Walking into the Metro is always a nostalgic treat, so many great rock shows took place there and it is the epitomy of the term “rock club.” I made my way up the stairs and caught the band setting up and preparing for a sound check. Jeff Neuberger, the band’s monitor engineer greeted me and walked me around the stage, pointing out all of the Shure gear responsible for Cults’ sound. On vocals, KSM9 was the favorite. Guitar cabinets were captured with SM57s. The drum kit featured Beta 52A and Beta 91A on kick and SM57 and Beta 181/C on snare. A Beta 52A was also the complement to the bass cabinet. Finally, the band took a mix from Jeff in monitor world through the PSM 900 personal monitor systems.

As the band ran through a few tunes and the lighting tech set the mood, I ran down to the legendary green room to set up for my interview with the band. In about an hour or so, the venue went quiet, letting me know that it would soon be time to sit down with Brian and Madeline and learn a little more about Cults. Looking back on it now, it was a pretty good conversation. We’ll be posting this soon, so stay tuned.

Leaving the band to their own devices, I met up with legendary photographer Paul Natkin for some dinner at Uncommon Ground, one of the sites for our National Open Mic Night. This place is always packed, but Paul knows everyone, so the 10 -15 minute wait turned into, “Please follow this gentlemen to your table.” This is a great place if you ever make it to Chicago, very organic and green-minded. The acoustic music that takes place there is pretty incredible, too. I have to make a note to show up in mid-November for the Jeff Buckley Tribute Show. I’m a big fan, but never got around to going. After listening to Paul talk about it, I’m making my plans already.

After milking our dinner time for every minute we could, we made our way back to the venue… two hours to show time and nothing to do but check out the opener and people watch.

Finally, 11 PM rolled around and Cults took the stage to a screaming crowd. It’s always interesting to see how a band is going to pull off certain elements of songs from their album, and I have to say, they pulled it off effortlessly. The sound on stage was a little more aggressive than the album, making it a little more lively for an onlooking crowd. All in all, a great show and a great band. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Cults. This evening also ended with a stop at White Castle.

-Cory

On a rainy early evening at Metro Chicago, I caught the guys from Dawes during load-in and soundcheck. Needless to say, they were pretty happy with their new-found microphone situation on stage. Later on that evening, I would bear witness to the sound they are so grateful for night after night. I first ran into Taylor Goldsmith (lead vocals/guitar) who shared his love of the SM7B on his guitar amp. He also made mention that Dawes used the SM7B to record the vocals on their debut album North Hills. With Taylor back on stage, I was greeted by his brother Griffin Goldsmith (drums/backing vocals), in the middle of some much-needed drum head replacement. He walked me through the rest of the mics on stage and their respective applications, including the Beta 91A, the ONLY mic he uses on his open front kick drum. We were soon joined by Wylie Gelber (bass/gear geek of the band) who rounded out the conversation regarding the rest of gear situation on stage. Keyboard player and backing vocalist Tay Strathairn would later share his love for the Shure PSM 900 personal monitor system, stating that they made such a difference in his performance. Another life changed by the power of the PSM 900.

Of course traveling with a veteran front of house engineer like Wes Delk, formerly of Wide Spread Panic and Waylon Jennings, certainly contributes to how good those mics are going to sound on any stage every night Dawes plays. Wes is also the real deal, this guy knows his stuff and knows how and when to use it. Most importantly, he knows this band. He alluded to the fact that he kind of came out of retirement to work with these guys.

Apparently, Wes was asked to sit in for a friend one evening and serve as engineer at a local listening room in Athens, Georgia. Dawes hit the stage, and about three songs into their set, Wes Delk decided he really liked what he was hearing. The dynamics and space and harmonies were almost sweet nostalgia to his ears. At the end of the evening he went and met the guys at the merchandise table and jokingly offered to get on the bus with them one day and hit the road together. No less than a month later he got a call from Griffin Goldsmith, explaining that Dawes was to hit the road with Alison Krauss & Union Station and they needed to have their own engineer. Knowing he had an old-time friend in Alison Krauss & Union Station’s engineer, Cliff Miller, Wes jumped at the chance and took that seat he had joked about upon first meeting the band. Dawes is more than aware of what Wes Delk brings to their sound on stage every night.

