Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are continuing their energetic performances and monumental live sets decades after their inception. On their current tour, which began in 2023, fans are hearing the New Jersey legend’s soulful and powerful vocals, guitar prowess, and the force-of-nature grandeur of an extended 19-member E Street Band through a Cohesion PA system, provided by Clair Global.
Led by Tour Director George Travis and Production Manager Sean Magovern, the touring audio team is a close-knit affair, and the synergy and respect seen on-stage - thanks to the professionalism of Springsteen – is reflected in this crew.
The tour’s 3-hour set list has been hand-picked from an extensive music catalog, built around their 2020 album (and Springsteen’s 20th studio album), ‘Letter to You’. The creative process to put this production together is revealed in ‘Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’, a Disney+ documentary which was released in October.
"There's a sense with his show that you are part of something special," begins FOH Engineer John Cooper, affectionately known as 'Coop'. "My goal has always been to give him the freedom to come in and not be concerned with sound check but to have the confidence to work on his music and be creative."
John mixes on an Avid S6L with a Waves server and employs minimal outboard; "I have some Oxford plug-ins and a Rupert Neve 5045 Primary Source Enhancer for Bruce's vocal. The key to it all is knowing your artist and knowing their music."
This intricate knowledge came into play when choosing a PA system. "I had the opportunity to hear the Cohesion system very early on, and I was impressed. I immediately started to plan to get it on the road with us. At this point, we have put Cohesion in lots of different environments and frankly, it's like sitting in a control room. The detail put forward is just remarkable and it makes my day comfortable, but it's not all down to hardware; it’s in the very skilled hands of our Systems Engineer Brandon Schuette and the rest of Clair's amazing sound crew, that I have the privilege of touring with."
Brandon is not only the tour's Systems Engineer, but Crew Chief, and can attest to the smooth teamwork found here: "Morale is incredibly important, and I think the best way that I can affect that is to make sure I'm putting everyone in the best position to do their jobs. We can almost operate load ins/load outs without having to communicate; that's how tight our crew has become. They're second to none but I'm most proud of how everyone finds time and ways to help each other."
The Cohesion system, as per John’s request, comprises large format CO12 loudspeakers for main and side hangs, CO10’s for delays and the center hang, and side fill deployments of CO8’s and CP218II+ subwoofers.
Aiding John's mix for one of the world's best-known performers is a thorough task, helped by PA Techs Telvin Armour, Abi Chilton and Bobby Taylor.
With generations of fans still filling stadiums after decades of loyal support, Brandon continues: "The main objective is to provide the most consistent coverage possible. I want every seat to sound like they're sitting at FOH next to Coop. That usually starts by balancing the energy in the room, so that whatever SPL we have at FOH is going to be the same SPL in any given seat."
Brandon also comments on the back-end service this tour receives from Clair Global: "With the amount of support we get from the shop, I can't imagine an easier scenario to tour in. Whether it's from Lititz or Aesch, we have been set up for success every time we go out. Between the great people that support us in the shop and the great people I get to work with on the road, I am absolutely spoiled!"
When it comes to monitor world for Springsteen and The E Street Band, the set-up is somewhat unusual; an impressive three monitor engineers juggle mixes for 19 musicians in this extended band format.
Monty Carlo's main priority is Bruce, Stevie Van Zandt (MD), Roy Bittan (pianos, synth) and the five piece horn section; Matt Fitzgerald's primary focus is guitarist Patti Scialfa, four background singers and percussionist Anthony Almonte; Troy Milner takes care of drummer Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent on bass guitar, Nils Lofgrenon guitar, Soozie Tyrell’s violin mix, and Charlie Giordano (keys).
The trio mixes on DiGiCo Quantum SD7 consoles and the band listens to a mixture of JH and 64 Audio in-ear monitors on Wisycom transmitters. There’s more Cohesion for personal monitoring too, with a healthy deployment of CM22 and CM14 wedges for on-stage monitor clarity.
