Big Daddy Weave is known for its generously sized band members, including lead vocalist/songwriter Mike Weaver. The band's signature fat electric guitar sounds and killer rhythm section support a message of weighty importance. In an effort to trim ticket prices, despite soaring fuel costs, this Nashville, Tenn.-based Christian rock band slimmed down production by trading conventional loudspeakers and amp racks for Meyer Sound's new Mina compact line arrays.
“Taking an equipment truck simply wasn't an option,” states the band's production manager and FOH mixer, Matthew Grunden. “To cut costs, we had to fit everything into a trailer behind the bus. The Mina arrays were key to making that happen.”
At every site on the current tour, Grunden flies six Mina cabinets per side on a Genie tower and bolsters the bass with a quartet of 700-HP subwoofers. An MJF-212A stage monitor covers Weaver, while a Galileo loudspeaker management system (one Galileo 616 processor) ties everything together.
Nashville-based Digital Console Rentals (DCR) supplied the tour's audio production package. As DCR's Howard Jones explains, Mina was the ideal keystone component. “Big Daddy Weave is the perfect example of the client we can reach with Mina. With its small size, low power consumption, high output, and easy rigging, Mina fits their needs to a tee,” he says.
“Also, as a Christian band,” Grunden continues, “the vocal intelligibility is critical for making sure everybody hears the lyrics.”
Other audio gear shoehorned into the trailer includes an Allen & Heath iLive T-80/iDR 32 mixrack at FOH, a Yamaha LS-9 monitor console, an array of Sennheiser microphones, and a Sennheiser IEM rig with Westone custom molds.