Showtime had finally come. This was a late one for a school night, with the first band, The Belle Brigade from LA, hitting the stage at 9:00 pm. By the way, this brother and sister act definitely had everyone’s attention, check them out, next time you go downloading. Dawes finally took the stage at 9:45 pm and the place erupted. I’m certain that I was not alone while marveling at the dynamics Dawes had on stage. Some personal favorites from the evening’s set list were “If I Wanted Someone,” “When My Time Comes,” “Time Spent In Los Angeles,” and “A Little Bit Of Everything,” which, for a moment felt like a church hymn ringing through the rafters.

After witnessing Dawes, the live version, something tells me that we’ll be hearing more from this band in the years to come, one can only hope. Dawes is a much-needed breath of fresh air in the music industry.

Cory

On a rainy early evening at Metro Chicago, I caught the guys from Dawes during load-in and soundcheck. Needless to say, they were pretty happy with their new-found microphone situation on stage. Later on that evening, I would bear witness to the sound they are so grateful for night after night. I first ran into Taylor Goldsmith (lead vocals/guitar) who shared his love of the SM7B on his guitar amp. He also made mention that Dawes used the SM7B to record the vocals on their debut album North Hills. With Taylor back on stage, I was greeted by his brother Griffin Goldsmith (drums/backing vocals), in the middle of some much-needed drum head replacement. He walked me through the rest of the mics on stage and their respective applications, including the Beta 91A, the ONLY mic he uses on his open front kick drum. We were soon joined by Wylie Gelber (bass/gear geek of the band) who rounded out the conversation regarding the rest of gear situation on stage. Keyboard player and backing vocalist Tay Strathairn would later share his love for the Shure PSM 900 personal monitor system, stating that they made such a difference in his performance. Another life changed by the power of the PSM 900.

Of course traveling with a veteran front of house engineer like Wes Delk, formerly of Wide Spread Panic and Waylon Jennings, certainly contributes to how good those mics are going to sound on any stage every night Dawes plays. Wes is also the real deal, this guy knows his stuff and knows how and when to use it. Most importantly, he knows this band. He alluded to the fact that he kind of came out of retirement to work with these guys.

Apparently, Wes was asked to sit in for a friend one evening and serve as engineer at a local listening room in Athens, Georgia. Dawes hit the stage, and about three songs into their set, Wes Delk decided he really liked what he was hearing. The dynamics and space and harmonies were almost sweet nostalgia to his ears. At the end of the evening he went and met the guys at the merchandise table and jokingly offered to get on the bus with them one day and hit the road together. No less than a month later he got a call from Griffin Goldsmith, explaining that Dawes was to hit the road with Alison Krauss & Union Station and they needed to have their own engineer. Knowing he had an old-time friend in Alison Krauss & Union Station’s engineer, Cliff Miller, Wes jumped at the chance and took that seat he had joked about upon first meeting the band. Dawes is more than aware of what Wes Delk brings to their sound on stage every night.

Showtime had finally come. This was a late one for a school night, with the first band, The Belle Brigade from LA, hitting the stage at 9:00 pm. By the way, this brother and sister act definitely had everyone’s attention, check them out, next time you go downloading. Dawes finally took the stage at 9:45 pm and the place erupted. I’m certain that I was not alone while marveling at the dynamics Dawes had on stage. Some personal favorites from the evening’s set list were “If I Wanted Someone,” “When My Time Comes,” “Time Spent In Los Angeles,” and “A Little Bit Of Everything,” which, for a moment felt like a church hymn ringing through the rafters.

After witnessing Dawes, the live version, something tells me that we’ll be hearing more from this band in the years to come, one can only hope. Dawes is a much-needed breath of fresh air in the music industry.

