INDIO, CA — After a five-year hiatus, Phish reformed earlier this year for the release of Joy and a subsequent 27-date national tour, which included headline spots at the Bonnaroo Music Festival and a four-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver.
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Jason Mraz’s vocal-centric tunes are a musical amalgamation of influences consisting of reggae, pop, rock, folk, jazz and hip hop performed by an equally diverse band consisting of acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards, ethnic percussion and brass instruments.
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John “J.C.” Convertino reaches the peak of his workday before most of his industry peers have even woken up. By 7 a.m., he could be mixing U2 live for television, as he did last month, when the band played ABC’s Good Morning America to promote their latest record or any one of hundreds of other acts.
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From AC/DC to U2, Berlin to Yes, Janet Jackson to Tina Turner, Cher to Madonna, Barney to Walking with Dinosaurs, Bob the Builder to the Wiggles, Metallica to the Rolling Stones — production manager Jake Berry has earned a backstage pass to some of the biggest acts in the business, and to rock ‘n’ roll history itself.
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As the owners of Victory Brewing Company are fond of pointing out, American beer has been the butt of many a European joke. Since starting out 12 years ago, the Downingtown, Penn.-based company has made great strides toward refuting that stereotype, with more than 15 of the company’s acclaimed brews garnering rave reviews and a reputation far beyond that of a typical microbrewery.
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With all the new amplifiers coming out these days with all the bells and whistles, it just seems like something is missing on the market. Half of the people who use these super lightweight amps with gobs of processing wind up using external processors anyway. That is why we are going to check out the new “CC” series of amplifiers from Crest Audio. These are just good rock solid amps that do just what they are supposed to, and at a very economical price point.
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When you have been doing this music thing for as long as I have — as both a musician/bandleader and sound guy — you see a whole bunch of gear and countless numbers, types and brand of loudspeakers. Which makes it kind of nice to see one of the brands that defined live sound for a long time reclaim that pedigree after some time wandering in the wilderness.
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Remember the movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray is stuck re-living the same day over and over again and can’t do anything to stop it? I was recently involved in a project that was the house of worship audio version of that movie.
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Historically, the annual AES Show was always considered the “studio show” — a procession of high-end, high-priced gear primarily intended for use in top-end recording studios. That conceit began unraveling with the arrival of the project studio back in the late 1980s, which coincided with the transformation of digital audio technology from an expensive hardware-based proposition (remember the Sony 3324?) to a very affordable software basis.
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Here’s another favorite column written by Mark Amundson (1960-2009) for the Jan. 2008 issue of FOH. —ed.
Yeah, we all have a techno-ignorant past that we have to bear, especially when it comes to speaker cables. I remember when speaker cable for the P.A. system was that clear plastic stuff with copper and nickel/copper wires inside that we bought innocently at some retail store.
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Children are a blessing, and I wish that one day each and every one of you is able to experience the joy of parenthood. Unfortunately, good thing that it is, there is never a right time to have children. Though there are a million and one good reasons not to have kids, at some point each of the fine excuses one has created just fade away like old technology on a band rider, and you find yourself shipping out on a bus heading off to tour the brave new world of parenthood.
Read More »So often-at least for me—events that end up changing my life seem so trivial at the time they happen that when, usually years later, I try to look back at them I get many of the details wrong and this is very much one of those cases.
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