WILD is a spectacular immersive drone light show produced by Celestial that transforms the night sky into a living celebration of the animal kingdom. Herds charge, birds take flight, and great beasts emerge in dazzling patterns of light, all accompanied by a cinematic soundtrack to enhance the excitement levels.

The show recently arrived at Seat Unique Stadium, home of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, where local AV production specialists Enlightened were tasked with delivering the event’s audio and technical infrastructure.

“This is our third season working with Celestial, supplying power, lighting, and effects, but this is the first time we’ve handled sound” explained System Designer Henry Parr.

With a capacity of around 8,000 and tiered seating ranging from nine to seventeen rows deep, the stadium presented a challenging environment. Enlightened deployed a total of 16 ground stacks of NEXO GEO M, using stacks of 3 x GEO M10 top boxes on 2 x MSUB15s for the deeper tiers, and 3 x GEO M6 on a single MSUB15 for the shallower tiers. A handful of P12s and ID series systems support the VIP areas and funfair.

“We could have used fewer stacks and filled in with point source speakers in between, but ‘stepping and repeating’ stacks around the perimeter of the pitch brought a certain simplicity to the system while ensuring full bandwidth and plenty of SPL coverage for the entire crowd.”

With a boundary circumference of around 440 metres, well over 2 kilometres  of cable was required to connect the stacks to NEXO NXAMPMk2 amp racks located in three stations around the pitch. Each rack contained 4 x NEXO NXAMP4X2Mk2 powered TD Controllers, with each amplifier powering 2 stacks with top boxes and subs on separate channels.

“The NXAMPs are equipped with Dante network cards so all the racks are connected with simple Ethernet cables” reports FOH Engineer Matt Shelbourn. “I can monitor the entire system using NEXO’s NeMo App from my position in one of the amplifier stations, with full visibility and control of all key parameters throughout the show.”

Lasting around 40 minutes, WILD uses timecode to synchronise sound, lighting and drone choreography with remarkable precision, allowing audio to play a central role in heightening the drama and excitement.

“We’re using almost our entire inventory of GEO M on this event, it’s a great example of just how flexible the system is. Sound is vital to the thrill of this show, and NEXO absolutely delivers.” Henry Parr, System Designer

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