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Production Profile
Eighth Day and Wigwam Provide the Punch for George Michael’s U.S. Swan Song.
By BreanneGeorge
It’s been nearly two decades since British
pop superstar George Michael — known
as much for his bad boy reputation as
his chart-topping hits — toured U.S. arenas.
From his start in the 1980s pop group Wham!
to his illustrious solo career, hits like “Careless
Whisper,” “Faith” and “Father Figure” catapulted
him into a certified pop culture icon
and sex symbol. After a five-year absence
from the music scene, Michael returned to
the stage in 2006 with an 80-show European
tour. He stepped it up the following year
with the “25 Live Stadium Tour 2007,” which
featured less tour dates but larger venues
including Wembley Stadium in London.
To coincide with his retrospective greatest
hits album, Twenty Five, released this year,
Michael announced the North American
segment of his “25 Live” tour — his first U.S.
tour in 17 years — which he also claims to be
his last. For all these reasons, Michael’s fans
were pumped with high expectations for a
flawless-sounding show.
Viva Las Vegas FOH
The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las
Vegas was the third stop on Michael’s
22-city tour, which kicked off in San Diego.
Although not a sell-out show, loyal fans
filled the venue, eagerly anticipating, for
most of the 20-something crowd, their first
George Michael concert experience.
The set list included hits over the decades
from Wham! (Wake Me Up Before
You Go-Go) and solo efforts including
dance numbers “Easier Affair and “Hard
CREW
FOH Engineer: Gary Bradshaw
George Michael Monitor Engineer: Steve
May
Band Monitor Engineer: Simon Hall
PA Crew Chief and FOH Technician: Don
Parks
Stage Technician: Guy Gillan
Radio Technician: Bill Flugan
PA Technician: Trevor Waite
PA Technician: Chez Stock
GEAR
PA Speakers:
Main Hang
24 d&b J8 speakers
4 d&b J12 speakers
Side Hang
20 d&b J8 speakers
4 d&b J12 speakers
12 d&b Q1 speakers
22
Day” along with some new material. Michael’s
stage setup was simple, yet visually
striking, with three large curving video
screen backdrops and three-tier balconies
behind the stage for his band and backup
singers. This setup allowed an unobtrusive
view of Michael, ensuring attention never
strayed from the star.
FOH Engineer Gary Bradshaw first
toured with Michael in the early ‘80s as
monitor engineer for Wham! His resume
as FOH engineer includes Annie Lennox,
Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, Pink Floyd,
Roger Waters and Bryan Ferry. For the U.S.
tour, he is standing in for Andy “Baggy”
Robinson, Michael’s audio consultant and
FOH engineer. He admits that Michael
is quite a perfectionist when it comes to
sound. “All artists care about what they
sound like, but George is very particular
about his songs — he’s got amazing ears,”
he reports. “He’s not difficult to work with,
but he demands perfection.”
And unlike many touring artists who
want a raw and un-produced vibe to their
music, Michael wants every song to sound
identical to the studio version.
“I’ve done those kinds of tours where a
band won’t have a set list, will play whatever
song they want, and you just keep up
with them, but this tour is very specific,” he
says. “George wants it to sound exactly like
the CD, so we go through great lengths to
make it sound studio-quality.”
A DiGiCo D5 Live console at front-ofhouse
allows Bradshaw to create a snap-
Frontfills
4 d&b Q7 speakers
6 d&b q10 speakers
Subwoofers
12 d&b J series Cardioid Bass groundstacked
6 per side, 3 cabinets high
Monitors
Speakers:
2 speaker clusters flown onstage left &
right each containing
3 d&b Q1 speakers
2 d&b J Series Cardioid Bass
8 d&b M4 Monitor Wedges
Amplification
All amplifiers are d&b D12 amps
FOH Control
1 D5 Live DiGiCo console
3 stage racks & 1 local rack
3 XTA DP448 audio management
1 Lexicon 224
1 TC 6000
2 Yamaha SPX990
2 TC D2
AUGUST 2008 www.fohonline.com
shot for every song, and as a result, he
doesn’t have to remember specific cues
for each song. When Michael starts playing
“Careless Whisper,” for example, Bradshaw
presses one button on the console that
automatically resets all the reverbs, delays,
EQs and levels. “A band member will
be playing a particular guitar in one song
and a different guitar in another song that
requires unique level settings,” he says.
