Lewis, who is a director of Urban Audio Productions, comments, "When you're dealing with a band that has a big guitar sound you need a console that is sympathetic to that sound and not too analytical. All the Midas PRO series have what many engineers call this 'warmth' to them and it is this sound that I feel helps to tame really raw sounding instruments whilst preserving what you are really after in a mix."
A long time Midas user and fan, Lewis has already purchased a PRO2 and a PRO2C console for his company Urban Audio Productions and has previously used a PRO6 for Beady Eye live shows. But for this performance, as Gallagher's Beady Eye supported The Stone Roses, it was all about the PRO2.
"I specifically chose to use the PRO2 for this performance - Beady Eye is not a complex band but what it does require is the best quality signal possible," says Lewis. "When I learned of the PRO2 system late last year I liked the compact surface layout, and the comprehensive feature set carried over from the other PRO series consoles. It immediately seemed to fit well with how I mix, feeling very intuitive and quick to use, and by no means least of all, it still retains the excellent MIDAS sound from the XL8 and XL4 before it."
For the Heaton Park show Lewis's Urban Audio Productions supplied the FOH PRO2 and Britannia Row supplied the onstage PRO2 and monitor rig. Both PRO2 consoles shared a pair of DL431 mic splitters with all the mic inputs being taken from these units. Onstage there was another 451 I/O box to allow some extra FX to be patched into the monitor board but all other I/O was taken care of on by the onboard surface sockets.
(Jim Evans)
