PRODUCTIONPROFILE Eighth Day Sound Steps Up for Canadian Singer/ Songwriter’s Illuminate World Tour By Thomas S.Friedman anadian pop music is a hot commodity such, he does his best to ensure that every- Smith can scale it down to any number of the behind the Avid VENUE S6L, which he ad- these days, and it hasn’t taken long for one in the back of the arena is experiencing E-Series or S-Series boxes as desired and en- opted ahead of the Illuminate World Tour CShawn Mendes to put his name along- the same show and level of excitement as sure consistent performance thanks to Adam- and says is “quite a jump” compared to the side those of Drake, The Weeknd, Alessia Cara those fortunate enough to be right up front. son’s Blueprint AV software and Load Library Avid VENUE Profile, his previous console of and Justin Bieber when it comes to interna- Of course, the choice of P.A. goes a long way for the Lake processors. choice. “The changes in workflow have taken tional demand and acclaim. That point is made towards achieving that. “[The E15s] are perfect for arenas and get- a little getting used to,” he admits, “but from perfectly clear when one considers the routing Since the Illuminate World Tour hits arenas ting the throw out there and doing everything a sonic point of view, it’s been 100 percent of Mendes’ current Illuminate World Tour, sup- of various sizes and seating configurations in we need in [larger venues],” Wood shares. worth it.” porting the album of the same name that ulti- many international markets, the FOH audio “But then when we transition down and think One of the main advantages is the boost mately cemented his status as a worldwide star. system was built around the principal goal of about some of the smaller shows we’ve done in fidelity that comes with running at 96K. The tour is a total whirlwind, comprised sonic consistency. on previous tours, we’ve flown an S10-only rig He’s also been making use of the custom- of 61 dates and taking Mendes, his band and izable layers. “We’ve added a considerable crew from the U.K. and mainland Europe to amount of non-musical lines since the last North America, Latin America, Oceania and “The bar has been raised for tour — comms, time code…” he shares. “Bal- Asia, featuring a date at Brazil’s massive Rock ancing that with more cues and a B-stage in Rio Festival and two hometown shows at To- what people expect sonically means that things can get a little busy, so ronto’s Air Canada Centre. I like to keep my miscellaneous channels It’s an impressive career trajectory, consid- at concerts.” —Tom Wood within custom layers for quick access but ering Mendes only came to fame in 2013, at- also to keep them out of the way.” tracting millions of followers with short acous- The typical configuration consists of main and had wonderful results as well.” Since he’s running the SoundGrid Server tic covers on Vine. A year later, he was signed hangs with 15 Adamson E15 three-way, true While flexibility was a necessary consider- One, the only outboard gear Wood has on to Island Records and in 2015 released his de- line source enclosures and three E12 three- ation for the audio system on the Illuminate the road is a pair of Avalon VT-737SP chan- but album, Handwritten, featuring the smash way, true line source enclosures per side. The World Tour, considering how quickly Shawn nel strips for “money channel” vocals — one hit single “Stitches.” complementing left and right sub hangs each Mendes’ profile has grown in just a few short main and one backup. The unit features a What’s fitting is that, for the Illuminate World incorporate eight Adamson E119 subwoofers. years, scaling down for certain venues is quick- combination of tube preamps, an opto-com- Tour, Mendes is carrying a production package Also in the air are side hangs comprised of 12 ly becoming a thing of the past — and Wood pressor, sweep equalizer and output level anchored by a substantial loudspeaker system E15s and three E12s each. and Smith would be more than happy sticking and VU metering in a two rackspaces. from Adamson Systems Engineering — anoth- Wood is an accomplished pianist, and exclusively with Adamson’s E15s. “I can remember Tim Colvard [FOH en- er Canadian entity that has seen its stock rise subsequently has a very musical mixing style “I really love the control we have over the gineer, Madonna and Macklemore & Ryan significantly in recent years. that’s well suited to the E15s — even at a high system,” Smith says. “It rigs incredibly fast, has Lewis] talking about the importance of mak- Cleveland, OH’s Eighth Day Sound supplied volume. “We have some of the loudest fans of tons of power, and the new E15 Lake preset is ing sure you have a really good reason for the gear package, which features Adamson any show I’ve ever been to or any artist I’ve phenomenal. It adds the extra high frequency utilizing equipment, and it really resonated E-Series and S-Series loudspeakers powered ever seen. With the E15s, I feel truly confident headroom exactly where we need it. Also, the with me. I don’t need a double-wide full of by Lab.gruppen PLM 20K44 amplifiers with that if I need six more dB after sound check to technical support that Adamson provides its toys on this gig,” says the engineer. “The Ava- Lake processing. Control comes via a new Avid get up to a happy show volume, the sound will clients is second to none.” lon really complements the natural warmth VENUE S6L digital mixing system loaded with be consistent. That’s so important.” But regardless of the model or configura- of Shawn’s vocal. It’s something I just can’t Waves SoundGrid Server One. Rounding out the system are eight S10 tion, Smith says Adamson’s consistency across replicate without the real thing.” front fills and 16 more E119s, ground-stacked the board is of significant benefit. “When ›› The Sound System in eight pairs. “The E119 is probably one of the I walk the room, I really have to look up and ›› The Canadian Connection FOH engineer Tom Wood, a British expat best subs I have used — ever,” Wood asserts. “It see where I’m standing in relation to the box, As Wood says in closing, the Canadian who now calls Canada home, says one of his is mind-blowing how much power consistent- because I can’t feel that on-axis beaming I get connections on this tour make for a unique top priorities when mixing for Mendes is en- ly comes out of those boxes.” from a lot of the other [manufacturers],” he kind of synergy. “It means a hell of a lot to be suring that every single fan is getting the full says. doing this with a Canadian box with a Cana- experience. ›› Venue Versatility dian artist and be a proud near-Canadian, as “The bar has been raised for what people For venues where the full system can’t be ›› At the FOH Position it as at the moment for me,” he says, with a expect sonically at concerts,” he says, and as deployed, Eighth Day Sound Systems Tech Ben Wood has been enjoying his experience laugh. “So this is very special.” PHOTOS BY JOSIAH VAN DIEN VAN JOSIAH BY PHOTOS

