The end of 2013 saw Jessie J playing the major arenas of the UK and Ireland on the 20-date Alive tour, with monitor engineer Andy “Baggy” Robinson’s utilizing a DiGiCo SD5 for his mixes.
“I’ve mixed in my usual style of using a DiGiCo console, making it work for it’s money,” Robinson notes with a smile. For the tour, he had to account for a four-piece band and three backing vocalists as well as Jessie, noting, “I doubled up on quite a lot of channels for Jessie, so I was using all but six of the faders.”
As well as monitoring, Robinson also had a comprehensive talkback system setup that allowed him and the band members to all talk to each other during the show.
Robinson states that what he appreciates most about the SD5 is its intuitive layout and compact size. “The fact that I can sit down and still reach all the controls, including the macro buttons, is great,” he says. “I use those a lot and having them in blocks of ten is another thing that makes the SD5 really straightforward to use.”
The tour received very favorable media reviews, thanks in no small part to its high production values, as well as the talent on stage, of course.
“Providing monitors for a show of such high caliber is extremely rewarding,” Robinson concludes. “I also used this console on Jessie’s summer festival tour. It was brand new out of the box. I like all DiGiCo consoles, but the SD5 works really well for me. They got this one absolutely right for monitors.”