Matt begins: "For this show, the Quantum SD7 really is one of the few desks out there that can handle the sheer number of inputs and outputs we have. We're looking after 160 inputs from the deck, with no playback, time code or syncing to anything, split 5 ways to each of our mixing consoles. It’s just a very large, very raw, unscripted rock band up there! Because I'm mixing for so many vocalists who are listening to in-ear monitors, I utilize individual PSE’s, reverbs, slaps and panning for each vocalist to create an image, space and clarity to their mixes on such a loud stage."
He continues: “Having such a great audio team, all working so close together and helping each other out, really makes for a much better and enjoyable day in the life of touring with Bruce and The E Street Band.”
Console wise, Monty agrees: "The SD7 has been our go-to console since 2012. It's still the most flexible, scalable console that we deal with. Bruce wants to hear everything. Floor monitors are hung from grated decks in a stereo configuration, and he has a spatial perspective of where everybody is playing on the stage in his position. There are no egos up there; do your job, and he's very appreciative."
RF Coordinator Brad Galvin is Monty's second pair of ears: "During the show I stand next to Monty at the SL monitor position, and when he's looking at Bruce, I keep my eyes moving between Roy, Steven and the horn section. As soon as I see him moving to another mix (or hear it change) my eyes go directly to Bruce, so someone always has their eyes on him."
Using IAS software Brad coordinates 88 frequencies per day between 32 channels of Wisycom MTK982 dual transmitters, 54 channels of Shure Axient Digital, and a couple of frequencies for the FOH Lectrosonics TM400 measurement mics.
Brad continues: "There are 24 channels of Axient Digital in my RF rack stage left, and 32 split between 6 backline racks spread around the stage, all networked together for central control from my workstation.
"Since we came to Clair Global, it's been a life-changing event. The support we get from [Account Executive] Greg Hall and the operations people has just been phenomenal, and the touring crews have been stellar. If we could keep this team forever, no one would be complaining; Clair are hands down the best support for engineers and techs on the road. I never have to fight for anything because they understand that if we're asking for it, we're asking for a reason. The packaging of the systems is also amazing, from the design down to the implementation - and I'm very particular in how I want things set up!"
Monitor Engineer Troy Milner programs all his mixes on snapshots except for drummer Max Weinberg. "I mix him ‘old school’ since we sometimes don't know what song is coming next; I need to make sure Max gets what he needs to start each song - it can be fast paced keeping up with Bruce and his song choices!"
Clear communication is critical between all three monitor engineers, the audio and backline techs, as Troy elaborates: "Everyone has a talkback mic that we can always hear, no matter what we are listening to during the show. It allows us to fix issues and changes before any band members are even aware something might change.
"Max gets his mix from my desk to a pair of Albatros Headphone hardwire amps in 'drumtech' world, and behind the drum kit I have 3 x Cohesion CP118+ self-powered subs for feel, as well as a Porter & Davies shaker seat."
Audio Tech Calvin Welshans can be found stage right with Troy during the show. Calvin adds: “There is plenty to pay attention to, and the more eyes looking at the stage, the better. Each concert showcases the power of people gathering en masse to sing, shout, cry and laugh together. Even the most complex hurdles seem to melt into irrelevance once the show starts. Having Clair Global as the audio provider is a foundational element that the rest of our operation is built on. The support we receive from Clair in every market gives us all the tools for success and knowing that collaborative support is always a phone call or email away makes it easy to approach every situation with confidence."
Expert skillsets have led this crew to join a touring party that is as slick as they come, yet acknowledgement for their comrades is always front and center, as in closing, Bruce’s long-serving FOH mixer John ‘Coop’ Cooper reinforces: "I realize how few folks will get to do what I do for a living at this level. Without the outstanding professionals I am surrounded by, none of what I do would be possible, and for that, I thank them all!"
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band - and their dedicated crew – will head to Europe next for their Spring/Summer 2025 concerts.
