Miking Guitars on Lana Del Rey’s LA to the Moon Tour
FOH engineer Kevin Madigan (David Gilmour, CSN&Y) talks capturing live guitars
Tour Sound
RCF Hits the Road with Festival of Praise Tour
A slew of top Gospel stars are making the rounds with RCF in tow.
VER to Merge with Production Resource Group
VER enters Chapter 11 to facilitate merger with PRG
Live Sound Showcase: Gimmie A Beat—Inside Janet Jackson's Tour Sound
By Clive Young. Janet Jackson is still selling out arenas and making them dance, three decades into her career. Helping make that happen every night is FOH engineer Kyle Hamilton and his razor-sharp attention to detail.
Saving the Show: Live Audio Capture
By Clive Young. Live show recordings are a necessity for every artist. While most national touring artists playing theaters and arenas have recorded shows every night for years, the ability to do so has finally filtered down to more budget-aware house mix systems over time, putting the ability to record multitracks of an evening’s set within the reasonable economic reach of small venues and everyday performers.
DPA Captures Celine at Caesars
Celine Dion's shows have used a growing contingent of DPA Microphones since 2010.
Versteegt on Mixing Live Reggae and More
By Keith Young. Touring the world with Grammy-nominated reggae band SOJA, FOH engineer Michael Versteegt has discovered how to make the most of the mix and connect with crews overseas.
Snoop Dogg Prowls with Allen & Heath
Snoop Dogg has been touring with an Allen & Heath dLive system handling his monitors.
Live Sound Showcase: Touring with Tori Amos
By Steve Harvey. In December, Amos wrapped up the North American leg of her tour with three sold-out nights at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, the latest dates on a world tour that began in Europe in September 2017, coincident with the release of her 15th studio album, "Native Invader." But as front-of-house engineer Mark Hawley observes, to call this the “latest” tour is something of a misnomer. “We really started 23 years ago,” he says. “She enjoys touring.”
Blondie Calls Up New Stage Monitors
The classic pop-punk band toured with the latest wedges from Clair Brothers.
Brown Note, d&b Avert Disaster for Gorillaz
Pre-tour gamble paid off for Gorillaz’s live audio team
Picking Charlie Puth’s PA
The young singing sensation finished a North American arena tour supported by Adamson systems.
Frahm Takes Stage Tec Desk on Tour
The composer/performer has kicked off a two-year tour with an Aurus platinum FOH console in tow.
Amplifiers Per Annum
By Al Fernald. Here are just a few of the amplifiers and related updates that have been introduced over the last 12 months.
Fun, Fun, Fun on Pet Sounds’ 50th Anniversary Tour
By Paroo Streich. Brian Wilson, the visionary behind The Beach Boys, is rolling his "Pet Sounds" 50th Anniversary Tour forward into 2018 with its final performances, and along for every stop of the journey is longtime production manager/FOH engineer Clint Boire.
Francis Takes On New Desk for Katy Perry
The FOH engineer behind GnR and Kanye West switched things up for his current jaunt supporting Katy Perry.
Winter Quiet No More for SR Providers
This time of year used to mean that things slowed down in the live sound sector—but the operative words there are “used to.”
Halsey's 'Fountain' Tour Flows with DPA
Halsey is using a DPA d:facto vocal microphone at every stop on her current world tour
Inside the Audio of The Killers World Tour
Capital Sound fielded a Martin Audio MLA system for the recent UK leg of the band's world tour.
MyMix Takes On Pete Tong at the Hollywood Bowl
By Steve Harvey. Musicians heard themselves on the complicated Pete Tong's Ibiza Classics tour via MyMix systems.
Monitoring Queens of the Stone Age at MSG
By Ian MacDonald. Engineer Spencer Jones handled monitors on QOTSA's fall tour, a run that found the band headlining New York City's Madison Square Garden arena for the first time.
Live Sound Showcase: Depeche Mode On Tour
By Clive Young. Depeche Mode's longtime audio team uses new and old technology to help convey the warmth and humanity in the band’s famously synthy sounds.