“That’s all remembered in one particular
snapshot.”
Three Times the Charm FOH
A total of three consoles are used on
the tour: two DiGiCo D5 Live consoles for
front-of-house and Michael’s monitors and
a DiGiCo D5T to mix the band. Michael
has his own monitor engineer, Steve May,
who will communicate with him between
songs and who is solely responsible for the
singer’s mix. This allows monitor engineer
Simon Hall to focus entirely on mixing the
band. Because of the hidden location of
monitorland backstage, both engineers
rely on video cameras to see what’s happening
on stage.
A DiGiCo system was chosen because
of its ability to handle the show’s large
number of inputs — over 100 — and 15
band members on stereo personal monitors.
This allows May to concentrate on
Michael’s needs without interfering with
band mixes. “In order to accommodate the
large number of inputs for this production,”
adds Bradshaw, “I have had to disable the
1 XTA SIDD
1 TC Fireworks
1 KT 6000 Analyser
1 Tascam CD player
1 HHB CDR
1 Marantz PMD570
1 112-channel ADL MADI recording
system
IEMs
12 IEM radio systems
9 IEM hardwire systems
Personal Monitor Earpieces
George Michael: Westone UM2 earpieces
Band: Mix of Sensaphonics and Ultimate Ears
Monitor Control
1 DB Live DiGiCo console
1 D5T DiGiCo console
4 local racks and 2 stage racks
3 Midas XL4 channel strips
2 Midas XL 88
2 Custom VCA faders
1 TC EQ station
2 Lexicon 224XL
2 Lexicon 960
George Michael in concert at the MGM Grand Garden
Arena in Las Vegas
D5 onboard effects. However, I am using no
external dynamic processing or additional
EQ. All the compression and equalization
for every input is done in the desk. This has
resulted in a very small FOH footprint that
keeps production happy.”
Eighth Day Sound of Highland Heights,
Ohio, supplied d&b gear while U.K. contractor
Wigwam Audio supplied the DiGi-
Co consoles, control equipment and Sennheiser
mics. The d&b gear includes two
main speaker clusters flown left and right
containing 12 J8 and four J12 speakers.
Two side hang speaker clusters flown offstage
left and right contain 10 J8 and two
J12 speakers, while two 270-degree clusters
flown on the extreme left and right
contain six Q1 speakers. The stage has four
Q7 and six Q10 speakers as front fills and
12 J series cardioid bass ground stacked
six per side, three cabinets high.
The load-in started at 8 a.m. and crew
had to be out the door by 3 a.m. to travel
to the next gig in Phoenix, Ariz. Sound and
lighting were setup before the stage was
complete, a common occurrence in large
venues. “Many times, at these large shows,
the stage gets built down here,” Bradshaw
says pointing to the middle of the arena,
“and later gets pushed into place.” Bradshaw
adds that about 50 crewmembers
pushed the stage to the front of the arena
where it must align precisely with the video
screen backdrop. Once the stage is in
place, everything gets powered and crew
can then begin sound check.
1 TC Fireworks
1 Eventide Eclipse
1 HHB CDR
1 Marantz PMD570
1 Samson headphone amp
8 TC EQ stationS
1 TC EQ station fader controller
1 Yamaha SPX2000
1 HHB CDR
2 Thumper Amps
2 Thumper Units
1 Aviom base station
8 Aviom outstations
2 Rozandal World Clock Gen
Breanne GeorGe
Microphones
8 Sennheiser SKM/KK104 vocals
4 Neumann U87 drum & percussionoverhears
1 TLA 170 Sax
4 KM 184 Hihat, ride and congas
2 SM 57 Snare
4 E904 Toms
1 E901 Kick
1 E914 Acoustic Guitar
24 Avalon DIs