The 2023-2024 Live in Concert Tour
Stevie Nicks was out on tour where we caught her “Live in Concert” show in San Francisco for her final 2023 show. She’s back out this year for more dates until March, where she’ll also do one more stadium date with Billy Joel, followed by May festival dates at the Lovin’ Life Fest (Charlotte, NC) and BottleRock Napa Valley in California. But for now, this gypsy queen is packing arenas, playing such fan favorites from her catalog of solo work (“Bella Donna”), and Fleetwood Mac (“Rhiannon”), among others, along with her rendition of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin.’” She closes the show with her dedication to Christine McVie with the McVie/Mac song “Landslide,” which brought out emotions in the audience when photos of Christine and Stevie were shown on the big screen during the song.
At FOH
When Steve McCale first started mixing FOH for Stevie Nicks in the spring of 2022, it was only meant to be a two-month, three-festival project. It is now starting its third year! McCale says he first got into audio in high school back in 1977, where he bought his first P.A., and has been mixing bands for a living ever since. Just a few of the artists he’s mixed in his career include Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, Elvis Costello, Kelly Clarkson and Shania Twain.
Troy Clair of Clair Global recommended McCale for this FOH position with Nicks. “I was available, and the schedule fit in with my other duties at Clair. My resumé was up against other super-qualified engineers, but my history of working with Stevie as her monitor engineer back in 2001 helped make me the lucky winner. I have always wanted to mix FOH for Stevie ever since I mixed her ears back in ‘01. She is an incredible talent and a wonderful boss. It truly is an honor to have this gig.”
McCale uses the Avid platform for most of what he does. “I take maximum advantage of the seamless interface between Pro Tools and the Avid S6L mixing console. I was involved in the development of the original D-Show and Profile, so I have a deep attachment to the Avid line. However, I did use a Yamaha PM10 for three years and loved it. In the end, the Avid workflow gives me tools the others just don’t offer. The S6L in-console plug-ins coupled with the Waves server gives me practically unlimited processing power for the number of inputs I am running. I’ve been using both companies’ full offerings of processors for over 20 years.”
McCale sets up his rig so that each musician has his or her own stereo group (stem) that feeds the master bus. “This stem includes all of the effects and panning related to that musician. I take advantage of the unlimited processing and high channel count to create a complete effect package for each player. Every member gets verb, echo, Harmonizer and some get more. I have five different verbs on the drums alone. This workflow allows me to make smooth changes in the character of each instrument simply by blending faders, which is easy to manage in a snapshot world.”
McCale tends to find processors that work well for him and simply makes lots of copies. “I lean heavily on Avid standards like ReVibe and Reverb One. Waves has a couple of unique verbs I like too. The S6L does not support an onboard micro pitch plug-in, so I rely on Waves Doubler to fill that role.” For the most part, the console EQ and dynamics do what McCale needs. “I’m a ‘fix it at the source, not in the mix’ guy. Beyond that, my go-to processors are the Waves F6 dynamic EQ and SMACK from Avid,” he says.
“This act is a genuine, old-school rock band,” McCale continues. “No tracks, no timecode, just instruments, microphones and talent. The set list consists of 39 instrument and vocal inputs and another dozen talkback and communication channels, clean and simple. I drive four stereo feeds from the desk to the P.A.: Main L/R, FFSmall L/R, FFBig L/R and House Delay L/R, plus the typical ADA and lighting director mix.”
McCale says he is a signal flow purist and a latency hawk. “Adding outboard gear, either analog or digital, degrades one or the other, if not both. I have studied analog and digital electronics all my life, simply to maximize the performance of my audio systems. If I am confident the system is running at maximum efficiency with minimum latency and consistent gain structure from tip to tail, I know it won’t get in my way when I start mixing. This system ingests analog audio, directly from the source and converts it all into a 24-bit, 96 kHz stream, on stage, just once. That signal does not get converted back into analog until it enters the final stage of the power amplifiers. That means only two places where the data gets subject to rounding errors and only two places where latency is added to the signal path by converters,” McCale notes.
“Never forget the significant signal loss from long analog cable runs,” he adds. “Even at line level, you can hear the loss of high-end when you rely on analog drive lines from FOH to stage. It is subtle, but you can feel some of the air leave the system. That is why Dante is my primary drive and analog is relegated to backup. To me, the advantage of maintaining this pure digital path far outweighs any subtle differences in tonal character you may get from some unique analog piece of gear.”
