At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when it seemed the music world was shut down, Melissa Etheridge livestreamed her series of Lockdown Concerts. When concert touring became feasible again, she hit the road with her One Way Out Tour, promoting her newest album of the same name. The tour began in March in the US, with stops mostly at casinos and theatres including the historic Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in New Hampshire, heading to Europe before returning for a final US leg, and wrapping up in October.
For this tour Etheridge has again teamed with long-time FOH engineer, Jim Roese, who is carrying a pair of Midas Heritage HD96 consoles – house and monitor – provided by Sound Image.
The shows feature band members David Santos (bass and vocals), Eric Gardner (drums) and Max Hart (keys, guitar, steel guitar and vocals). Because the tour relies on each venue’s in-house PA system, the control and consistency that is needed for the show makes the console choice critical.
‘It’s hard to explain how awesome the Midas Heritage HD96-24 is,’ Roese comments. ‘It’s got a wide spatial image, but is completely cohesive when the instruments sum. It’s the same great Midas Pro Series sound but on steroids. The workflow is super dialed. You can put anything anywhere and the touch screen GUI is very intuitive. Any move that I make while mixing requires only minimal time looking away from the stage or the artist.’
Two Lake LM44 processors are also in Roese’s kit, allowing him to better cope with the PA du jour. ‘I actually enjoy the challenges of dealing with a new system in each venue,’ he confesses. ‘It keeps me on my toes. Having the Lake processors is crucial for consistency day to day.’
Roese’s company, RPM Dynamics, has used and sold Midas consoles for more than a decade. ‘We put Midas consoles in the vast majority of our design-build installations and on every tour that we are involved with. In early 2021, AVL Media Group became the distributor for North America, which coincided with the re-launch and availability of the HD96. Needless to say, I’m a fan.’
Monitor mixer Ozzy Giron, who had previously mixed Etheridge on a Midas Pro X, admits that it took a nudge from Roese for him to change to the HD96. ‘With a little hesitation I agreed and it was a decision I do not regret whatsoever,’ he admits. ‘From the moment I first touched the desk it was very comfortable. I give stereo mixes to each of the band members as well as a mix for our Etheridge TV livestream platform and am simply amazed at the sonic quality of the Midas HD96. The first thing Melissa said was how great it sounded – which is exactly what you want to hear from the boss.’
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