Ref: Caroline Moss PR0626
Date: December 2007

MIDAS XL8 TAKES PRIDE OF PLACE AT LED ZEPPELIN REUNION CONCERT

Nineteen years after their last appearance, the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin, together with John Bonham’s son Jason, took to the stage at the 02 Arena to perform a tribute concert for their late record label boss Ahmet Ertegun, who signed them to Atlantic Records in 1968.

Technology has clearly moved on since the trio of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones played at a concert to celebrate Atlantic’s 40th anniversary in 1988, and only the best would do to recreate the band’s legendary sound, which appeared undiminished by the years. For this reason, at front of house was a Midas XL8 Live Performance System provided by Britannia Row, with two engineers at the controls. Big Mick Hughes mixed the band - Jimmy Page on guitar, John Paul Jones on bass and drummer Jason Bonham, while Robert Plant’s front of house engineer Roy Williams handled the singer’s soaring vocal range.

The decision to use the XL8 came after Page heard it at Metallica’s Wembley gig this summer. Plant subsequently visited the Midas factory to see and hear the XL8, which guaranteed the XL8’s place on the rider.

Williams has worked as front of house engineer for Robert Plant for almost a decade. “I'll always have a preference for Midas, and the transition from analogue wasn’t as hard as I had expected; I found the XL8 user-friendly, especially when obtaining any EQ that I might be looking for.

“I had known from before the start of rehearsals that two engineers would be doing the show, one to look after the band and one to concentrate on Robert’s vocals and effects. Not the easiest thing to do: two engineer, two pairs of ears and two egos! Mick and I have known one another for over 30 years and are both from the Black Country so that helped a lot.

“The XL8 let me have my own world to work in with just the vocal mic and eight effects – leaving Mick to create his world without either of us getting in one another's way. No blood was drawn, we had a blast and more importantly are still friends.”

Big Mick, who put the XL8 through its paces on Metallica’s European tour earlier this summer, was mixing the band.

“We felt that using the XL8 gave us an unlimited amount of options,” he says. “It was a good job we did as the input list grew to over 70 channels, and if we’d gone analogue we would have been into two desks.

“The operation of the console made it really easy for Roy and myself to divide the work surface. Being able to set the last bay of the console to the B zone and then recall a POP (population) group containing Robert's vocal and effects into the B zone meant that Roy had his own section. This in turn allowed me the remaining two bays and the VCA (Variable Control Association) section to mix the band. The ‘a/b’ headphone solo busses were invaluable as I could be using one while Roy used the other. And as before, when I first used the XL8 for Metallica, the pure sound and stereo image quality is undeniable.”
  
A preproduction Klark Teknik DN9696 high resolution live hard disk recorder was on hand during rehearsals, allowing the engineers to ‘virtual soundcheck’, working on the sound and effects from the live recordings and using the settings to create automation scenes for each song.

During full production rehearsals the band ran through the entire show twice, and this was also recorded on the DN9696 to further develop the mix and provide a time reference for the lighting and video crews. The band were then able to watch the whole show from an audience perspective, and also use the recordings to assess their live performances. This extra capacity provided by the DN9696 proved invaluable for a live event on this scale.

Onstage, a Midas Heritage 3000 handled the band’s monitor duties under sound engineer Dee Miller.

The original members of Led Zeppelin last played in Berlin in July 1980 - two months before John Bonham died. Page, Plant and Jones performed at Live Aid five years later in addition to the Atlantic Records appearance in 1988, and Page and Plant played together live during the 1990s. Profits from the show will go towards scholarships in Ertegun's name in UK, the USA and Turkey, the country of his birth.

ENDS

All brands and trademarks are recognised.

Editor’s information:
Midas live performance mixing consoles have been used by the world's most demanding sound engineers, performers and rental companies for three decades. The company strives to raise the standards of sonic quality through its programme of continual research and development, implementing new control functionality and user-friendly desk operation to anticipate and accommodate the ever-evolving needs of audio professionals who specify Midas consoles for their major tours, festivals, international events, broadcast projects and prestigious fixed installations.

Klark Teknik was founded in 1974 and in the years immediately following, their innovative approach to design and development allowed them to introduce some truly groundbreaking designs. Klark Teknik was responsible for the world’s first digital delay and digital reverb units, however it was their concepts for equalisation devices that really changed the world of professional audio resulting in the DN370 and the famous DN360. Today Klark Teknik continues to bring innovation in design and dedication to engineering and sonic quality in both the analogue and digital realm of signal processing, with the Square ONE and Show Command ranges updating the brand.

The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2006, some 260,000 associates generated sales of 43.7 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,” the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of some 300 subsidiaries and more than 13,000 Bosch service centers in over 140 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. A total of 92 % of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.