The Lake Mesa EQ has been in McCale’s toolkit since its inception. He has changed consoles many times, but says he’s always had Lakes on the outputs. “I use one on each of my eight outputs that are dedicated to driving loudspeakers. I could use on-board EQ, but this is an example of a processor neither Avid or Waves can provide and that I rely on heavily,” he says. “They are inserted in the AES signal drive to the P.A., avoiding any unnecessary converters, maintaining the pure digital signal path. After spending large portions of my career on the logistics side of this business, I know how hard it is to duplicate intricate rigs that involve lots of unique hardware and difficult patch scenarios when your artist decides to go overseas. For me, I put my personal Pro Tools systems in my Pelican, put my iLoks in my briefcase and go. All I need is a simple Avid system with a Waves server. I carry everything else with me. My rig can be duplicated in very little time at any Clair office around the world. Simple, reliable, duplicatable and cost-effective.”
Good bands with good management attract good crews, says McCale. “Everyone out here are at the top of their game and have earned the right to work on such a great production. Allan Tate (tour manager), Bobby Herr (production manager) and the rest of the staff create an awesome team to be a part of. Mixing for artists like Stevie Nicks is a crowning achievement of my career.”
McCale says he would be a disappointing audio nerd if he didn’t mention the P.A. and the performance he is able to get out of it. “The Cohesion system provides the most consistent horizontal and vertical coverage of any P.A. I have ever used. It has practically unlimited power and uninhibited dynamic range. It’s remarkable the amount of low-end you get from just the CO12s themselves. I don’t have any speakers larger than 12 inches anywhere in my rig. In this show, there’s really nothing for me to amplify below 40 Hertz, anyway. The CO12s easily go down that low and create a very even coverage pattern for the low frequencies that seamlessly aligns with the highs and mids without any alignment delay required.”
McCale notes the team of audio professionals he works with are the absolute best in the business. He credits monitor engineer Myles Hale for his “skills and soothing demeanor,” which “keep Stevie happy and comfortable on stage. Stephen Carter is so overqualified for his position as monitor tech, I hate to even refer to him by that description. His normal job is monitor mixer for The Rolling Stones. My FOH team of Tim Dressler (system engineer) and Chris Fulton (P.A. technician) are absolutely spot-on. They understand my idiosyncrasies and workflow and deliver excellent results every day. With awesome support from Steve Callebert and the rest of the team at Clair, I could not ask for better service from an audio vendor. Clair Global is a great company, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
In Monitorworld
As Stevie Nicks’ monitor engineer, Myles Hale has tried out just about every console over the years but says he has bounced back to the DiGiCo SD10 board after first having used it in 2006. “I really like the workflow and sound of the DiGiCo brand, and especially like the 32 bit I/O cards. I like being as straightforward as possible and using what’s in the console when it has worked for those situations. There are definitely times where I have had lots of plugins, but on this particular gig, it’s not needed. Lots of times in monitors, less is more, and that also means less points of failure. I’m using the onboard gates/comps on the drums and a couple of reverbs for the other singers, but that’s about it.”
Hale’s outboard gear consists of old Yamaha SPX 990s for Nicks’ reverb. “We have tried some other reverbs on her over the years, but she definitely knows what she likes, and the 990s work.” Nicks’ vocal mic is a Sennheiser e935, a choice she made before Hale started with her in 2016. “I’m very fortunate to be filling the shoes of an incredible engineer before me, Dave Coyle. He already had everyone on stage happy, so there was no need to reinvent the wheel because we were already rolling. Since then, Stevie and I have created a little bit of our own sign language, as you typically do with each artist. She also has a great team around her that are essential in relaying anything she says she needs (that wasn’t communicated via hand signs), while doing a quick wardrobe change.” Legendary studio guitarist Waddy Wachtel, who has played on a Who’s Who of legendary artists over the decades, is once again playing lead guitar on Nicks’ tour. For Waddy’s longtime guitar tech John Taggart, this was his last show before retiring, where Marcus Benito Catanzaro joined the tour to take over guitar tech duties. On each of Wachtel’s Magnatone guitar amps is a Shure KSM313/NE mic.
“In an ideal world, everyone in the band would be on the same brand and model of IEMs for me to have an identical reference point, but I have rarely been that lucky. Everyone has their individual preferences, and my primary job is to make and keep them happy.”
Nicks is using JH Audio Sheena IEMs, while Darrell Smith (keys), Drew Hester (drums) and Al Ortiz (bass) are all using JH Audio’s JH16v2. Carlos Rios (guitar) and Ricky Peterson (keys) are both using Sensaphonics’ 2Max model. Background vocalists Sheron Celani and Marilyn Martin use Future Sonics MG5HX IEMs. “For the last several years, we’ve been using 14 Shure PSM1000 units for all of our wireless transmissions to their in-ears. Three of the band members that are more stationary are hardwired using Shure P6HW’s.”
