Gebhard explained his choice of touring with the Longbow system, describing his history with Martin products, “We’ve mainly used Martin LC loudspeakers in Europe, but because we’re playing a lot of sheds in North America, we would have had to use delays, or switch to Longbow. I’ve really come to love this system after they fine-tuned it.”
For his front of house console choice, Gebhard has been a fan of DiGiCo digital consoles, using them since 2003. “It’s just an amazing console, the SD7. With 80 channels coming off stage, the only other option was Digidesign’s Profile, but I personally prefer DiGiCo consoles. We did consider going analog at one point, but this turned out to be the only logical choice.”
Microphone selection was handled by both Gebhard and Laplante, with the two engineers relying on their years of experience to come up with the best combination for the artist as well as their own needs.
“The two of us work together to determine what’s working best. Many manufacturers are represented in the system,” Gephard said. “Audio-Technica features heavily into the drum kit, Shure on all the guitars, Shure on all the vocals, some Electro-Voice mics, almost everybody.
“We even tried Sennheiser mics for singer Brandon Flowers, but he’s always preferred Shure mics. It’s just his comfort factor. We did finally get him to try a wireless microphone as his backup.”
Some of the 14 d&b audiotechnik M2 wedges on the front line for The Killers. (click to enlarge)
Monitor World
As mentioned before, a DiGiCo D5 console is utilized for monitors, which included a variety of in-ear personal monitors and wedges. Fourteen d&b audiotechnik M2 monitor wedges were selected. Sidefill needs were met by Martin W8LC/WSX18X line arrays.
“Almost everybody has wedges,” stated Behr. “The keyboardist/guitarist and saxophonist don’t use wedges. The drummer is on ears while also using a wedge and a subwoofer. The lead guitarist uses ears and wedges, and the singer is only on wedges and sidefills.”
The Killers Tour Equipment List
Front of House
DiGiCo SD7
Dolby Lake processing
Main Hang
24 Martin W8L
24 Martin W8LS flown subs
8 Martin W8LCD downfill
Side Hang
24 Martin W8LC
Amplification
Martin MA4.2
Monitors
DiGiCo D5
14 d&b audiotechnik M2
4 Martin W8LC/WS218X
Jeff MacKay is managing editor of Live Sound International magazine.
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An in-depth yet easy-to-understand discussion of wireless systems, how they operate, issues that can plague performance, and solutions that do the trick in the vast majority of situations.
