From left: systems engineer Michael Conner, monitor tech Ben Rothstein, Bruce Knight, lighting designer Jon Pollack and Bob Lewis
Rebranded Clair Global is providing SR for the current David Byrne tour, where the artist pays tribute to collaborator Brian Eno, working through a set list mostly from the duo’s recent outing, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Mix caught up with the tour at the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Front-of-house engineer Brian Knight mixes on a Studer Vista 5 SR, citing the channel-strip functionality as a perk: “It’s all right in front of you where you need it, when you need it, on three large touch-display screens, including mic pre’s, EQ, dynamics, stereo imaging and effect sends. The setup works great and lets me focus on mixing the show.” Complementing the Studer is a rack full of gear, including two Summit Audio TLA 100s and a DCl 200, Lexicon 480L and PCM81, Eventide H3000 D/SE, TC Electronic 2290 and Yamaha SPX-990.
David Byrne performing
Photos: Steve Jennings
The P.A. comprises a Clair i3 line array for mains (12 boxes per side) with Lab.gruppen PLM10000Q power, Prism subs (two per side) and eight Clair FF2 front-fill. “With the new Lab.gruppen amps with Dolby processing,” Knight adds, “we are running AES digital output from the Studer right to the amps. Michael ‘Coach’ Conner is hitting home runs every day, adapting this system to the ever-changing environments on this tour. ”
Monitor engineer Bob Lewis is mixing on a Digidesign Profile, taking advantage of onboard plug-ins. “We’re using Westone ES2 [in-ears],” he says. “Great earpieces. David’s vocal mic is a Neumann KM 104 capsule on a Sennheiser 5000 wireless handheld.”