Shawn Mendes getting close up and personal with his fans.

38 JUNE 2017 • fohonline.com Audio crew, from left: Adam Field, Andrew Thornton, Ben Smith, Mike Flaherty, Duncan Ladkin (hiding below center), Tom Wood, Greg Horning, Anthony Levato. FOH engineer Tom Wood at Avid S6L Shawn Mendes Illuminate World Tour CREW Front Fills: (8) Adamson S10 Sound Company: Eighth Day Sound Amplification: Lab.gruppen PLM 20K44s Account Rep: Jason Kirschnick Control/Routing: Lab.gruppen LM44 (at FOH Engineer: Tom Wood stage left transmitting Dante to amps) Monitor Engineer: Mike Flaherty Systems Tech: Ben Smith FOH GEAR Monitor Tech: Adam Field FOH Console: Avid VENUE S6L P.A. Tech: Greg Horning Outboard: (2) Avalon VT-737SP channel Production Director: Andrew Thornton strips; Waves SoundGrid Server One Show Stage Manager: Anthony Levato Production Stage Manager: Duncan Ladkin MON GEAR Monitor Console: DiGiCo SD10 P.A. SYSTEM Outboard: (2) DiGiCo SD-Racks (192 kHz) Main PA: (15) Adamson E15/side, (3) Adam- IEM Hardware: Sennheiser SR 2050 son E12/side transmitters; EM 2050 receivers Side Hangs: (12) Adamson E15/side, (3) Ad- Wireless Mics: Sennheiser SKM 2000 amson E12/side with EM 2050 receivers Subwoofers: (8) Adamson E119 flown/side, (16) E119 ground Systems engineer Ben Smith

FOH engineer Tom Wood Mike Flaherty in monitor world

Adamson’s E12 and E15 systems were ideal for the tour.

Adamson E-Series & S-Series arrays supporting Shawn Mendes’ Illuminate World Tour

fohonline.com • 2017 JUNE 39