Playing two shows at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the Grateful Dead’s end-of-an-era Fare Thee Well gigs attracted more than 60,000 Deadheads and marked a milestone in the band’s association with Meyer Sound CEO John Meyer.
Meyer’s work with the band began in the mid-1970s and McCune Sound Service’s JM-10 loudspeaker systems, which he designed. The Grateful Dead’s original sound engineer, Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley, first used Meyer to for the Wall of Sound system in the 1970s. The relationship continued through the band’s last tour with Jerry Garcia in 1995, with Meyer Sound systems having been a staple for tours of reunion and spin-off bands during the interim. In 2011, the band’s Bob Weir installed a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system in his Tamalpais Research Institute (TRI).
Fare Thee Well called on a large-scale Meyer Sound Leo quadraphonic surround set-up. With its accompanying 1100-LFC low-frequency control element, the system delivered an ‘immersive fan experience’ in the stadium and supported an experimental segment devised by drummer/percussionist Mickey Hart. Using the Meyer Sound system’s ultra-low frequency capabilities and surround, Hart probed how the brain perceived audible and below-audible rhythms.
‘John Meyer’s 1100-LFC loudspeakers empower the rhythmic voice and enable percussionists to manifest new ideas,’ Hart says. ‘They are sonic tools for reliably transmitting vibrations that affect neurologic function in a special way we are only beginning to understand, enabling us to explore healing properties embedded in low-frequency sound – a dream come true for us all.’
The loudspeaker system comprised four front arrays of 17 Leo-M and three Mica line array loudspeakers each, with dual side columns of 14-each 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements and a center column of 22 700-HP subwoofers in an end-fire pattern. Side and offstage coverage was supplied by 32 Lyon and 32 Milo line array loudspeakers, respectively, with an additional 30 Mica loudspeakers providing behind-stage coverage.
Filling in the far end of the stadium were four delay towers with a total of 56 Milo loudspeakers and eight 700-HP subwoofers. Two additional towers of eight Lyon loudspeakers each faced the stage for quad surround effects, with six CQ-1 and four Lyon loudspeakers providing front fill. A Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system handled drive and optimisation, and 16 MJF-212A stage monitors provided onstage foldback.
Following the Levi’s Stadium shows, the tour continued at Soldier Field in Chicago using a nearly identical Leo system for three shows. Audio requirements were handled by Pro Media/UltraSound, with system design by the company’s Derek Featherstone, VP of Touring & Rental and the band’s FOH engineer since 2005. Additional equipment support for the five shows came from Blackhawk Audio, Rainbow Production Services, Show Systems, and Solotech.
‘The Leo and 1100-LFC system can handle everything we put into it,’ says Featherstone. ‘We are also very impressed with the quality control of the Meyer Sound self-powered equipment. Being able to acquire 650 loudspeakers from several different vendors located in multiple states, assemble the large system on site, and have it work seamlessly is no small feat.’
‘I was impressed with how well the system handled the physical acoustics of a big stadium. Coverage was smooth and practically seamless, with precise imaging for all seating areas,’ says Matt Haasch, audio crew chief for Pro Media/Ultrasound.
