This year, we had a host of great performances in the booth.  The Makepeace Brothers and Yellow Marbles are two great up and coming groups based in the LA area. They both performed 10-minute sets on Thursday.  Friday brought us 2 a cappella groups – a new group called Pentatonix who won the first competition on the TV show “ The Sing-Off” and the second was Shure Artists Take 6, who are now celebrating 25 years as a group.  Both of their performances brought an amazing amount of energy and a large audience into our booth space.  On Saturday, we welcomed famed producer Eddie Kramer for a discussion of how he used and continues to use Shure products to work his magic.  Last but not least, a great local LA artist named Britany Christian performed short demos for our newly introduced wireless line GLXD.  We are very thankful to all the groups who spent some of their time with us at NAMM.

Other artists that came by to visit included Sheila E., Sinbad, Christina Perri, Tony Royster Jr., and Actor/Musician Charles “Chip” Easton who plays Deacon Claybourne on the hit TV show “Nashville.”

Ryan Phillips and Adam Russell from the group Story of the Year also came by to interview yours truly as part of a documentary called “Who Killed (or Saved) the Music Industry?”

Since I have started Tweeting, I have been followed by a number of artists. One in particular, 10-year old Claire Stevens, came out to NAMM with her family.  She is a singer/pianist/guitarist who is writing her own songs and is determined to be a big artist someday.   She already has a 5 song EP that she recorded and her parents bought her a Super 55, which she has used at many performances including some at various House of Blues venues.  Keep an eye out for Claire because you can tell she loves to perform and now she has her eye on our wireless products.

OK, so here’s where the “+” comes in from the title.  After a successful NAMM show, I stayed in the area to catch The Who perform in Anaheim.  Definitely a BIG +!  The group Vintage Trouble has held the opening slot on their tour for the last few months and they know how to get people moving.  I’ve been fortunate to see The Who about 5 times now and it continues to amaze me how much energy they still have for performing.  Pete Townshend moves like someone half his age. Roger is still swinging around his vocal mic (now a Beta 58A) and had a big hand in the arranging of this presentation of Quadrophenia for this tour.  The encore consisted of several of their biggest hits.

The next day, I went up to the LA area to visit a few artists and management companies.  I got to catch Simon Phillips recording some new tunes with KSM27’s all over his toms as well as Kenny Aronoff playing at The Baked Potato with the Bombastic Meatbats, Chad Smith’s group.  What a great way to spend time in LA.  Loved every minute!

I like to research what other interviewers have recently asked an artist and then avoid those questions entirely…or at least rephrase them differently, but mostly avoid.  So I got my questions together, packed up my gear and headed down to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Once inside the venue, I meet with Jason’s FOH Engineer Ettore “ET” DeDevitiis who had been with Jason for several years now.  ET brought me over to “Guitar World” where my interview with Jason would take place right before their soundcheck. I met several crew members, began setting up my gear and got some quick B-roll video of the mics onstage.  Jason has been loving what the SM86 gives back to him.  He’s very comfortable with its flat front so he can get right on the capsule.  On stage right, there were a cluster of mics set up where later in the show the band members would, one by one, join Jason around a Shure Super 55 and sing acoustic style.

My interview with Jason was great.  We’d met before at a NAMM show where he signed autographs at our booth for an hour.  The line was so long for him we had to turn people away. Look for this interview on our site soon.

After the interview, I went back to FOH to listen to Ettore’s mix.  Of course the arena was all but empty save a few people who were brought in for a special soundcheck party, but ET’s mix was great.  Being a drummer, I honed in on the kick sound and asked if he was using both a Beta 52A and  the new Beta 91A.  He confirmed.  He also mentioned it was a brand new Yamaha kit.  There were Beta 56A’s on the toms, about 4 inches above the heads.  Sounded amazing.

After Jason’s check, I watched a bit of Christina’s soundcheck.  Her voice sounded angelic through her UR2/KSM9 wireless.  I also met her drummer Elmo who had just toured with Skrillex.

Right before showtime, I met my wife and 2 boys out front and we grabbed our seats about 3 songs into Christina’s set. She puts on an energetic show and is so happy to be opening for Jason.  One of her dreams come true!

The arena was about 3/4th’s full and I was happy to see so many people out supporting live music.  Money can be tight for some and the fact that it was that well attended is promising.

Jason puts on a great show and his vocal range is pretty amazing.  He really does invite the audience into his party and they all sing along.  The band is super tight and ET has everything sitting right where it should be in the mix.  At one point in the show, he and percussionist Mona Tavakoli were on stage and performed his new song “You F___in’ Did It.”  When Mona kicked in on her Cajon, the whole crowd went wild. Pretty cool.

This is the kind show I could watch night after night and be content.  It’s great when an engineer finds that gig that they are totally into and they love doing their job every night.  With a great singer and a tight band, how could you not?

I can’t wait for the next time Jason comes back to Nashville.  I may not even wait till then…..ROAD TRIP!!

Ryan

Walking into the bar/dining room of the building, the music of Pains was pouring through the music hall’s closed doors while the band worked through hits like “Heart In Your Heartbreak” and “The Body,” while front of house engineer Al Harle got the mix just right.

After everything was in its right place, I got a chance to meet the New York based quintet, talk microphones and ear monitors, and have legendary photographer Paul Natkin take some magazine cover worthy shots.