Cory

Ryan Smith started in LA at The Roxy.

Cory, Nelson, and I went to The Metro for the Chicago stop.

Nelson jetted up to Toronto to hang at the Mod Club.

Ryan was joined by @Shure_Mike in Nashville at the Wildhorse Saloon.

Mike flew down to Austin to meet me at Emo’s.

Cory and @shureinc (or rather the person behind the tweets) had a hot time in Boston at the Paradise Rock Club despite a lot of snow.

Now we’ve got the finalists from each of the regional contests up at http://giveitvoice.shure.com/.  It’s up to you to vote on who you think deserves the trip to play at the Red Gorilla Festival in Austin come mid-March. Check out the bands’ live videos and vote!

Our thanks go out to all the bands that participated and those that played as well as the great venues that hosted our regional events.

Richard

Ryan Smith started in LA at The Roxy.

Cory, Nelson, and I went to The Metro for the Chicago stop.

Nelson jetted up to Toronto to hang at the Mod Club.

Ryan was joined by @Shure_Mike in Nashville at the Wildhorse Saloon.

Mike flew down to Austin to meet me at Emo’s.

Cory and @shureinc (or rather the person behind the tweets) had a hot time in Boston at the Paradise Rock Club despite a lot of snow.

Now we’ve got the finalists from each of the regional contests up at http://giveitvoice.shure.com/.  It’s up to you to vote on who you think deserves the trip to play at the Red Gorilla Festival in Austin come mid-March. Check out the bands’ live videos and vote!

Our thanks go out to all the bands that participated and those that played as well as the great venues that hosted our regional events.

Richard

Richard

Richard

[slideshow]

Chevelle playing Metro 10/29/10

Part of my job that makes me giddy?  Testing microphones before they go out.  Every different model has its own individual tweak.  I got a call from veteran studio engineer, Jef Moll, the week prior.  Jef is someone I met here in Chicago years ago and he’s been moving ever onward and upward, finding himself in increasing demand as time marches forward.  He’s also had an association with one of Chicago’s more successful bands of the past decade, Chevelle.  They were working together again, this time to produce a live album and DVD: a ten-year retrospective show at Chicago’s legendary Metro.

Jef was working with Chevelle again on their new project.  He was looking for solutions for ambient and crowd mics all over the place.  After discussing his wish list with him, I set about testing the loaner gear: a stereo pair each of our KSM137, SM89, and (my favorite) SM57. There were a few of our A27Ms in there too.  It’s a stereo mounting solution that is a great little miracle worker, versatile and easy to use.

Friday night I worked my way over to the Metro to see the first of their two sold-out shows.  It’s a fitting place to do this type of show.  Many bands know the part that Metro owner Joe Shanahan plays in their career, and many of those bands are happy to come back and give the place its proper tribute.  It is absolutely the place to catch acts that could fill much larger rooms doing their “intimate” shows…if you can get the ticket.

When I arrived I went upstairs to the Metro’s smaller, secondary theater space, where Jef had set up his recording rig. We chatted briefly, but he was working so it was downstairs to the main space for me.  I set myself in the FOH booth where long-time Metro engineer and long-time Chevelle engineer Mike McGee was ready to go work.  We caught up briefly before the band made their way up to the stage.

The setlist was full of hits and fan favorites.  They opened with “The Clincher” and tore through sixteen songs in their set, with a two song encore.  One of the things that got me to listen to the band in the first place is the huge guitar tone Pete Loeffler gets out of his rig.  It’s a pretty simple set-up, too, as is my understanding.  I also like how they describe themselves in terms of genre: heavy rock.  It’s very appropriate; it doesn’t sound quite like metal, it doesn’t sound quite like radio rock (though it fits well on the airwaves).

After the show I went back to congratulate the guys on a job well done.  I spoke with Sam Loeffler and Dean Bernardini briefly.  They mentioned wanting to come by Shure HQ to see the operation, so hopefully that will happen soon.  It’s always encouraging when a band expresses interest in getting to know their gear.

