English gothic rock band The Mission recently concluded its 33-date European tour, with four-piece English/German band Wires & Lights serving as the opener for many of the shows, supported by an audio toolkit making use of two Allen & Heath dLive S5000 consoles for front of house and monitors along with a DM64 MixRack provided by TDA Germany.
Mix engineers included Marek Komenda (front of house, The Mission), Pavol ’Pogy’ Pogany (monitors, The Mission) and Thomas Neidhardt (front of house, Wire & Lights), the latter also responsible for mixing monitors (both wedges and in-ear monitors). “Despite the lack of production rehearsals, by the third night, I was completely flowing through the mixes with ease, and sound check readiness happened very fast with this dLive configuration demonstrated their expertise and skill, delivering unparalleled sound experiences to sold-out venues” he says.
Neidhardt, a seasoned touring veteran who grew up working with Allen & Heath ML series mixers, adds, “Mixing on the dLive was very comfortable. The DEEP plugins are brilliant, and I love the analog characteristics of the Bucket Brigade Delay. Everyone appreciated the flexibility and power of the dLive, which was indispensable for this production, as we had two complete backlines set up on stage.”
Meanwhile, Komenda incorporated extra outboard gear to fully reinforce The Mission’s iconic sound, while Neidhardt states his approval of all of the DEEP plugins such as the Dual Threshold Expander, Dynamic EQ, and the newer Bus compressor.
“The decision to have the dLive S5000s on this tour was definitely the right choice,” concludes the mix team.
