Sonic Contrast
Ramsay’s house mix respectfully and accurately reproduces Tommy, which comprises the first half of the show as a theatrical performance piece.
I noted an audio presentation that excited the crowd at a very manageable level, running between 95 and 100 dB average on an A-weighted scale.
Vocals were clearly audible without approaching any hardness or distortion. Drums were deliberately placed within the mix.
The guitar tones were some of the best I’ve ever heard without exception. Overall the results were excellent.
The show, which runs more than two and a half hours, then transitions to a series of The Who classics, where Ramsay is able to stretch his mix in a manner more typical of a rock show. The drums came forward and I sensed a bit more space between instruments. This made for a nice sonic contrast to the first half of the show.
Eighth Day Sound has made a considerable investment in d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker systems, with one of the largest inventories anywhere.
Front of house systems tech C.W. Alkire is responsible for the J-Series line array rig. “It’s a different vibe than doing a Who show,” he explains. “We’re performing to honor the record. But I still have to make sure we are covering all the seats. We are particularly careful to make sure we have the front fills right with so many VIP packages sold down front.”
A typical per side house system supervised by Alkire and Vince Buller (also of Eighth Day) includes main left-right hangs of ten 3-way J8 modules (dual 12-in) and four 3-way J12 (also dual-12) below joined by four J-SUBs, all and flanked by eight 2-way Q1 (dual 10-in) modules for audience side fill.
Several B2-SUBs (dual 18-in) are on the floor, with front fill supplied by compact Q10s along the front rim of the stage. The power and loudspeaker processing is d&b D12, with overall system processing handled by (Lab.gruppen) Lake. By the way, all post console signal distribution is via AES running 96 kHz.
Keeping It Fresh
Monitor technician Trevor Waite, who mixed monitors for the show when mixer Simon Higgs was occupied for another tour, enjoys a unique perspective on producing this show live. “It’s true to Tommy the original album, which is not such a bad thing, but there is no moving away from the script,” he notes. “If they play a portion not to their satisfaction one night, they’ll come in the next day and rehearse that part again. This is a brilliant piece of work, and they all love playing it. Despite their commitment to perfection, after well over 30 shows, it’s still fresh.” (I observed this first hand – on the day I visited, the band took a half hour to polish just a four-measure portion of the Overture.)
All performers wear JH Audio JH16 Pro in-ear monitors fed by Shure PSM 1000 wireless IEM systems. A single d&b M2 floor wedge located behind and to the left of Daltrey provides a bit of sonic enhancement to make the all-ear environment feel more like a conventional stage setup for the singer.
“Musicians are used to something moving; if they don’t ‘feel it’ their environment seems wrong,” Waite explains. “We put a little bass and kick drum in the wedge to help the floor vibrate a bit and make Roger more comfortable.” Considering that previously Daltrey utilized six floor wedges at high SPL before converting to IEM, the crew feels this is an effective compromise treatment to tone down the stage environment.
Throughout my visit, I witnessed a very high level of professionalism exhibited by the crew. Typically shows have a bit of excitement among the technicians, but the working demeanor on this tour is very calm. Daltrey’s crew is an experienced, well-oiled team who understand their jobs and perform them with respect for each other and to the music. The audiences lucky enough to hear it are the beneficiaries of this professionalism.
Daniel Abelson is a consultant that specializes in the low voltage electronic systems found in professional football and baseball stadiums, and can be reached through www.igscompany.com.