Richard

Matt & Kim were coming to Chicago again, and this time I had no prior plans or obligations to stand in the way of finally meeting the dynamic duo from Brooklyn and partaking in the madness that is their live show. When I arrived to the Metro via the Shure mobile (of course), the line had already begun to take shape… it was an hour before the doors would even open.

With the help of my trusty communication module, I made contact with Will People, front-of-house engineer, who came out to the front of the venue to escort me to the stage area where we could further discuss sound guy things like microphones and monitors and… you know just kind of geek it out a bit. Cool. I was able to get a real up close look at the Matt & Kim set-up: a few keyboards and a drum kit, seemingly on top of one another while sharing a single drum riser. The Shure mics filled in the spaces in between: a couple of Beta 58As on vocals, a Beta 52A on kick, some Beta 98s on toms, and a handful of SM57s on amps and snare drum. That’s pretty much it, nothing too complicated; your basic rock set-up.

Matt & Kim are also recent adapters of the PSM 900 in-ear personal monitor system, and that’s also become a staple of their live show. Hearing them for the first time, they both wondered how they ever got through without them, especially playing so loudly and so close together. I think its safe to say they truly appreciate the ability to actually hear themselves at a comfortable volume and save their ears a little bit.

At around 6pm, the doors to the club opened up and the masses waiting outside were allowed to come in and jockey for position at the foot of the stage. It was at about this time when legendary photographer Paul Natkin and myself were escorted to the band’s tour bus to conduct an interview with Matt & Kim before their sold-out show. After almost a year of talking on the phone, via twitter and e-mail, Matt and Kim and I finally got to meet. With a new album due out in about a month and a tour that seems to sell out by the time the band makes it to the venue that day, Matt & Kim are undoubtedly conducting a lot of interviews. Ours was pretty cool, too… besides, I don’t think too many interviewers ask the band about microphones and in-ear personal monitors. That being said, our interview is a WORLD EXCLUSIVE! We’ll let you know when it goes live on our MySpace page, stay tuned.

Alright, so show time was fast approaching and Paul made his way into the photo pit to capture the moment , and I headed upstairs to a balcony table and chairs provided by the Metro’s Joe Shanahan (thanks Joe!). Looking around the venue, this was a clear sell out from top to bottom; there were people covering every square inch of the place! The emotion at the Metro reached a fever pitch and you could almost feel that the show was about to begin… and then it did.

Matt & Kim rushed the stage like they were 5-year-old kids at recess, jumping up and down and high-five-ing anyone within hand slapping distance while “Where Brooklyn At?” by Notorious BIG was booming through the house PA; the crowd went banana sandwich! Taking their rightful places behind their instruments, M&K got things going with “I Wanna” from their album Grand.

Watching from the balcony above, it was non-stop jumping and crowd surfing below… I think I even saw someone dressed as Spider Man floating above the crowd, being tossed from one end of the room to the other. Matt & Kim did not let the intensity go for one second, even in between song banter was full of energy. When the moment seemed right, and the crowd vibe felt good, a cover song or three were thrown in for added pleasure. Most notably, the band pulled off “Better Off Alone” by Alice Deejay quite nicely, and the crowd had fun singing along to “Just A Friend” by The Diabolical Biz Markie. All in all, this was a concert that was well worth the price of admission kids.

As they blazed through the highlights from both of their albums, they were just about out of songs, when the beginning riff to “Daylight” was slowly being played by Matt. The crowd seemingly waited with bated breath and then Matt & Kim ripped into their most famous song to date, leaving the place in utter chaos.

Honestly, it was the most fun I had at a concert in a long time, but man did it make me tired watching it! The kids from Brooklyn give it everything they have when they hit that stage, giving everyone just what they came for. As they thanked the crowd for coming out, “Empire State Of Mind” by Jay-Z began to play through the house PA and Matt & Kim hit the crowd with hugs and high-fives all over again. Gratitude is awesome. Thanks Matt & Kim!

