MIAMI – Few were surprised that Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and company would stick with a familiar brand for the Super Bowl XLIV halftime show. "The Who have worked with Shure microphones for over 40 years," noted Bob Pridden, the band's audio consultant/producer.
But in addition to a full stage of Shure hard-wired microphones, The Who also used four channels of the new PSM 900 personal monitor system in their performance.
Lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Simon Townshend and drummer Zak Starkey, along with monitor engineer Simon Higgs used the PSM 900.
"We had the chance to try PSM 900 prototypes on the [2009] Daltrey tour," noted Higgs. "Roger and I both think they sound incredible, and they have been absolutely flawless for us. So we were keen to use them for the Super Bowl."
Longtime Super Bowl audio vendor ATK Audiotek was again present to support the audio mission, with James Stoffo as entertainment RF Engineer and Thomas Pesa to handle monitor system design.
"Normally, I would be quite hesitant to use any new product at an event like the Super Bowl," says Pesa. "But the band really wanted to use them, so we gave it a try in rehearsals and found it to be rock solid. And since we had on-site technical support from Shure and James Stoffo, we went with the band's request. And I'm happy to say everything went off without a hitch."
Out of more than 1,000 total wireless frequencies being coordinated by the NFL, James Stoffo was responsible for around 100 intercom, microphone, and PM channels being used by the musical acts and their support.
"This was my first time using the PSM 900 at a major event, and it performed flawlessly," he said. "I'd be happy to see this system on any of my shows as the go-to in-ear system."
Higgs spoke favorably of CueMode, a feature in the PSM 900's P9R bodypack receiver. "Basically, CueMode lets me hear any monitor mix with a button-push. It saves me so much time and trouble, and really shows this system was designed for monitor engineers."
Using CueMode, up to 20 mixes can be directly accessed via the up/down buttons on the receiver. The PSM 900 system also features Shure PM system technologies such as variable RF output, digital stereo decoding, Scan and Sync, automatic RF Gain Control, dedicated RF Mute, MixMode capability, and Audio Reference Companding.
All microphones on The Who's stage were hard-wired Shure products. They ranged from Roger Daltrey's classic SM58, wrapped in trademark white gaffer tape for strain relief, to new models like the KSM313 ribbon mic and KSM44 studio condenser on Pete and Simon Townshend's guitars and Pino Palladino's bass.
Zak Starkey's drum kit used the SM91A boundary mic in kick drum, Beta 98s on toms, Beta 56A on snare, KSM137 on hi-hat and a combination of KSM32s and KSM44s overhead. The mics for the backing vocals sung by Pete Townshend, Simon Townshend, and John "Rabbit" Bundrick were all Beta 58A units.
If even the new gear had a tried-and-true element to it, the show has always had its pressure-cooker aspects, because of its notoriously tight time frame.
"It's really an incredible production," said Higgs. "I mean, what's really amazing is the stage set-up, which has to be put in place and assembled in minutes. And, everything working on the first go – sound, lights, and pyro. That's quite a show in itself."
One burning question often asked after events like the Super Bowl is, "How live was that performance?" Bob Pridden had this to say:
"There is an amazing amount of planning that goes into this. In fact, we were asked to record the medley live in the studio by January 1, so they could plan the timing on the pyro and other production elements. I can assure you that every instrument and microphone on stage was live. But the producers have backing tracks in place from our rehearsals last week, because you can't risk losing a vocal. So the answer is, The Who played their Super Bowl show 100 percent live."
For more information, please visit www.shure.com.
