Hailing from the Dordogne, Gerard Albo's interest in the Vi6 was alerted after he had returned to sound mixing after an enforced layoff, following a 2006 tour with Corrine Bailey Rae.
Taking Amy Winehouse's FOH position from his friend (and tour manager) Dave Swallow (who was on paternity leave) he mixed shows at the Benicassim Festival in Spain, three broadcasts in Italy and the MTV Awards in Munich.
But his first exposure to the Vi6 came during the iTunes Festival at the ICA this summer, where Winehouse was playing and the desk was installed. "I was already curious, but I was surprised just how good it was," he said. He later found himself babysitting Prince's sound engineer on IndigO2's house Vi6.
After two days production rehearsals at Bray Studios he was thrown straight into Winehouse's now notorious opening show at Birmingham's NIA. "There was a lot I had to do on the fly - but fortunately the Vi6 is a very easy desk to navigate, and I picked it up immediately."
(Jim Evans)
