Production Profile

FOH engineer Rob "Cubby" Colby has been doing so much Latin work of late (Luis Miguel, Robi "Draco" Rosa, Juanes, and Shakira) that it is easy to forget that his R&B roots runs deep, including tours with both Prince and Janet Jackson. Likewise, DB Sound Image has provided plenty of thump over the years. The latest R. Kelly tour was a reunion after years of separation for Cubby and DB Sound Image's Harry Witz. Together, they put together a system and crew that wowed the R. Kelly production staff–a group known for their collective critical ear.

Live music is already a challenge in the modern world of multimedia concerts. Dealing with a new venue every night, multiple crews, gear issues and the requirements of different artists is certainly not easy. Now imagine you're on a tour with the Black Eyed Peas, a hot hip-hop crossover group that in concert features four singers, four live musicians, backing tracks, samples and a variety of instruments. Then imagine that there are almost no soundchecks ever.

Replacing a charismatic front man is never an easy task, and when that means someone with the vocal power and range and total command of the stage as the late Freddie Mercury, it looks impossible. Maybe it was a need to get back onstage or maybe the band just did not want the Broadway show We Will Rock You to be its last hurrah. (We Will Rock You did fairly poorly in a truncated Las Vegas run and closed earlier this year.) Side note: Yeah, the story line for We Will Rock You was silly–a quasi-sci-fi tale of a world without rock music and the rebels trying to revive it that did a passable job of stringing together the hits of Queen. But Mamma Mia! (a similar kind of show featuring the music of ABBA) is at least as silly, the music is not as cool and it remains a hit, running concurrent shows in London, Melbourne, New York and Las Vegas, and selling out seven years after its initial opening. Go figure.

We always seem to learn the most about a show and the people behind it when we get to spend some time just hanging out beforehand. The way a certain trick or piece of gear is described can tell you a lot about the people driving the rig. In the case of Dirk Durham and Earl Neal with Toby Keith, they seem to vacillate between merely pleased and downright giddy as they show this intrepid reporter around the stage.

It was Super Bowl Sunday and the freeways of Los Angeles were surprisingly forgiving. While most citizens were settling in for a long day of chicken wings and clever commercials, I was tooling toward Ground Zero for the music industry: the Staples Center, home to the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

Despite the tranquility of downtown L.A. that morning, as I approached the Staples/ Convention Center staging area, I could literally feel the hum of activity in the hive. It was the first of three days of rehearsals, the technical shakedown before Wednesday's live broadcast of "Music's Biggest Night."

As most people will acknowledge, we live in challenging times– fraught with obstacles that can cause even the most steadfast among us to stumble. In its ongoing effort to help today's youth "face and defeat the everyday 'giants' they encounter," Christian organization Dare 2 Share, in association with Focus on the Family, is sponsoring the Revolution tour–a 10-city circuit spanning the continental U.S. that includes motivational speakers, skits and musical performances by artists Danny Oertli and Starfield.

For the fourth consecutive year, B&R Communications chose Orlando, Fla.-based LMG, Inc. to provide the audio and video for PartyLite's National Sales Conference. As audio services manager for LMG, and this being an audio trade publication, I will focus on those particular aspects that went into this challenging endeavor.

Challenges

When speaking of this show, the phrase about "pounds of unmentionables in a too-small bag" comes to mind. In previous years, this event was held in a football-size indoor stadium. For 2005, the show moved to Washington, D.C. and a basketball-size arena was chosen, offering a lack of space for the backstage areas. Prior to 2005, the stage was set up around the 50-yard line, leaving an extra 50 yards for the setup of audio, video, lighting and scenic. With the stage end on the court of a basketball arena, we were left with little to no space.

The sixth Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif., boasted nearly 100 acts and drew something in the neighborhood of 50,000 fans a day. Featured acts on the festival's five stages included chart-toppers like Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer, Wilco and New Order.

To say that it requires a hands-on management style to tighten all the nuts and bolts on a spectacle like this is kind of like saying Bill Gates has a little cash. While the term "micromanagement" is often used as a pejorative these days, it's practically a requirement of a production manager's job for an event like this.

Alicia Keys is out in style, with a tour whose vibe is '30s with a modern twist. With her band all dressed in white, the stage draped in curtains and Alicia's vocals smooth yet vibrant, her theater/arena tour is selling out everywhere. We spoke with FOH and monitor engineers Tony Blanc (pictured) and Chris Schutz about the show.

Tony Blanc: For Alicia's tour, we are out using Showco/Clair Bros. and their propriety cabinets, the Prism system. The venues have varied from theaters to arenas; hence the P.A. size has constantly varied in size. The basis of the system comes with sub-bass, and the "Gray" nearfill boxes.