Crushin’ It With Brad Paisley On Tour

Not Missing A Thing
“The way Kevin mixes,” Chase notes, “you never feel like you miss any instrument at any given time. You hear everything each song has to offer. With his console package and this PA, it’s a dynamic show. We have moments in the 90s, and others that are over 105 dB. It’s pretty impressive what JBL has been able to do with FIR filtering and the alignment of the VTX boxes.

“The phase measurement of this PA is pretty much dead flat from the low 100s on up,” he adds. “Low-end headroom is as impressive as that found in the high-end. We have a kettle drum that will get you to jump right out of your seat if you’re not ready for it. Overall we have a fabulous mix of old school and new.”

Freeman maintains an eclectic collection of outboard gear, including dbx Blue Series compressors, a Bricasti M7 reverb he uses on vocals, a Yamaha SPX2000 he appreciates for drums based on it ability to produce great “trashy” sounding reverb, an M2000 from TC Electronic kept at hand for instrument wash, and an SPX990 that he uses a couple of times each show for special effects including his “big drum reverb.” An Eventide Eclipse multi-effects processor adds further complement to the collection, and sees use on backing vocals.

In his hands, compression is used very sparingly. “At this stage of my career I’m starting to look at my rack and tell myself I don’t even need any of that stuff,” he admits. “I could do the whole show without it.”

A closer look at one of the VTX V25-II arrays flying at the Blossom Music Center.

Making Everything Fit
With 12 years under his belt touring with Paisley, monitor engineer Mark Gould says the thing this band wants most is consistency. “There are certain things they aren’t going to conquer, and they all know it,” he explains. “Brad is a guitar player, and he keeps his amps right onstage. They’re loud, so a certain aspect of everyone’s job is learning to make everything else fit around them.”

From behind his Avid D-Show console, Gould rides herd over 48 inputs, plus a number of click tracks and talkbacks. Everyone is on ears, but there are still side fills at stage left and right, as well as a couple of wedges stashed discretely for the drummer and keyboardist.

A rack of Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers. The tour carries more than 40 to drive all loudspeakers in the full rig.

Three click tracks are played: One on a loop from the effects generator on the computer, another for video, and a third from the drummer. The video click allows the band to sync-up with video images as needed. Subtle in nature, the loop click signals effects or spare instrument tracks. If the band needs to follow the drummer, he’ll send the required click.

“People visit us and totally freak out when they find out we have to manage three click tracks,” Gould notes. “But it’s all kind of random. Yeah, there are three clicks. But it’s not that hard – treat it like an input and call it a day.”

Paisley’s preference for earbuds strays from the use of custom-molded products, and the rest of the band’s taste follows suit, with Westone dual-driver generics being the choice of everyone.

“They love ‘em,” Gould shares. “Those earpieces have a little bit of a bell tone-shaped curve, which is right where guitar players want to be anyway, so the devices are very natural sounding. What Brad cares about a lot is guitar. The last thing he wants are shimmering highs and punchy lows. You don’t hear life that way, and the band doesn’t want it any differently in their ears.”