Run the Jewels Roll with Waves eMotion LV1 Mixer
FOH engineer Tomas Wolfe has been using a Waves eMotion LV1 Live Mixer to mix Run The Jewels’ tour.
Mixing the Holiday A Cappella Sounds of Pentatonix
Mark Woodcock uses a Yamaha RIVAGE PM10 console to handle the house mix for a acappella act Pentatonix.
Galaxy Rolls with Scovill on Petty Tour
Galaxy Hot Spot speakers were a key part of FOH engineer Robert Scovill's rig on the final Tom Petty tour.
Tears For Fears Squires A New PM10 On Tour
Monitor engineer George Squires has been using a Yamaha PM10 digital audio console on the road for the resurgent Tears For Fears.
Eight Plays, A Streak: Paul McCartney Tours NYC
By Clive Young. Go inside Paul McCartney’s recent mini-tour of New York City, where the rock legend and crew tackled eight sold-out shows, playing two nights a piece at Madison Square Garden; Brooklyn’s Barclays Center; across the Hudson River in Newark, NJ; and out on Long Island.
L-Acoustics Opens NYC Office
Aiming to underline its presence on the East Coast and also the Broadway theatrical market, L-Acoustics has opened a new office in midtown Manhattan, located within walking distance to Penn Station.
Stage Tec Mixes 4,000 Voices on Tour
Marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, “Luther,” a massive pop oratorio about the event toured Germany, with the last of 12 performances taking place on October 31 at Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz-Arena with more than 11,000 spectators and a newly formed 4,000-singer choir. Berlin manufacturer Stage Tec was a sponsor of the entire tour, and providing three mixing consoles for the show.
Live Sound Showcase: Arcade Fire
By Lowell Greenblatt. While most tours are booked so that a production has time to find its groove before playing a high-profile New York gig, Arcade Fire’s Infinite Content tour hit Madison Square Garden only four shows into its North American run. Nonetheless, the shakedown period had gone well—a crucial fact, given that the band is carrying with it reportedly the largest AVB-based touring system yet assembled, fielded by audio provider Solotech (Montreal/Las Vegas).
$1B Growth in Pro Loudspeakers Predicted
UK analysts Futuresource Consulting predict the global pro loudspeaker market will hit $3.6 billion by 2021, fueled largely by increased demand for quality installed sound and investments from the commercial retail world in creating more enticing shopping environments.
Firehouse Fired Up About Dante AoIP
Firehouse Productions has been the audio provider for countless tours by Coldplay, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, Sting and many others; shows for the likes of the NFL, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and other organizations; and corporate events for Macy’s, Apple, Amazon and others. They’re all high-profile clients, but with that visibility comes increased pressure for its systems to work flawlessly. With that in mind, Firehouse has increasingly turned to Audinate’s Dante audio-over-IP networking for many of its clients when it creates audio systems with many moving parts.
Adamson Fills Stadium with Krystof
Prague’s Evzena Rosického Stadium recently sold out two shows by one of the country’s most popular acts, Krystof, as it celebrated its 25th anniversary. For the occasion, SR provider ZL Production fielded a sizable PA based around Adamson E-Series and S-Series loudspeakers.
FOH Stays Dry on Halsey Tour
Halsey has been making the rounds for the last month on her Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour with audio provided by Eighth Day Sound. One of the show’s key moments finds the singer and her dancers taking over a B-stage for two songs, and while that’s not unusual, the stage itself is. Filled with 20 gallons of water, the stage sprays liquid everywhere—including the FOH position.
Sheppell Brings DPA to Bon Jovi
FOH engineer Bill Sheppell used DPA d:facto vocal mics on the recent Bon Jovi tour as an experiment and ultimately opted to make them a permanent fixture. As a result, official live show recordings from the tour have captured that iconic voice closer to Sheppell’s intention: “Since using the d:facto, I have noticed that we are able to use less EQ than normal.”
State of the Industry 2017: Live Sound
By Clive Young. The last few years have seen the concert industry ride a growing wave of success, and so far, 2017 looks to be following that trend to the letter. Tours have generally done well this year, and despite some high-profile blowouts, festivals, too, have had a strong showing. Good grosses are likewise good for live sound companies, keeping audio providers busy at all levels, from the national tour providers, to regional and local sound reinforcement businesses.