Hale treats Stevie’s mix like a FOH mix, using mainly VCAs with solos pushed, as well as pushing other instruments she keys off of for different songs. “As far as live speakers on stage, there are only four Clair 12AMs and two ML-18s. Everyone except lead guitarist Waddy Wachtel is on IEMs, which helps keep the stage volume at a minimum, making it easier to have a nice clean mix for Stevie without anyone having to crank their ear mix. Just like in any relationship, communication is the key to success in mixing monitors. Always keep an open line of communication with your artist and be the first to admit when you’ve made a mistake.”
The Systems Approach
“Our tour P.A. system is the Cohesion series,” notes system engineer, Tim Dressler. Given the constraints of the specifications of no sub boxes on this tour, headroom was a crucial element with the horizontal coverage required. “The Cohesion series with Lab Gruppen 20K’s behind them was the obvious choice. Not to mention the power-to-weight ratio and ease of deployment, I’ll always be a fan of this system,” Dressler adds. “Like most modern P.A. systems, it sounds great. Its unparalleled drive implementation makes system management an easy day. The Cohesion system’s size, extended low-frequency and complete flexibility have proven it to be the right tool for this job.”
Dressler says that even before arriving at the venue, they’ve done 90% of the work tuning the P.A. “With Steve McCale’s P.A. design deploying the arrays in a coherent relationship, thus minimizing time alignment processing, tuning the P.A. is simple, verifying all components, and amplifier inputs. Our drive setup is Dante with analog back-ups to the amps making sure they switch by design whether it’s physically removing the data patch or forcing it in the software. We have a backup console patch that’s verified live in the P.A. as well.” McCale will tailor the P.A.’s EQ to his satisfaction, and Dressler will walk the room and validate what the prediction software reported. Then he fine-tunes the arrays as required for the venue space.
Dressler’s day begins with him and P.A. tech Chris Fulton going in around 7 a.m., where they’ll get with the locals about power locations and check in with their tour rigger about any adjustments with the audio points. “I’ll double check room measurements and compare them with the prediction software. Chris (Fulton) will fly stage right, and I’ll fly stage left. We utilize what I affectionately call the ‘laser guidance system’ on the top grid to aim the arrays as they are in the software, measuring tapes for the height off the floor.”
For line check, Dressler watches and listens to the backup console. The band will come in for a sound check, where he’ll walk the room again at this point. “I’ll assist the opening act guest engineer or mix their set as needed. During the show, I keep the backup console on the correct snapshots, as the two consoles are completely independent. Once the show starts, I’ll go walk up to the front fills and around the perimeter again, making sure everything is firing on all cylinders. From top to bottom, working with a world-class crew like this has been an incredible experience, and my hat’s off to Clair Global engineering and the tour support staff — the best in the business!”
More to Come
The Stevie Nicks 2023-2024 tour picks up on Feb. 10, 2024 at the Mark G. Etness Arena in Atlantic City, then wraps up March 9 with co-headliner Billy Joel at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.
Stevie Nicks 2023-2024 Live in Concert Tour
AUDIO CREW
- Sound Company: Clair Global
- FOH Engineer: Steve McCale
- Systems Engineer: Tim Dressler
- Monitor Engineer: Myles Hale
- Monitor Tech: Stephen Carter
- P.A. Tech: Chris Fulton
- Tour Manager: Allan Tate
- Production Manager: Bobby Herr
- SL Guitar Techs: John Taggart, Marcus Benito Catanzaro
- SR Guitar Tech: Steve McDonald
- Drum Tech: Stephen Rinkov
- Keyboard Tech: Joe Haramut
P.A. GEAR
- Main Hangs: (16) Cohesion CO12/side
- Side Hang: (16) Cohesion CO10
- Upper Side Hangs: (12) Cohesion CO10
- Ground Stacks: Five, with (4) Cohesion CO12
- Front Fills: (8) Cohesion CO-08
- Subwoofers: None required
- Amplifiers: Lab Gruppen 20K
FOH GEAR
- FOH Console: Avid S6L
- Outboard: Waves Server; in-console effects
- P.A. Drive: Lake Mesa EQ
MON GEAR
- MON Console: DiGiCo SD10
- Outboard: In-console effects; Yamaha SPX 990 reverb
- Stage Wedges: Clair 12AM, Clair CM22, Clair SB18
- Stevie Nicks Vocal Mic: Sennheiser e935
- IEMs: JH Audio Sheena, JH Audio JH16v2; Sensaphonics 2Max; Future Sonics MG5HX
- IEM Hardware: (14) Shure PSM1000, (3) Shure P6HW
