Touring arenas and stadiums in support of ninth studio album Trustfall – the fourth to go straight to the top of the UK album charts – P!nk’s hugely successful Summer Carnival tour continues for a second year.
Supplying audio for its entirety, under the expertise of Britannia Row Productions Account Executive Dave Compton, the tour kicked off in England June 2023, and is currently playing across North America, with a finale planned for Miami this November.
“I’ve been working with Britannia Row since 2010,” begins Audio Crew Chief, Guillaume Burguez. “One of the best feelings is knowing that anytime - day or night - you have their support in case any issues arise. It’s a great family to be part of.”
The highly coordinated, colorful spectacle includes a ton of P!nk’s awe-inspiring acrobatic skills as she remains note perfect with faultless audio.
Riding the faders at FOH is Stephen Curtin, who is no stranger to the capabilities of the Clair Global Group when it comes to world tours of this size. He begins: “Having such massive global resources gives us the knowledge that we are covered if we need to make a change or fix a problem, we have a very quick turnaround anywhere in the world - that is very comforting as an engineer. I let Guillaume know about any issues and what I’d like to do, and by the end of the day, there is a guaranteed answer and solution in motion.”
Keeping things “simple and consistent” out front, Stephen opts for a DiGiCo SD7 Quantum with 95% of his dynamic processing in the desk. “In my rack, I have Smart Research C2 compressors and a Sonic Farm Creamliner as part of my master buss processing, a Neve 5045 for BGV buss to help reduce some of the stage noise in their mics, a DBX 120A is used sparingly to add a little low energy when needed, and 2 x SSL Fusions are used on the guitar and drum busses, and for effects, I use LiveProfessor.”
Stephen comments that d&b audiotechnik has always been his PA preference: “I feel it’s the most musical-sounding PA. We chose a mix of the SL Series for this tour; in the main system we have KSL 8’s on the main hangs, GSL8’s on the side hangs, J-SUBs as the flown sub, and SL subs for ground support. Additionally, we have a bunch of Y10p’s for front fills. The stadium delay system is all KSL, mostly using KSL 12’s.”
Designing a system that can deliver power in both stadium and arena shows with ease, Stephen worked with Systems Engineer Arno Voortman while PA Techs Malcolm Secright, Bernard Gandy, and Zachary Hensley, and PA & Stage Tech Alison Alvarez worked across the day-to-day build and tuning requirements.Technician Jon Reynolds looks after Comms and Delays.
Stephen continues: “Arno and I have worked together for a long time and we both understand what the end goal is; consistent, even coverage throughout the venue. Stadium shows are always challenging as no two venues are alike, some have better acoustics than others, but utilizing the d&b ArrayProcessing features to the full potential has allowed us to get the best results. Arno is brilliant at designing PAs that allow me to just mix.”
However, far more important than technical equipment is the crew surrounding it, as Stephen attests: “The biggest asset in our industry is the people we tour with. It is vital to have the right fit of people, personalities, and work ethics. I don’t think you would find a single production manager that would argue with that. We have to have a massive amount of trust in one another because we can’t do everything ourselves, we have to rely on our colleagues. That is something that is more valuable than the gear on a show.”
The scale of this tour requires two monitor engineers. P!nk’s (stage) right-hand man is Jon Lewis who been working with the artist for 11 years now, noting her acrobatic gags are always key points when it comes to her personal mix and the complexity of the set up.
“It’s important to chase the artist with the mix,” he says. “Wherever she is for that part of the performance, place yourself there with her and be bold with what is required in that moment. Whether that is flying in front of the PA, high above the crowd, bungee dropping from the roof of the stage or just stood on the center spot.”
Jon takes care of the “Rock Star” singer’s monitoring via a DiGiCo Quantum7. “I like the workflow and the ability to adapt the surface layout to fit the situation, which is really important in such a busy show.”
Having worked with Clair Global and Britannia Row for his entire touring career, Jon enthuses that this incredibly involved tour is in good hands, supplier-wise: “Be it with AC/DC, David Gilmour, Peter Gabriel or P!nk, it truly feels like family. The service and assurance of worldwide support is second to none.”
For his current rider, Jon is using a Bricasti M7 for FX and Drawmer 1973 compressors for Inserts. He continues: “I love the Drawmers, they give a great bit of finishing multi band processing on the in-ear output.”
For IEMs the team moved to Wisycom at the start of this tour, much to Jon’s approval: “They have been a game changer for us. Having to cover the whole stadium, the Master to Slave function and the RF over fiber is amazing!”
Covering large outdoor venues from an RF point of view also requires a lot of planning and a great team. “RF is looked after Emma-Jane Lee and Jack Murphy who has been part of the crew for the last two world tours. They’re glued to the artist to relay and change as required for in-ears and headset microphones,” adds Jon.
On the multi-person mix, Band Monitor Engineer Horst Hartmann has an abundance of stereo and mono mixes; 8 x stereos for the musicians and 7 x technician mixes. He also generates mixes to the busy pyrotechnics team, teleprompter and sign language translator ensuring communication to fans is consistent.
“None of the musicians have a complete mix of all instruments at same intensity.
Almost every song needs to be mixed differently, but I have scenes programmed and on Timecode. Once the show is running, there are just a few solo parts to ride and minor changes daily. Our three backing vocalists need to be 10db over everything anything else, plus reverb.”
To juggle his quantity of detailed mixes, Horst chooses a Yamaha Rivage PM10 console with a DSP-RX-EX unit, 2 x RPio 622, an RPio 222 I/O rack, and a Neve RMP-D6 Dante mic preamp for the B-stage.
He furthers: “I like the workflow and the sound of the PM10, it’s a fast and straight forward console. For wireless in-ears I have 18 x stereo channels of Sennheiser 2000 Series IEMs.Our drummer has a little mixer and gets a hardwired stereo mix, and a separate click signal. For subs, I’m using 2 x Cohesion CP118+ self-powered compact units, and for the bassist and two keyboard players, I have 8 x Buttkicker passive subs.”
After being on the road with Britannia Row’s inventory and crew for a huge world tour, Horst concludes with ease: “I can 100% rely on the Brit Row service- always fast and effective.”
Guillaume agrees, adding: “We love what we are doing here and give our best every day. Everyone is in sync and there is a good energy between all the departments, which makes this a really fun tour!”
