Escondido, CA (May 23, 2022)—Melissa Etheridge is back on the road with her One Way Out world tour, promoting her newest album of the same name. The stacks ‘n’ racks tour is supported by her longtime sound provider of choice, Sound Image (Escondido, CA), and began in March in the U.S., heads to Europe next and returns for a final U.S. run in late summer.
Along for the ride is her long-time FOH mixer, Jim Roese, who is carrying a pair of Midas Heritage HD96 consoles – house and monitor – provided by Sound Image. Roese noted he chose the desk because “It’s got a wide spatial image, but is completely cohesive when the instruments sum. It’s the same great Midas Pro Series sound, but on steroids. The workflow is super dialed; you can put anything anywhere and the touch screen GUI is very intuitive. Any move that I make while mixing requires only minimal time looking away from the stage or the artist.”
Tour Profile: Melissa Etheridge
A pair of Lake LM44 processors are also in Roese’s kit, allowing him to better cope with the “PA du jour” scenario. “I actually enjoy the challenges of dealing with a new system in each venue,” he said. “It keeps me on my toes. Having the Lake processors is crucial for consistency day to day.”
Roese’s company, RPM Dynamics, has used and sold Midas consoles for over a decade. “We put Midas consoles in the vast majority of our design-build installations and on every tour that we are involved with. In early 2021, AVL Media Group became the distributor for North America which coincided with the re-launch, if you will, and availability of the HD96. Needless to say, I’m a fan.”
Monitor mixer Ozzy Giron, who had previously mixed Etheridge on a Midas Pro X, admits that it took a nudge from Roese for him to change to the HD96. “With a little hesitation, I agreed, and it was a decision I do not regret whatsoever. From the moment I first touched the desk, it was very comfortable. I give stereo mixes to each of the band members as well as a mix for our Etheridge TV livestream platform and am simply amazed at the sonic quality of the Midas HD96. The first thing Melissa said was how great it sounded—which is exactly what you want to hear from the boss.”
