/07/2026
Harmonics cOS Virtualized Broadband Platform and Pearl Remote OLTs Enable Flexible PON Migration, While SeaStar Optical Node Powers Cost-Effective Multi-Gigabit...
21/07/2026
160 hours of Irish storytelling for 2026
KIN and The Walsh Sisters return
RT has today unveiled its most ambitious drama slate ever, with a record-breakin...
20/07/2026
Product range now readily available in the UK
Graph Tech Guitar Labs have just announced the launch of a new UK Online Store that makes it quicker and easie...
20/07/2026
Popular headset gains active noise cancellation
The Maxwell headet was Audeze's first foray into the gaming world, and thanks to its Dolby Atmos compati...
20/07/2026
Monday 20 July 2026
Sky brings free global roaming to millions of loyal custome...
20/07/2026
Red Seat Ventures Announces Introduction of Premium Creator and Podcast Communit...
20/07/2026
FIFA World Cup Final sets new RT Player record as the most-streamed single event in the platform's history
Over 1 million viewers watched live on RT 2 as ...
19/07/2026
Channel strip plug-in gets upgraded
Acustica Audio's vintage-inspired channel strip plug-in has just been treated to an update that expands its tonal ra...
18/07/2026
Captures nine sought-after Fender amps
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX expansion captures a selection of nine rare Brown Panel' Fender amps that were ...
18/07/2026
Latest batch ships alongside firmware update
Since being unveiled at Superbooth 2025, Frap Tools' debut polysynth has been met with widespread praise, a...
17/07/2026
Full engine access with reduced soundset
Sonuscore have steadily been introducing a selection of reduced-cost and free versions of their flagship products r...
L-Acoustics Triumphs at Trifesta posted: 12/12/2019 
