Arguably the best-dressed person working FOH today, Ben Monroe cuts a dapper figure in the three-piece suits he is known for wearing. Having just completed a 44-gig tour with Mary J. Blige, Monroe was in good spirits, coming off two tours with Blige that he calls “hands down, the best in my life.” A big statement from someone who’s been in the biz for 40 years now.
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Following up on their 2017 “Summer Gods” tour in June and July with special guests Silversun Pickups, Third Eye Blind embarked on their October-and-November “Fall of the Summer Gods” tour, continuing their travels across the U.S. and Canada in celebration of the 20 years since the band released their first album, Third Eye Blind, in April 1997.
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Summer is winding down at the St. Louis shed (today called Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, which old timers still call Riverport, its original moniker). Brad Paisley picked this spot to end another successful summer tour, and he, the band and the crew are all in an especially good mood.
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The Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull Live! 2017 co-headlining tour, which also featured Latin boy band CNCO as an opening act, hit the road in the U.S. and Canada in June and July, then headed back out for another trek across North America in October and November. The tour follows a previous trek pairing Enrique and Pitbull, the “Time of Our Lives” tour, in 2015.
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New Digital Tools Help the Crew Recreate Album Nuances for the Live Shows
OneRepublic wrapped up their headlining slot on the 16th annual Honda Civic Tour, joining a long list of other headliners that began with Blink-182 and Everclear in 2001. Since then, this tour’s other headline acts over the years have included Maroon 5 (2005), Panic! At the Disco (2008), Linkin Park (2012) and One Direction (2015).
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Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is out on his world tour in support of his latest album ÷ (Divide), a title which follows in the footsteps of his previous releases, 2014’s X (Multiply) and 2011’s + (Plus). The albums were released, respectively, in March 2017, June 2014 and Sept. 2011.
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New FOH and Monitor Engineer Keep the Party Going
For the Bruno Mars 24K Magic world tour, the purpose is to party.
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FOH Engineer Gordon Reddy’s “Less is More” Mix
With Norah Jones, it’s all about the piano. Specifically, that Yamaha C6S grand piano. FOH engineer Gordon Reddy first works to figure out what is going to wrap back around the stage from the P.A. and how much of that can he keep from going into the piano. “Without a doubt, that is the largest challenge I have,” he says, admitting that if Jones went with a MIDI controller with sampled grand sounds, it would be easier for him.
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The band re-creates their 30-year-old Joshua Tree album on the road.
No U2 tour is “typical” — the band has been upping the ante on each and every outing for decades. But revisiting a specific point in their past — the 30 year-old Joshua Tree album — was something even the band and crew weren’t sure about it.
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Genre-bending juggernaut Chance the Rapper is proving worthy of the arena-sized tour he’s now on, selling out his great-sounding pyro-filled show wherever he goes. On May 14, he made it a special Mother’s Day edition at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Chance brought his mother down from Chicago for the show and surprised her by bringing out one of her favorites, neo soul artist Maxwell. He announced that 18,300 people showed up to see him that evening, which seemed to surprise even him.
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Canadian pop music is a hot commodity these days, and it hasn’t taken long for Shawn Mendes to put his name alongside those of Drake, The Weeknd, Alessia Cara and Justin Bieber when it comes to international demand and acclaim. That point is made perfectly clear when one considers the routing of Mendes’ current Illuminate World Tour, supporting the album of the same name that ultimately cemented his status as a worldwide star.
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The Weeknd is on the Starboy: Legend of the Fall outing, playing festivals and sold-out arenas across the country in support of the artist’s third studio album, Starboy, which was released last fall. The Weeknd, a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye, is performing in the round for most of the shows. And while he spends a lot of time on the catwalk, he works the sides of the house more than he does the front or back, says FOH engineer Derek Brener. “It’s almost as if the FOH perspective has been shifted to the sides.”
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