John Legend - Mobile Production Pro

Fartoo often we think about concertsin terms of the big arena rock showexperience and seldom focus on the intimatemagic of a concert in a theatre. Granted atheatre production lacks the shock and aweeffect of a 20 truck tour. But in many casesthe trade of bigger bang for personal proximitycan be a well balanced exchange of value.JomPm caught up with John Legend in Atlanta and got alook at one of the most soulful shows on the road in thefantastic surroundings of the Fox Theatre. Of coursethis setting comes with a logistical cost that is incumbentto older theatres. By its very nature (with extremely rareexceptions) a theatre is going to be in a busy part of a city.This means badly limited parking for trucks and bussesand severely cramped quarters for load access.Once in the building, the rule that says nature abhors avoid, comes into play as every square and even cubic inchof available space is filled with gear and cases. The slightestbit of friction can turn this experience into somethingmuch akin to a knife fight in a phone booth.Given that John Legend’s career has just left the launchpad on the way to great things, the biggest challenge isbudget - crowded busses, minimal truck space and minimalcrew allocation. All of these issues boldly punctuatethe phrase, “attitude is everything.”Sound Image crew chief, Gary Sanguinet explained,“Touring with this show is a little more difficult becauseit’s not like this production has a huge budget yet. So thebusses are a little more crowded than on most tours, andwe have long drives and frequent ‘three-in-a-rows.” Buthe added, “Everyone on this tour is professional enoughto understand that, and they bend over backward to makeit work because we see that this thing is going somewhereand we want to be there when it arrives.”Another challenge of a theatre show is sound quality.Theatres, especially old theatres, have veryspecific acoustic properties built into them and notwo are the same. Production Manager and FOHEngineer, Gordon Mack clarified the inherentacoustical challenges of mixing this in this setting,“You never know where you’re goingto be setting up on a tour like this.There are overhangs - sometimesyou’re up against a wall and underan overhang. There are all kinds ofdeciding factors.”The challenge was well mounted with sensationalresults the night we caught the show. It simplysounded great no matter where one stood in theroom. That was good news for Adamson Pro Audioas well as Sound Image given that this was SoundImage’s maiden voyage with its new Adamson gear.Performers:Music Director / Keyboards: Eugene ‘Manman’ RobertsGuitar: Sharief HobleyBass Guitar: Kenneth WrightDrums: Rashid WilliamsSaxophone: Allen ‘Bizkit’ ArthurTrumpet: Clayton ReillyTrombone: Stephen TirpakBacking Vocals: Vaughn Stephens, Jessica Wilson,Ashley Simpson22 mobile production monthly