k.d.lang and Meyer Sound
Circle Globe on "Invincible Summer" Tour

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (September 22, 2000) - k.d.lang kicked off her "Invincible Summer" tour in Bakersfield, California on August 8 and finished up this first leg with a show at the Trump International in Atlantic City on September 2. After a five week pause, lang will play a dozen European dates in October, return to North America for more shows in November, and then follow the summer sun into the southern hemisphere with several dates already scheduled for March, 2001 in Australia.

As she has since 1989, lang is touring with an all-Meyer Sound system configured by Dave Lawler, the Audio Crew Chief for the tour. Long-time Lawler associate Grant McAree takes care of the FOH mix duties and also serves as the tour's production manager. Completing the audio crew is Stage Monitor Engineer Mark Frink. "The Meyer system has been working great, which is as expected," says Lawler. "It has performed superbly at every venue, though my favorite was the Open Air Theater in San Diego. The sound that night was absolutely spectacular."

The Meyer Sound system touring with lang is a slightly scaled-down version of the system that accompanied Joni Mitchell on her whirlwind tour earlier this summer. Packaged by Toronto-based Jason/Westsun Sound, it consists largely of Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers, including four MSL-6, eight DS-4P, twelve MSL-4 and eight 650-P subwoofers. "We hung the MSL-6s three wide for Joni because we were playing the big sheds," notes Lawler. "But k.d. likes the more intimate venues, the 1500 to 3000 capacity -theaters and outdoor amphitheaters, so we're only flying the MSL-6s two wide, with four MSL-4s and four DS-4Ps underneath on each side."

FOH console for the tour is a 56-input AMEK Recall, which Lawler selected for its sound and for the instant recall function. "Most of the places we're playing don't have room for two boards, so we can set up the AMEK for both k.d. and opening act Shelby Lynne." Sitting atop the AMEK are Lawler's own pair of trusty Meyer Sound HD-1 monitors, and his own SIM® System II rig is parked by the FOH racks. Lawler relies on the HD-1s extensively in many venues, particularly in older theaters where FOH mix is often relegated to acoustically the worst place in the hall: back wall under the balcony. "I use SIM to find out what I'm missing from the main PA, and then that's what I run through the HD-1s," he remarks. "I SIM the system before every show, and then leave up eight mics to do fine-tuning during the performance."

A 48-input Soundcraft SM24 provides the monitor mixes for lang, her three backup vocalists and five-piece band. Stage monitors are Meyer UM-1Cs. Lawler says the tour will carry the consoles and FOH racks to Europe and Australia, but the Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeaker systems will be obtained locally. Canegreen in London has been contracted for the European leg, with negotiations for Australia currently pending.

"We have a good bunch of folks out here, and many of us have been with k.d. for years. She's great to work with, and we have a great system traveling with us. All in all, I feel proud to have this job."

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