Video - First gig with RCF as backline

Fro

Experienced
I know this isn't the best recorded example, since the audio is from an overdriven Canon PowerShot mic, but I thought I would post it anyway. The song is the title track from the singers upcoming solo CD. Xeno has been a fixture in the Milwaukee music scene for a long time now. He is from the band Bad Boy. Bob Griffin on bass is the original bass player from the Bodeans.

We're doing a series of warm-up shows in the area before the CD comes out. This is a small club in West Allis, Wisconsin that is one of the few left that still hosts original rock music. This club doesn't let us put anything into the PA except vocals and bass drum, and the acoustic guitar. Up until this point, I was using an ART SLA-2 into my Marshall 2x12 with Scumback M75's. Now I'm just going through the RCF NX12M. It's on a smaller speaker stand just behind me to the left of the drum kit. My Axe Fx II is on top of the bass amp. The patch is nothing fancy, just a JCM 800. The speaker IR is the new Ownhammer V2 Bogner 12M, with the e906 mic, position 7, I think.

I'll make sure to mention when the CD comes out. All of my parts on the CD are 100% Axe Fx II.

 
Sounds like its cutting through fine. Good example of a small rig keeping pace with a live drummer. How are you feeling about the setup?
 
Sounds like its cutting through fine. Good example of a small rig keeping pace with a live drummer. How are you feeling about the setup?

I was a little nervous at first. Not because of using a smaller FRFR solution as backline, but because of the 60 degree dispersion. I was standing on top of it and slightly to the side at rehearsal, and I found that one foot over too much put me in a dead spot. I was more in front of it at the show, so it worked. This was a longer room with no way for the crowd to be anywhere but right in front of the stage, so the dispersion for them wasn't an issue. Having it up on the stand helps a lot.

Everything else about the speaker was great. I kept the bass boost switch off. I had plenty of headroom to spare, so keeping up with the drummer wasn't a problem. If I'm too quiet at all in the video, it's because everyone in the room giving us mix suggestions didn't want me any louder. I was pretty happy with the IR choice, so even keeping the volume pulled back it popped through when I needed it to. If anything, I may move my solo boost up. Right now I have it at a 4db boost. I may change that to 6db. The drummer was in a bit of a bass trap on stage. That combined with being on the side of my speaker made it harder for him to hear me, but it worked out OK.

I am on the waiting list for the Atomic CLR. I do think I would be happier with the 90 degree dispersion. I'm also eyeing up the new Matrix, which I think is 80. The RCF was great, but I think I'm glad that the stage was smaller. I would have been hesitant to move to the other side of the stage if it were bigger. But, I won't know for sure until I'm in that situation. Either way, I'm pretty sure I will stick with the FRFR backline solution instead of the traditional amp/cab. A single 12" powered monitor seems to be plenty, and it sounded great.

I also ended up talking to 2 guys who spotted the Axe Fx on stage. One guy was still researching them. He had read a bunch of reviews, but never talked to anyone in person who had used one. He was happy to see it in action. The other guy already owned one, but didn't let on right away that he did. He was interested to hear my opinion first. He was more of a bedroom player, and hadn't really used one live. It's pretty cool that the word is out there, and people know what it is that I'm using.
 
When you get the CLR in, you should try pairing them up in stereo. I bet it would kill!
 
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