Ilias Andrianatos is Kaiser Chiefs' monitor engineer. Along with front of house engineer Chris Leckie, he took the decision to upgrade lead singer Ricky Wilson's mic to a Sennheiser SKM 935.
"We wanted a vocal mic with a flat frequency response and consistent on/of axis response that cuts through the stage sound and has a good feedback rejection," explains Andrianatos. "That is suitable for Ricky's voice. The mic also needs to be able to take the knocks and drops during his super energetic shows. The SKM 935, e 935 and the e 845 that previous front of house engineers before Chris used for Ricky, all fulfil those requirements."
In addition to Ricky Wilson's vocal mic, the Kaiser Chiefs' stage is full of Sennheiser instrument mics, ew 300 IEM G2 in-ear monitors and wireless ew 500 instrument systems.
"We're using e 906s for the guitar cabinet and e 904s on the toms because of their natural, warm sound," continues Andrianatos.
Kaiser Chiefs are currently touring UK arenas, including sold out shows at MEN Manchester, and a UK leg finale at Wembley Arena. The tour then continues on to Australia and to further shows in the Far East.
(Jim Evans)