At AES: RF Panel: 'Scan Early and Often'
By Steve Harvey. The successful completion of the FCC's Incentive Auction earlier this year set the countdown clock ticking for wireless mic operators, who must vacate the 600 MHz band by July, 2020. But as a panel of RF experts on opening day of the convention stressed, some wireless equipment users will be losing access in their regions much earlier.
Third Eye Blind Has A Vue
It may be fall, but that hasn’t stopped Nineties hitmakers Third Eye Blind from hitting the road on their 31-city “Summer of the Gods” tour. On-hand ever step of the way is Pittsburgh-based sound company RT Pro Audio, fielding a sizable PA from Vue Audiotechnik.
DPA Drives Classical Mystery Tour’s Sound
Based in Las Vegas, Craig Thomesen has worked with everyone from Bette Midler, Tina Turner, Johnny Cash, The Doobie Brothers and more. These days, he’s on the road, mixing a Beatles’ tribute show, Classical Mystery Tour, which includes a full symphony orchestra, miking up rockers and stringslingers alike with DPA Microphones.
Nickelback’s Back, Rolling with Yamaha
The key to any successful tour is preparation, and if the tour’s engineers are using new consoles for the first time, then it’s even more crucial. Such was the case recently when front of house engineer Joe Keiser and monitor man James Bump had to each learn their way around a Yamaha RIVAGE PM10 console for Nickelback’s current Feed The Machine tour.
Adele Drummer Adds Auralex
When Derrick Wright needed to isolate his drums for quiet songs on Adele’s recent world tour, he went to an off-stage isolated drum room carried by the tour, created with an Auralex (auralex.com) HoverDeck under the kit and ProMAX V2 panels surrounding it to ensure a consistent acoustical environment from show to show.
CODA Brings the Rock to Royal Arena
When the new Royal Arena opened in Copenhagen a few months ago, the first act to play it was Metallica, but the ‘hometown’ opening came a few days later when the country’s own metal heroes, DizzyMizzLizzy and D-A-D, headlined the facility.
Mackie AXIS Moves Into Monitorworld
German hip-hop, reggae, and dancehall artist Frank Dellé (aka Eased) has been touring in support of his latest solo album, Neo. While he’s best-known for leading the band Seeed, Dellé has also worked as a film and audio engineer, so he got hands on when it came time to put together his solo tour’s monitorworld, and as a result, it’s centered around a Mackie AXIS digital mixing system.
Adding Quiet to Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds
On the road since Spring 2016, Brian Wilson is winding down his Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour, where he has been the classic album in its entirety nightly. The original record was famously the result of uncompromising studio perfectionism, so to help replicate that onstage, the tour’s audio team has taken a number of approaches, including the use of various Auralex acoustical treatments.
d&b audiotechnik Set for AES New York
The annual AES Convention is the high point of the pro audio year, and no one ever wants to miss it. That goes for attendees, but it also goes for exhibitors, and with that in mind, d&b audiotechnik has already announced what it will be up to when the Convention is held October 18-20 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.
Live Sound Showcase: Panic! at the Disco
By Clive Young. Panic! at the Disco started out big in the mid-2000s and then only got bigger. Sporting a wildly varied pop rock sound that recalls everything from Daft Punk to Queen to Frank Sinatra, leader Brendon Urie has staked out the group’s own unique turf, and that in turn led to its spring arena tour behind the recent platinum-selling Death of a Bachelor album. The tour played 36 shows across the country, with FOH engineer/production manager Spencer Jones manning a largely analog audio system provided by Eighth Day Sound (Highland Heights, OH).
3G Productions Rolls with Trevi-Guzman Tour
3G Productions of Las Vegas and Los Angeles hit the road this summer, providing audio for legendary Mexican singer-songwriters Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzman for a U.S. arena tour behind their collaborative album, Versus. Put together, they’ve sold more than 60 million records, paving the way for 100 international hit songs, 5,000 concerts and numerous awards. Ensuring that the hits could all be heard, 3G fielded a Martin Audio MLA speaker system.