I wanted to write this post about Metallica’s set up for a couple of reasons. Spoiler alert.. there isn’t a ton of pedals, etc. So why am I bringing this up?
I’ve always been fascinated with live set ups. Groups playing dive bars to good bars to theaters to larger venues and finally.. to arenas are faced with a variety of challenges pulling off a show. Most bands that probably read this site deal with the typical bar stages. You most likely don’t have guitar techs.. but maybe. You have gear and do your best to keep things running, etc. The challenges could be simple as dealing with broken strings, failed cable, etc.
As the level of stage and ticket prices go up, so does your responsibility to put on the best show possible and to help you focus on your performance. Redundancy (back up amps, guitars, etc) might be coming into the picture.
When we start hitting arena.. the game seriously changes, and it this point is why I wanted to post this. Dealing with problems, that I personally can’t imagine – because it’s not my world, but very interesting. The band uses Fractal Audio for effects and modeling. No longer using tube based amps to maintain a high level of consistency. Primary guitars, but with secondary backups loaded with wireless on separate channels. The need for wireless antennas – which I thought was interesting and the issues dealing with RF from the large back screens. Kirk needing 5 wah pedals and the ability to have people control those effects backstage. When you’re super-big-time, you need to have consistency EVERY time. You cannot have failures, and if you do, they need to be quickly remedied.
Check out this video..
Let me know what you think by commenting below!
