After performing more than 70 concerts so far this year, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats continue their 2018 tour for fans in Europe and North America with monitor engineer Davy Gleeson using an Allen & Heath dLive S Class to mix the band’s in-ear monitors. “They started with wedges,” he said. “But the in-ears help Nathaniel balance his voice with the band. And, the boys like to boogie on stage so this keeps it clean for them.”
Gleeson, who also acts as production manager and stage manager on the tour, had used an Allen & Heath GLD when he worked at Black Box Pro Audio of Glasgow, Scotland. “We were very impressed with the GLD’s sonic quality and user-friendliness,” he said. “So, when the dLive came out, I put it on the rider for Rateliff’s tour. It’s got the same work flow as the GLD but pumped up on steroids. And, I’ve AB’d it with other digital consoles and it sounds a lot better.”
“I have a scene for each song,” continued Gleeson. “And, with the dLive’s cue-list editor, I can drag-n-drop songs to create a new set in about 20 seconds. It’s super easy.” He uses the dLive’s Virtual Sound Check to review monitor mixes with the band. “The VSC is simple,” he says. “One click of a button and you’re going; another click and you’re back out again.”
Gleeson uses the dLive’s on-board effects exclusively. “I’ve got the multi-band compressor and the dynamic EQ on every channel along with a few reverbs. And, since we’re doing a lot of flying around, I don’t have to carry an external effects platform.”
Brown Note Productions of Denver, Colorado supplied the dLive S5000 Surface and DM64 MixRack for the tour’s North American leg. Brown Note President, Ryan Knutson said, “It has been great working with Davy and Nathaniel Rateliff on their North America tour. And, we’re seeing more and more riders for the dLive. So when Davy requested one, we felt it was a good time to invest in this platform for our clients. The dLive’s reliability, sound quality and footprint proved to be a great fit.”
Gleeson commented, “Brown Note has given us great support. And, Allen & Heath has done their homework on the dLive. It’s solid and user-friendly. I can configure the layout exactly as I want to see it and I love the sound.”
Learn more at Allen & Heath and via distributor American Music & Sound.