Nelly's Where The Party At Tour Delivers with d&b audiotechnik SL-Series

	"The objectives for the Nelly tour were clear: to give every audience member the same experience," says DeWit.

Rap singer Nelly is bringing the heat to North American audiences with Ja Rule, Chingy, and Eve, among other acts for the Where The Party At Tour, powered by a comprehensive d&b audiotechnik sound system featuring SL-Series KSL line arrays and SL-SUB subwoofers.

Event production company Synergetic, based in Bensalem, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was contracted by 900 Entertainment to provide audio for Where The Party At after successfully working together on previous events for Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, where d&b systems were also deployed.

"Like all our engagements with 900 Entertainment, the objectives for the Nelly tour were clear: to give every audience member the same experience," shares Synergetic system engineer, James DeWit. "The d&b audiotechnik SL-Series sound system that we deployed achieved this with exceptional clarity, dynamic headroom, and massive low-end."

"One of my core system design philosophies is to give the front of house engineers a consistent starting point, night after night so we can deliver the same experience to every seat in the venue," says DeWit. "We're hitting numerous music sheds, pavilions, and arenas on this tour, and d&b audiotechnik ArrayProcessing combined with SL-Series' tight pattern control enables us to have tonal balance from zone to zone and front to back without low or mid drop off."

Crucially for hip hop, ample headroom is a must, especially in the low end. "We're managing to push sub bass all the way out to the lawns in these massive sheds. The SL-SUBs don't even struggle and I'm not seeing any gain reduction," commented DeWit. "The amount of headroom and bass you get out of an SL-SUB is unmatched for hip hop. I don't think anyone else can do it."

With many tour dates occurring on consecutive nights, streamlined deployment and load out has also been paramount. "It's crazy how fast we can safely deploy this system," says DeWit. "Everything is remarkably efficient. The team starts at 8 AM and often has the PA flown by 11:30. We're usually off to lunch long before our 2 PM soundcheck. We use tension mode on the KSL boxes and SL aiming plates on everything. If I have the need to change anything, I can quickly aim the boxes once they're in the air. d&b's three-point rigging is super easy and understood by stagehands without the need to give them much direction. Loading out goes the same way, it's really simple."

Feedback from the tour has been overwhelmingly positive. "Nelly's getting the volume levels he wants on stage. Both mix engineers have been super happy, they're getting what they need at front-of-house and their mix is being translated throughout the venue," DeWit concludes. "This has been especially amazing in the music sheds, with their different roofs and combinations of inside and outside reflections. There is so much variation from venue to venue, but even when we're playing outdoor shows, with d&b audiotechnik, we're able to put the sound exactly where we want it and keep it away from where we don't."