-Cory

Matt & Kim were coming to Chicago again, and this time I had no prior plans or obligations to stand in the way of finally meeting the dynamic duo from Brooklyn and partaking in the madness that is their live show. When I arrived to the Metro via the Shure mobile (of course), the line had already begun to take shape… it was an hour before the doors would even open.

With the help of my trusty communication module, I made contact with Will People, front-of-house engineer, who came out to the front of the venue to escort me to the stage area where we could further discuss sound guy things like microphones and monitors and… you know just kind of geek it out a bit. Cool. I was able to get a real up close look at the Matt & Kim set-up: a few keyboards and a drum kit, seemingly on top of one another while sharing a single drum riser. The Shure mics filled in the spaces in between: a couple of Beta 58As on vocals, a Beta 52A on kick, some Beta 98s on toms, and a handful of SM57s on amps and snare drum. That’s pretty much it, nothing too complicated; your basic rock set-up.

Matt & Kim are also recent adapters of the PSM 900 in-ear personal monitor system, and that’s also become a staple of their live show. Hearing them for the first time, they both wondered how they ever got through without them, especially playing so loudly and so close together. I think its safe to say they truly appreciate the ability to actually hear themselves at a comfortable volume and save their ears a little bit.

At around 6pm, the doors to the club opened up and the masses waiting outside were allowed to come in and jockey for position at the foot of the stage. It was at about this time when legendary photographer Paul Natkin and myself were escorted to the band’s tour bus to conduct an interview with Matt & Kim before their sold-out show. After almost a year of talking on the phone, via twitter and e-mail, Matt and Kim and I finally got to meet. With a new album due out in about a month and a tour that seems to sell out by the time the band makes it to the venue that day, Matt & Kim are undoubtedly conducting a lot of interviews. Ours was pretty cool, too… besides, I don’t think too many interviewers ask the band about microphones and in-ear personal monitors. That being said, our interview is a WORLD EXCLUSIVE! We’ll let you know when it goes live on our MySpace page, stay tuned.

Alright, so show time was fast approaching and Paul made his way into the photo pit to capture the moment , and I headed upstairs to a balcony table and chairs provided by the Metro’s Joe Shanahan (thanks Joe!). Looking around the venue, this was a clear sell out from top to bottom; there were people covering every square inch of the place! The emotion at the Metro reached a fever pitch and you could almost feel that the show was about to begin… and then it did.

Matt & Kim rushed the stage like they were 5-year-old kids at recess, jumping up and down and high-five-ing anyone within hand slapping distance while “Where Brooklyn At?” by Notorious BIG was booming through the house PA; the crowd went banana sandwich! Taking their rightful places behind their instruments, M&K got things going with “I Wanna” from their album Grand.

Watching from the balcony above, it was non-stop jumping and crowd surfing below… I think I even saw someone dressed as Spider Man floating above the crowd, being tossed from one end of the room to the other. Matt & Kim did not let the intensity go for one second, even in between song banter was full of energy. When the moment seemed right, and the crowd vibe felt good, a cover song or three were thrown in for added pleasure. Most notably, the band pulled off “Better Off Alone” by Alice Deejay quite nicely, and the crowd had fun singing along to “Just A Friend” by The Diabolical Biz Markie. All in all, this was a concert that was well worth the price of admission kids.

As they blazed through the highlights from both of their albums, they were just about out of songs, when the beginning riff to “Daylight” was slowly being played by Matt. The crowd seemingly waited with bated breath and then Matt & Kim ripped into their most famous song to date, leaving the place in utter chaos.

Honestly, it was the most fun I had at a concert in a long time, but man did it make me tired watching it! The kids from Brooklyn give it everything they have when they hit that stage, giving everyone just what they came for. As they thanked the crowd for coming out, “Empire State Of Mind” by Jay-Z began to play through the house PA and Matt & Kim hit the crowd with hugs and high-fives all over again. Gratitude is awesome. Thanks Matt & Kim!

-Cory