FOH Interview

It could be argued that FOH mixer Robert Collins has seen some of the greatest live rock ‘n’ roll shows ever. Actually, that would be a short debate, since Collins has stood in front of a laundry list of legends over the past number of decades, including this past summer’s run of 14 shows in the States with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.

FOH engineer Blake Suib has a resume that includes artists from Prince to Annie Lennox and was presented on this tour with a huge challenge—covering 360 degrees without blocking very large video screens that play a big part in the show.

In the months before this venue opened, I posted a blog on ProAudioSpace about “iconic” venues that are all too often all rep and no substance. In other words, they may be famous but they sound like crap. And I must admit that part of what had driven it was a show I had just seen at the old Joint at the Hard Rock. In fact, it was one of two closing performances with a big rock band that made their name in the 1980s.

It is somehow appropriate that my first contact with Jon Martin came, not at a show, but online. When we first opened ProAudioSpace a couple of months ago, Jon was one of the first to join and was the first of what we hope will be many-a-sound-dude-or-chick to at least take a stab at blogging a tour. In fact this is a real cyber-interview. I went to the show, met Jon and we chatted some during the show. After, he went to work tearing down, I went home and we did the interview via messages on ProAudioSpace. Pretty Jetsons, eh?

It was one of those borderline CF situations. I flew from Vegas to Cali a couple of days before the NAMM show to cover the John Legend tour. The night before I left I found out that the interviews were set up for a day that was hardly “standard” even by touring standards.

Asked to sum up the role of FOH mixer at the Grammy Awards, Mike Abbott, the long-time audio coordinator for the show, characteristically first quantifies it, then wraps it in a neat aphorism. “Twenty-four bands, 24 guest mixers, 24 managers, 24 agents — you have to be the Henry Kissinger of pro audio,” he says.

When I walked into the arena in Ontario, Calif. to hook up with the team of Big Mick Hughes and Paul Owen (both of whom have been working with Metallica longer than some of the younger crew members have even been alive).

As I was preparing for this interview, I had an interesting talk with someone in the biz who shall remain unnamed. The gist was this: Is being a great mixer a prerequisite to having a client list consisting of acts known for sounding great live? Or does having such a client list give one an automatic aura of “Well, he must be a great mixer?”

Andy Meyer on juggling five bands, huge stage volume and a guitar rig that goes down to 30 Hz.

With bands like Mötley Crüe — whose members appear morally opposed to personal monitors and seem determined to prove their continuing viability by being louder than ever — paired with loud upstarts including Buck Cherry and Nikki Sixx’s solo side project on the same bill, one might assume that the biggest challenge of the recent  Crüefest tour would have been dealing with sheer volume. Au contraire says Crüe FOH mixer Andy Meyer. While dealing with huge SPL can be an issue with five bands onstage every night, the biggest challenge is often just having enough time to get everything up and going.

Rod Stewart’s FOH mixer Lars Brogaard keeps busy on the road.

He is one of the principal owners of one of Great Britain’s largest sound companies, Major Tom (as in “ground control to…”), he has his hands in system and console development, and he has been the front-of-house guy for Rod Stewart for 23 years. This is one guy who has no time for TV watching. FOH caught up with Lars Brogaard on Rod’s “Greatest Hits 2008” tour stop in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand where he was using a DiGiCo SD7 (backed up by a D5) to drive a Meyer Milo rig for a sold-out crowd.

We catch up with Brad Madix, Brent Carpenter and Rush.

To say that Rush is a damn good rock band would be the understatement of the last four decades. Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson are three of the best at what they do in the world. When they perform live, it’s a mind-boggling experience. Since the release of the band's self-titled debut album in March 1974, Rush has become known for the instrumental skills of its members, complex compositions and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy and libertarian philosophy, as well as addressing humanitarian, social, emotional and environmental concerns.

Take two big rock bands from the 1970s, make them co-headliners, let them loose on the summer shed circuit and pray for ticket sales and no rain. Boston is your typical “make it sound like the records” kind of show, with the studio engineer bribed into going out on tour to preserve the essence of leader Tom Scholz and bandmates. Then take road veterans like Styx, who do yearly tours with 150 to 200 gigs per year for the last 10 years and has done the co-headline thing with everyone from Journey to Peter Frampton, but also tours with their studio guy at FOH.