When I heard that Berlin was booked for a stint of shows that included two with Heart, I decided that it was a good opportunity to test the Audio-Technica AE2500 kick mic, which contains two elements, one dynamic and one condenser. Since I tour manage and mix monitors for the band, I checked in with FOH mixer Richard Hawkins and made sure he was fine with me bringing the mic. The first show was in San Francisco, at the Black and White Ball, sandwiched in between Les Claypool and Joan Jett.

I arrived separately from the touring party and was able to chat a little bit with the guys from Sound on Stage. I experimented with blending the 2500’s two mics until I had what I felt was a really excellent kick sound.

As other mixers have mentioned to me, the two elements do not actually sound that different. There is of course a more airy quality to the condenser half, and it is easy to bring out the “click” of the drum with either side. Berlin’s drummer, Chris Olivas, plays with earbuds in, coming from his own mini-mixer, that has Tascam DA-38 outputs split to him, including a click track, and his own ambient mic that we ask the local provider to give us a boom stand for.

With smaller drumfills, we are often driving the low-end amp pretty hard, as he also needs a lot of the recorded bass track, in addition to tons of kick. That day, the Sound on Stage setup had plenty of horsepower, with two cabinets on rolling cases, each as big as a large refrigerator. As I was standing back admiring my work with the new mic, Richard Hawkins appeared and dropped an additional Shure SM-91 into the kick drum. I was kind of startled, but I assumed it was just what he was used to, and he wanted to get a quick sound.

Chris Olivas

Our first show with Heart was the inaugural concert in a new venue, the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA, about half an hour southwest of SeaTac airport. I was happy a month earlier when I learned that Pro Media-Ultra Sound would be our supplier there. It was fun to greet “Dr. Don” Pearson at the FOH position, who I had last seen at a Meyer MILO demo in the Bay Area.

Former Grateful Dead monitor mixer Mike Brady was crucial in helping me get the band’s mixes together in the limited time we had for our check.

Berlin’s lead singer, Terri Nunn, is in really good shape, both vocally and physically. We always talk to security early in the day, as Terri will climb the mains during the show, if they are stacked on the floor or the stage, and dance and sing atop them, which always gets a roar of excitement from the crowd. It can complicate Richard’s job, though, dealing with her Shure wireless mic’s proximity to the speakers.

C.K. loves the ladies – Terri Nunn

Linda Dalziel

I run ear mixes for Terri and backup singer Linda Dalziel, who has toured with acts like Cyndi Lauper and Tears for Fears, as well as performing her own material, opening shows for Chicago and Dan Fogelberg this summer. We use Future Sonics EM-3’s and Sennheiser Evolution transmitters. I leave some of Terri’s vocal in the center wedges, to keep its presence on the stage, but Linda has us strike her wedge after the check, and we keep it in the wings on a cable, to only be brought out if there is a problem with her ears.

Audio-Technica AE2500

The second show with Heart was in Boise, Idaho, with a rig supplied by Ed Pratt of Salt Lake City’s Pratt Sound. Richard Hawkins came up on stage after the soundcheck and remarked that this was the first chance he had the time to really listen to and work with the possibilities of the AE2500. He was actually quite impressed and thought it was a good mic, and in fact said he had barely used any EQ on it.

I took guitarist Dallan Baumgarten and Chris Olivas to a little bar in Boise with me, the Blues Bouquet, and we stayed until after closing time, when the staff locked the doors and we proceeded to thoroughly celebrate our successful shows with Heart. I have done gigs at the Blues Bouquet twice in past years, with a band called Pele Juju, on the way to shows at Bruce Willis’ clubs in ski resort towns further up into the Idaho mountains.