After a challenging three-year delay due to unprecedented lockdowns and rescheduling, English gothic rock band The Mission successfully concluded their highly anticipated 33-date European tour. There was also exceptional support in the form of four-piece English/German band Wires & Lights for many of the shows. The tour featured a remarkable setup, including the use of two Allen & Heath dLive S5000 consoles for FOH and monitors, along with a DM64 MixRack provided by TDA Germany.
Console operators, Marek Komenda (FOH – The Mission), Thomas Neidhardt (FOH – Wires & Lights), and Pavol ’Pogy’ Pogany (MON – The Mission), demonstrated their expertise and skill, delivering unparalleled sound experiences to sold-out venues.
Neidhardt, a seasoned tour veteran who grew up with Allen & Heath ML series mixers, expressed his enthusiasm for the dLive mixing experience. “Mixing on the dLive was very comfortable,” he said. “The DEEP plugins are brilliant, and I love the analogue characteristics of the Bucket Brigade Delay. Everyone appreciated the flexibility and power of the dLive, which was indispensable for this production, as we had two complete backlines set up on stage.”
The Front-of-House engineer for Wires & Lights also took care of mixing MON Wedges from FOH for the support band, along with several IEMs. “Despite the lack of production rehearsals, by the 3rd night, I was completely flowing through the mixes with ease, and soundcheck readiness happened very fast with this dLive configuration.” Neidhardt commented.
Komenda incorporated extra outboard gear to ensure The Mission’s iconic sound was captured flawlessly. On the other hand, Neidhardt felt at home with all the DEEP plugins, such as the Dual Threshold Expander, Dynamic EQ, and the newer Bus compressor, which skilfully pulled the mix together, earning rave reviews from both the bands and the crew.
The dLive DM64 is the largest MixRack in the dLive range, providing 64 XLR mic/line inputs and 32 XLR line outputs plus three 128-channel audio networking slots. As with all dLive MixRacks, the DM64 offers 128 input processing channels and 64 mix outputs with a configurable 64-bus architecture and super low 0.7ms latency, plus full access to Allen & Heath’s renowned DEEP processors, featuring faithful models of legendary studio hardware units. The dLive S5000 is a 28-fader control surface with dual 12” touchscreens, 26 assignable SoftKeys and 6 assignable Rotaries. The Surface’s fully customisable layout enables engineers to build a workflow that reflects their mixing style.
The tour’s success was largely attributed to the convenience of the S5000 mixing surfaces and the dLive system allowing for seamless switching between both bands and recalling customized Scenes effortlessly. Night after night, audiences were treated to powerful and captivating performances, leaving them awestruck in sold-out venues throughout the entire tour.
“The decision to have the dLive S5000s on this tour was definitely the right choice,” concluded the team.