The Pains took the stage later that night for their second sold out performance at Lincoln Hall, and the masses packed it in. Kip and Peggy from the band capture vocals using Shure’s Beta 87A and PSM 200 in ear personal monitors to hear it all back.

Be sure to catch Pains the next time they’re in your town. I know they’re playing Lollapalooza in Chicago this year, but hopefully I won’t have to wait that long to see them again!

To continue my journey, Paul and I headed over to the Vic Theatre to meet up with Christina Perri who was in town to open up for James Blunt. Driving past the venue in search of a parking spot, the masses were already lined up to get in and jockey for position. The closest spot available put us a few blocks away, right outside of the Groovin’ High record store (that’s a place that sells vinyl discs that have music on them, they have CDs too), a rare gem as record stores go. Paul knew the place and the owner and told me to take  a look at the sign in the window…

The place was closed, it was 5:50pm on a Thursday in a bustling north-side Chicago neighborhood. An old man behind me had mentioned that he has been coming by the store several times that week to make a purchase and the place was locked up. I guess the whenever I feel like it hours were in effect this week.

Anyway, we made our way to the Vic and down below the stage area to the dressing rooms where we were greeted by Christina’s tour manager who mentioned that once the line went down, she would escort Ms. Perri off of the bus and into the building.

About fifteen minutes later, Christina Perri was introduced to us and she thanked us for coming to see her and check out the show. She seemed really excited to be playing Chicago (it was her first time), in support of her debut album Lovestrong which releases May 10th here in the states. She was cool, calm and confident as she spoke to us about her upbringing in Philly and her new life in LA, upcoming tour, and being on the road so far with James Blunt. After politely posing for a few shots with Paul, we left her to do her vocal warm-ups in her dressing room. Once the door was closed, you could hear varying frequencies of bleeps and blurps and vocal climbs as Christina Perri readied herself for the crowd waiting upstairs.

Shortly after our backstage visit, Christina took the stage and immediately engaged the crowd as she ran through the songs from Lovestrong, including the hit “Jar of Hearts,” which most of the crowd connected with at the first note. The girl has got some pipes on her, nothing that her SM58 can’t handle, but man she can sing! Oh yeah, she plays guitar and piano, too. The show sounded amazing, thanks to the FOH skills of Adam Jackson (Owl City), and Christina’s band kept things in the pocket while she put her talent on display. Christina will be back in Chicago this summer, so go check her out and be sure to pick up the new album next week!

Talk to all very soon, it’s a busy month for the Chicago music scene. I will lots more to share in the weeks to come. Stay tuned…

ROCK OUT!

-Cory

Walking into the bar/dining room of the building, the music of Pains was pouring through the music hall’s closed doors while the band worked through hits like “Heart In Your Heartbreak” and “The Body,” while front of house engineer Al Harle got the mix just right.

After everything was in its right place, I got a chance to meet the New York based quintet, talk microphones and ear monitors, and have legendary photographer Paul Natkin take some magazine cover worthy shots. 

The Pains took the stage later that night for their second sold out performance at Lincoln Hall, and the masses packed it in. Kip and Peggy from the band capture vocals using Shure’s Beta 87A and PSM 200 in ear personal monitors to hear it all back.

Be sure to catch Pains the next time they’re in your town. I know they’re playing Lollapalooza in Chicago this year, but hopefully I won’t have to wait that long to see them again!

To continue my journey, Paul and I headed over to the Vic Theatre to meet up with Christina Perri who was in town to open up for James Blunt. Driving past the venue in search of a parking spot, the masses were already lined up to get in and jockey for position. The closest spot available put us a few blocks away, right outside of the Groovin’ High record store (that’s a place that sells vinyl discs that have music on them, they have CDs too), a rare gem as record stores go. Paul knew the place and the owner and told me to take  a look at the sign in the window…

The place was closed, it was 5:50pm on a Thursday in a bustling north-side Chicago neighborhood. An old man behind me had mentioned that he has been coming by the store several times that week to make a purchase and the place was locked up. I guess the whenever I feel like it hours were in effect this week.

Anyway, we made our way to the Vic and down below the stage area to the dressing rooms where we were greeted by Christina’s tour manager who mentioned that once the line went down, she would escort Ms. Perri off of the bus and into the building.

About fifteen minutes later, Christina Perri was introduced to us and she thanked us for coming to see her and check out the show. She seemed really excited to be playing Chicago (it was her first time), in support of her debut album Lovestrong which releases May 10th here in the states. She was cool, calm and confident as she spoke to us about her upbringing in Philly and her new life in LA, upcoming tour, and being on the road so far with James Blunt. After politely posing for a few shots with Paul, we left her to do her vocal warm-ups in her dressing room. Once the door was closed, you could hear varying frequencies of bleeps and blurps and vocal climbs as Christina Perri readied herself for the crowd waiting upstairs.

Shortly after our backstage visit, Christina took the stage and immediately engaged the crowd as she ran through the songs from Lovestrong, including the hit “Jar of Hearts,” which most of the crowd connected with at the first note. The girl has got some pipes on her, nothing that her SM58 can’t handle, but man she can sing! Oh yeah, she plays guitar and piano, too. The show sounded amazing, thanks to the FOH skills of Adam Jackson (Owl City), and Christina’s band kept things in the pocket while she put her talent on display. Christina will be back in Chicago this summer, so go check her out and be sure to pick up the new album next week!

Talk to all very soon, it’s a busy month for the Chicago music scene. I will lots more to share in the weeks to come. Stay tuned…

ROCK OUT!

-Cory