www.psneurope.com
January 2013 l 33
livereport
IT WAS in 1995 that Supergrass first shot to fame as their first album, I Should Coco, reached the number one spot in the UK Album Chart. That was enough to secure slots at Glastonbury and T in the Park that year, and from there, the experimental pop-rock (and at times psychedelic) four-piece went on to make five more albums over a 15-year period, all of which made the top 20. Now, two-and-a-half years after the band disbanded “over musical differences” (what else?), 36-year-old Coombes has dusted off his axe for a new challenge: sporting the same trademark sideburns and pre-evolutionary features, he brought his new sound along to the Gibson Guitar Studio on Rathbone Street in London, treating a 150-strong crowd to an energetic 60-minute set. “The thing about the Gibson
room is that it doesn’t sound the same at FOH position as it does in the centre of the room – not nearly the same, in fact,” reveals Pete Freeeman, resident engineer and owner of APA Live, the audio provider for the event. “I always recommend that any visiting engineer takes a walk around every now and then if they’re unsure of something.” Freeman has seen a number
of major acts pass through the Gibson venue, therefore plenty of renowned sound engineers have also graced FOH position; because of this, one of the main challenges “pretty much every time”, he says, is making sure that the person behind the console realises that he or she is not riding the faders at Wembley Stadium! “Because capacity is only 150 people, it really is such an intimate space, and because the engineers are used to big arena sound systems, it can pose a few problems,” he smiles, raising his eyebrows. “Keeping the volume down is often one of the biggest challenges of the day, though thankfully, Gaz’s guy was very considerate of the room and engineered the show very well as a result.”
The in-house sound system
was by Cerwin Vega: the main PA comprised six CVA 28X and a pair of CVA 121X subwoofers, all ground-stacked; and a further five CVA 28X were used for wedges. In addition, a CVA151X sub was brought in for drum fold back.
UNITED KINGDOM Bombs away at Gibson
Ex-Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes descended on Gibson’s London headquarters last month to showcase new material from his critically-acclaimed debut solo album, Here Come The Bombs, writes Paul Watson
APA Live provided a Soundcraft Vi1 console for FOH, and a microphone package comprising mostly Heil kit. Although Sennheiser will always be Freeman’s favoured microphone manufacturer, he admits he was very impressed by the quality of the Heil gear. “I have been a Sennheiser user
ever since I started working as a FOH engineer, and they’re always my go-to brand,” Freeman explains. “The [Sennheiser] 935 is my personal favourite, but I have to say, I thought the [Heil] PR 35 came pretty close; it worked great for Gaz’s vocals. I’ve also used the [Heil] PR 40 before on the kick drum, which I really liked – it’s a very punchy and round sounding microphone.” Heil PR 35s were used on all
four vocals, in fact, and one was also assigned to the top snare; PR 28s catered for the bottom snare and two toms,
Pete Freeeman, resident engineer and APA Live owner
“One thing that’s really
and PR 30s were used on the hi-hats, overheads, as ambient mics, and on the guitar cabinets. In the kick drum, a
PR 40 accompanied a Shure SM91; and for Coombes’ in-ears, two Sennheiser ew300 systems were deployed.
stressful when working here is doing the soundcheck, and it doesn’t help that we also have a sound curfew to abide by, due to the studio’s location,” Freeman explains, ushering me to the [Soundcraft] Vi1 at FOH position. “What’s nice on this gig though is that Gaz’s engineer has brought along a [Soundcraft] Vi4 show file, which he has been able to load into the Vi1. It works perfectly, and that has saved us a lot of time; if you bear in mind that we only have 45 minutes maximum to soundcheck these kind of events, having that flexibility is a huge bonus.” When showtime came, Coombes didn’t disappoint. Considering his relatively tender years, it’s pretty remarkable to think he’s been doing this for nigh on two decades, but his experience certainly showed. From the word go, his set was addictive: be it the dulcet and
beautiful tones of his first single, White Noise; the extraordinarily arranged Break The Silence; or the teeth-gritting, lip-pursing Whore, which he practically spat out (the clue is in the title, after all!), this guy 100% delivered. But it was towards the end
that we got a real treat. As the band belted out a loud, quick- fire rendition of what was undoubtedly Supergrass’s most famous hit single, Alright. Wow, was that really 17 years ago? Following this gig, Coombes
went on to open for Stereophonics at five of their UK shows, starting in Newport, then moving north to play O2 Academies in Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham, before finishing up at the Troxy in east London. n
www.gazcoombes.com www.heilsound.com www.sennheiser.co.uk www.soundcraft.com www.shure.com
Gaz Coombes in the Gibson Guitar Studio
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