Gand Rocks Chicago Half Marathon with Yamaha and NEXO

chicago-half-marathon-five-for-fighting.jpgChicago, Illinois—On August 1, Chicago was rocking as thousands of participants and spectators at the annual Rock ‘n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon ended their day at a post-Marathon concert produced by Entertainment Solutions of Scottsdale Arizona. Entertainment Solutions called upon Gand Concert Sound (GCS) aka ‘the NEXO guys' to provide the sound system and back line for the concert featuring opening act Hello Dave and headliner Five for Fighting. “Entertainment Solutions was well organized and great to work with,” states Tim Swan, vice president of Gand Concert Sound.

The sound system included a Yamaha PM5D-RH at front of house and monitors at the request of the headliner, 12 per side NEXO GEO T line array with six per side CD18s, NEXO Alpha speakers for out fills, and PS15s for front fills and monitors. “We did the sound check the night before the concert with Five for Fighting and it turned into a mini concert,” said FOH engineer Adam Rosenthal. “Day of show, we had to be there at 5:30 am to get in prior to the streets being closed for the Marathon. The NEXO rig is easy to drop over night, and goes back up very quick. It's been a record summer for rain in Chicago, and the NEXO rain covers make it possible for GCS to operate during any rain or drizzle while setting up for a show.”

GCS recently added two more PM5Ds to their console inventory to handle this record-setting summer. “We had been thinking about it since spring and decided to purchase additional 5Ds in time for the crush season,” adds Gary Gand, President of Gand Concert Sound. “We purchased a PM5D to go with our digital snake set up, a PM5D-RH and a DSP5D Expander (PM5D-EX System) to handle our big orchestra shows and religious fests where 100-plus mics can be the norm. The DSP5D Expander provides an additional 48 inputs in a 10-space rack turning a PM5D-RH into a 96 channel console, all on one control service.”

Brothers Kevin and Ken Kozial at Entertainment Solutions said that Gand Concert Sound ‘provided a seamless production for the Rock ‘n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon.'

For more information on Gand Concert Sound, visit www.gand.com.

For more information on the Yamaha PM5D-EX and NEXO products, visit www.yamahaca.com

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About Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc.:

Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. (YCAS) provides a full line of integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for the broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production markets. With the addition of NEXO to the product line, the company remains the official U.S. and Canadian distributor for all NEXO speaker models. YCAS offers comprehensive in-house and field product training for its customers, a dedicated dealer network, and 24/7 technical support.