Meyer Sound News : k.d. lang's "Summer" Rolls Under Meyer Power

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k.d. lang's "Summer" Rolls Under Meyer Power

k.d. lang performing at Berkeley Community Theatre

A London reviewer called k.d. lang's recent show "one of the best live gigs I've been to in ages." He was not alone. Lang fans all over rejoiced as her "Invincible Summer" tour, with beach ball bounce and shine, hopscotched across the continent this summer, soared over the Atlantic for a two week European leg in October, then rebounded back to North America this month. This last leg began in Seattle, trekking down the west coast, swinging through Texas and Florida, and finishing up in New York's Beacon Theater. Backed by a five-piece band and three female vocalists, k.d. served up a little bit of everything: rockers, country-tinged ballads, jazzy torch songs, and, from her summery new CD, Brazilian rhythms and distinctively Hawaiian-ized arrangements.

A System for All Venues

Variety also reigned supreme in the choice of venues. Along with conventional auditoriums (generally in the 1500- to 3000-seat range), the tour included small arenas, outdoor amphitheaters, refurbished movie palaces with vast overhanging balconies, casino showrooms and even a 450-seat supper club in Palm Springs. Fortunately, k.d. arrived in town ready for anything, thanks to the versatility of the tour's Meyer Sound reinforcement system. "This is my first time out with k.d. using this new system with the MSL-6s on top," said Grant McAree, who mixed FOH and doubled as tour production manager. "We used a similar configuration with MSL-6s for the Joni Mitchell tour earlier this year. The system is really quite stunning."

The entire touring system for all North American shows was provided by Westsun/Jason Sound of Toronto. For the European leg, Westsun/Jason's FOH gear was flown over the Atlantic, with Meyer speakers provided by Canegreen of London. Dave Lawler of Doktrdave Audio designed the basic system configuration, which debuted with last year's Barenaked Ladies tour. Two MSL-6 long-throw cabinets anchored the top of the main clusters, generally with four MSL-4 full range and four DS-4P mid-bass cabinets arrayed underneath in two rows. Three MSL-2 cabinets were underhung for downfill. Depending on the room layout, however, the cluster might be altered. For example, for wide rooms with limited vertical angles (such as Portland's Chiles Center), the MSL-4 and DS-4P cabinets were alternated in a single row, with an extra MSL-4 added to the outside to expand horizontal coverage. Down below, eight 650-P subwoofers augmented the deep bass, while Westsun/Jason's own custom J80 speakers provided frontfill. Additional MSL-2 cabinets were often employed for additional outfill.

A Long lang Tradition

"I'm not sure how many shows we've done with k.d.," said Dave Lawler, who accompanied the tours as SIM engineer. "I suppose it could be 300 or so. We've been doing all of her tours since 1989, and always with Meyer systems." FOH mixer Grant McAree has worked with Lawler for most of those shows, and expressed a decided preference for Meyer's Self-Powered speakers. "I like the Meyer system because it is incredibly consistent across the wide dynamic range of k.d.'s band," he noted. "It comes across with a very linear response, as opposed a lot of other systems which may sound great at 94dB but then when you hit 104dB it turns into an entirely different animal. In contrast, the Meyer system always behaves the same, and that is what is awesome about the Meyer gear, to be quite honest." When the FOH mix is forced into a particularly difficult position acoustically (e.g. back wall under a deep balcony), McAree relied on the trusty HD-1 monitors mounted atop the Amek Recall console. Meyer Sound's SIM System II also has become a familiar fixture in every k.d. lang tour. Lawler normally sets out six to eight microphones throughout the venue before each show, optimizes the system, and then leaves the mics in place to further fine-tune the sound during the show. He also uses SIM to monitor k.d.'s vocal channel in isolation, which allows him to quickly analyze any anomalies that might indicate potential feedback problems.

Mostly Meyer Monitors

The three background vocalists used a Shure in-ear system, mainly in order to get isolation of their individual mixes. The main monitors for the rest of the band were Meyer UM-1 wedges. As for k.d. herself, she eschews in-ear systems and likes to roam freely across the stage. For monitor engineer Mark Frink, dual MSL-4 side fills proved the ideal solution for k.d. "They used the MSL-2s for side fills on previous tours," Frink remarks, "which worked okay, but I thought the MSL-4s would do better. So we set the two up side by side, and I told her, 'I'm not saying which is better or which is worse. You decide.' I turned on one box and then the other, and she pointed at the MSL-4s and said 'Those are much better.'" Despite the very high SPL capability of the MSL-4, Frink claims that the high directivity makes it remarkably immune to feedback generation. "If we tip them over on their side you're working at such a low height that, if you walk over to them with a mic, you walk out of the pattern of the box because the pattern is so well defined. You can almost make it feedback-proof. But even way over on one side, you're still hearing the box from the other side, perfectly loud."

A Busy Bunch of Boxes

This Lawler-designed Meyer system has seen almost constant use since it first hit the road last year. "It has to be the hardest working rig that Westsun/Jason has," comments Lawler. "Early in the year we had it out with Joni, then we started the first leg with k.d. While we were using Canegreen's boxes in Europe, the Barenaked Ladies were using these boxes over here. And Barenaked is going out again before we're done, so Westsun/Jason will probably have to do some cross-rentals from other places." As lang's "Invincible Summer" heads into its winter finale–though with a possible extension into Australian summer in the offing–both Lawler and McAree find that the job satisfaction still overcomes the road-weariness. "You have the good days and bad days," philosophizes McAree, "but overall it's been a good tour." Adds Lawler: "We have a good bunch of folks out here. Many of us have been with k.d. for years, and she's great to work with.."

December, 2000

FEATURED PRODUCTS

Photo IDs:

Mark Frink, Monitor engineer

Grant McAree FOH mixer

Dave Lawler, SIM engineer

k.d. lang at Berkeley Community Theatre