WORLD – Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy tour is now in the U.S. this summer after touring the UK. The trek then goes on to Australia in the fall, followed by dates in Asia and the Middle East. Clair Global is backing the tour at venues around the world with a d&b KSL system. FOH mixer Drew Thornton and monitor engineer Justin Walker have been mixing the shows on an Allen & Heath dLive S5000 and DiGiCo Quantum 338 Pulse, respectively. Also playing key roles are systems engineer/audio crew chief Jack Murphy and monitor tech Lara Smith, who looks after the tour’s new Shure Axient Digital PSM IEM system.
More details from Clair Global (www.clairglobal.com):
American singer-songwriter Teddy Swims has blended country, pop, and R&B into a global success story, accompanied this year by his biggest live shows to date, including a sold-out arena run in the UK, even setting a new attendance record at Manchester’s Co-op Live venue. The tour is now in the US before the team returns to Australia this autumn followed by Asia and the Middle East.
Supporting the crew as they navigate larger spaces in all corners of the world on the ‘I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy’ tour, Clair Global Account Executive, Justin Weaver comments: “I can’t say enough about the brilliant individuals who strive day-in & day-out to give their absolute best; it shows in every live performance and at every venue.”
FOH Mixer Drew Thornton (Billie Eilish, Maggie Rogers) is the man charged with taking Teddy’s radio friendly Number 1 hits and turning them into the live experience fans have expected since ‘Lose Control’ took over international airwaves in 2024.
“My history is mixing pop elements, attuned to mixing like a record, whereas Teddy’s tour is a nice hybrid,” explains Drew. “This is a unique camp where they use a lot of my board feeds for Teddy’s social media. I’ll add a little bit of ambience and then sidechain it to timecode, so it dips it when the song’s happening. I’m basically building a broadcast mix.”
Drew is riding the faders on an Allen & Heath dLive S5000: “I love how much I can get out of this desk,” he continues. “I don’t like going out of the console for anything that’s very show pertinent, such as effects or input processing.”
He is however utilizing 2 x 10th generation Waves Extreme SoundGrid Servers. “There’s a lot of options with Waves, such as the SuperRack LiveBox VST3 plugins, but I also do enjoy the redundancy and the safety of it.
“Our Production Manager Rob Bright really cares about audio, and us being comfortable, which is very important when you’re touring a show like this. Equipment wise, I have everything I need from Clair Global. I’ve gotten to work with Justin Weaver on the last couple of tours I’ve done, and he’s fantastic, but this is the first time I’ve worked with Ben Shapiro, who has been working alongside Justin, and he’s also incredibly responsive.”
Outside of the crew, Drew also praises the man himself: “Teddy doesn’t take himself too seriously and has a great sense of humor. He’s such a wonderful person to work with. He makes this gig 100% worth it because he really cares about every single person on his tour. When we were rehearsing at Rock Lititz, he wanted to learn every one of the 60+ crew members’ names!”
When it comes to choosing PA for Teddy’s live renditions, Drew declares he’s trying “something different”.
“It was a very deliberate decision to go with the d&b KSL because of the cardioid factor. I think of it as wasted energy when you have omnidirectional, low-end drivers firing everywhere into the room. To me, there’s so many things happening in this show – a lot of people on stage needing attention – and I want everyone to sound big across the whole room.
“I geolocate every single post that I do, and then cross reference social media stories from the audience in various parts of the arena as a way for me to walk the room when I can’t. It’s interesting to see how great it can sound in the back corners, the toughest parts of any room to cover, but my Systems Engineer Jack Murphy is constantly making me happy; we want to make sure that we give everyone a great show, every time.”
“I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this gig,” begins Jack. “It’s big and full and Drew wants to make an impact, getting Teddy’s massive vocal heard in every seat. It’s the same for me; everybody in that arena has bought a ticket, and spent money to see the show, so it needs to sound as good as it possibly can.”
Main hangs are a mixture of KSL8s & KSL12s and KSL side hangs. A decision to fly SL-Subs came as audience demand grew in the UK, and the audio team then opened the rig to 270-degrees, adding a rear hang of d&b V Series. Ground subs are more SL-Subs & Y10Ps for front fills.
Jack continues: “As Drew was new to the system, I went back to the start and together we listened through the different configuration combinations to find the one that suited Teddy’s sound and that Drew liked best. This allows us to achieve consistency but we’re doing very little EQ to the system as we’re using all the d&b tuning tools to get it clean and accurate from the start.”
Jack is also the tour’s Audio Crew Chief. “Being a Crew Chief is important, everyone being ok with their set up is a key thing, as is their interactions within this and the other departments to get the overall show up, but what makes or breaks a tour is the support from a supplier. With any of the Clair Global companies, the service is second to none, and our PA Techs on the European leg, Callum Robinson and Megan Clements, were fantastic.”
In monitor world and by special request after the tour visited Australia, Monitor Tech Lara Smith was drafted in from the JPJ Audio offices in Sydney to support Teddy’s Monitor Engineer, Justin Walker.
Now Teddy’s RF guru and Justin’s right-hand woman, Lara sets up the busy stage with effortless knowledge and has been getting to grips with the brand-new Shure Axient Digital PSM IEM system. Powered by Shure WMAS Technology, she describes the product as ‘a game changer in digital transmission’.
“We were one of the first tours in the world to take out the new system and it’s been fantastic” she says. “They sound amazing; they’re incredible to work with, visually everything is at your fingertips, and we’ve been able to solve any wireless monitoring issues quickly and easily.”
Clair has also provided wireless comms comprising Riedel Communications Bolero and Motorola XPR3500 2-way radios systems.
Justin is mixing for nine people on stage, plus several tech mixes. “I just love the psychology behind mixing artists and seeing what they’re going through. I try to be the best ears that I can for them,” he begins.
Justin has opted for a DiGiCo Quantum 338 Pulse upgrade: “I wanted to make sure that I have enough inputs and outputs for everybody. I was on an SD12 on our last tour, but as we’ve added three background vocalists and a couple more inputs, I need more internally to handle that. The Quantum processing has been great because I use Waves for additional processing, but they’re a very natural sounding band, so I don’t tweak a lot.”
The band all use the new Shure Axient PSMs, and drummer Deandre Hemby has a Porter & Davies Thumper tactile monitoring system in his seat.
For Justin, vendor support has also been critical to the success of this lengthy tour: “We were going to so many different places across the world that we needed a global family that can take care of us. We have a lot of equipment, and we can’t compromise on anything because we’re doing the exact same show in a different country, and our travel schedule doesn’t allow adequate freight time. Having a local pick up has been awesome.
“We have a B rig, and at one point last year, we had a B and a C rig in three different parts of the world! From the people in the Clair shops that put these rigs together and check everything is working as it should be, to our account reps who are always on call, it’s been a very helpful experience for me.”
While Teddy Swims may not take you to therapy, with his crew in situ, he’ll most certainly take you on a soulful, heartfelt and outstanding live journey crafted with the kind of appreciation that comes from wanting to learn every crew member’s name.
