APAC: Dermot Kennedy’s The Weight of the Woods Tour is proving as demanding technically as it is ambitious geographically, with front-of-house engineer Will Donbavand and monitor engineer Michael Fitzsimmons (Fitzy) relying on DiGiCo consoles as the Irish singer/songwriter’s production moves from Europe into North America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Audio is supplied by Solotech, with Donbavand operating a Quantum 338 Pulse at front of house and Fitzy on a Quantum 5 at monitors.

“So far, it has been a raging success, the show has been very well received with 5-star reviews across the board. We couldn’t have asked for more!” he says. “Solotech have been great and our tech, Dominic Green, keeps everything running smoothly. Everyone on stage is really happy. I started out with a Q338, but we’ve added to the show and now I’ve run out of channels I’m on the Q5. The fact that you can just swap over your show file to a different console is a big plus.”

Donbavand has worked with Kennedy since 2017, bringing DiGiCo into his workflow a year later. His Quantum 338 Pulse setup makes extensive use of the available channel count, while bussed sends handle all the talk-back requirements. A Fourier transform.engine takes care of his plugin requirements, while shared racks help keep the touring package compact.

“We got our first control package in 2018 and it’s been DiGiCo ever since,” he says. “Sharing racks helps keep production happy and, as I am reaching the limits with channel count, I find things like the additional, zero-latency Con Sends very helpful, especially for talkback between us.”

The European leg also put the consoles through a more demanding test when the Dublin homecoming show expanded the set with guest artists and a large choir. After using a Quantum 112 for additional channels with a 10-piece choir in London, Donbavand moved to a Quantum 5 in Dublin when the choir grew to 22 members.

“There are essentially no playback-tracks in this show which means there are a lot of people on stage,” he notes. “In London, we had a 10-piece choir and I used a Q112 for the extra channels. In Dublin, our choir expanded to a 22-piece, plus special guests, so I swapped to a Quantum 5. Workflow wise, for me that’s easier than having a Q338 and sidecar Q112. Thankfully, moving between consoles is super easy. This is also useful when we’re using a B-rig or picking up equipment locally because, even with our tech Dom prepping in advance, there are always slight issues with networking or card counts to pick up on site.”

At monitors, Fitzy’s Quantum 5 handles the majority of the workload, with only a small amount of outboard alongside the console. The stage itself is essentially silent, with the performers using IEMs and a pair of subs providing stage energy. The resulting setup has proved adaptable across the tour’s different venues while keeping the monitoring workflow consistent.

“Even with the best techs and equipment things do still go wrong in that last hour before the show starts,” he says. “Our formula works well and has worked across a few different projects, but I’ve been doing some pretty rigorous testing against my current external source enhancer and the Mustard comes extremely close, with the added benefit of the filtering. So, maybe next time out I might not even take the extra hardware.”

That processing flexibility is equally important at front of house. Donbavand is now using the Mustard Source Expander (MSE) extensively, replacing hardware-based processing across almost the entire show.

“I’ve moved everything that was previously hardware-PSE SE, apart from one song on the B stage,” he says. “During a particular moment, one of our backing vocalists sings softly with Dermot, so I insert an external Primary Source Enhancer as well as having MSE on her channel. Previously I used other processing on Dermot and the backing vocals, now it’s all MSE. I like the fact that you can filter the sidechain, by choosing a different input, so sometimes I will choose the head amp as the input, so it gets the pre-EQ full signal. I also use the ducker on a couple of things. There’s MSE everywhere and it’s very nice to have on board.”

With the tour continuing across multiple continents from August, both engineers are set to retain DiGiCo as the core of their respective control packages, supported by Solotech and its touring technicians. “I speak DiGiCo completely fluently and because everything works great, I don’t need to apply that energy anywhere else,” says Fitzy.

For Donbavand, the production’s evolution makes the continuity even more significant. “I have seen the show evolve from 200-people audiences in clubs to doing two nights in Dublin’s Aviva stadium, which is about 50,000 seat-capacity. It’s been a super nice ride and the whole production has evolved a lot,” he ends. “DiGiCo’s ease of workflow means starting from scratch with another console has never even crossed my mind.”