Thousands of excited voices fill the arena in anticipation, waiting for the moment to arrive. Suddenly darkness. The voices hush for but a second when the first notes of “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance” rise into the air, clear and crisp, the crowd erupts in cheer.
Garth Brooks and his legion of fans made music history this year, celebrating a new ticket sales record after three years touring North America together with his wife, Trisha Yearwood, and his trusted, one-of-a-kind sound system designed by Clair Brothers.
(from left to right) Pat O’Neill, crew chief; Dan Heins, FOH engineer & sound designer; Josh Sadd, sound designer & Clair Brothers chief engineer; and Rob Rankin, system engineer.
The exacting standards by which Garth works and his genuine thoughtfulness, from his songwriting and studio recording, to the level of planning, production quality, gear and pros he takes out on the road with him, set the stage for success. Preparation for this tour began in 2014 when Garth commissioned a custom-made sound system design from Clair Brothers. Six months of research and system development engineering were required to meet the vision conceptualized by Brooks and his production team. This vision garnered Garth and his team a 2018 TEC Award nomination for Outstanding Creative Achievement for Tour/Event Sound Production.
Pre-show stage at the United Center, Chicago, IL.
His main touring PA consists of a combination of Clair Brothers i218-M and i212-M line array speakers and features a one-of-a-kind, central-steered subwoofer array that is employed for high-impact, low-frequency special effects (i.e. lifelike thunder in “The Thunder Rolls”). All speakers are powered by CB-Lab.gruppen PLM 20K amplifiers and mixed by a Yamaha PM-10.
According to Dan Heins, Garth’s trusted FOH engineer since 1989, “The Clair Brothers PA consistently delivers, sounds great and holds up over the years. Just like Garth.” After playing seventy-seven cities the total number of tickets sold for the North American leg of The Garth Brooks World Tour exceeded 6.3 million. That’s impressive by any measure and a testament to the popularity of Garth Brooks, even after taking a thirteen-year break from touring.
Garth Brooks performance in State College, PA.
The team at Clair Brothers couldn’t be prouder, not only to be associated with Garth and his incredible tour, but also to have played such an integral role in the quality of the sound production that delivers his songs to his fans night after night. Says Josh Sadd, chief sound design engineer at Clair Brothers, “Congratulations to Mr. Brooks and his entire team on their record-breaking tour and TEC Award nomination.
We appreciate being a part of an amazing show and thank you for your loyalty to our sound design. Garth shows truly embody the magic of the concert experience and it’s always a genuine pleasure to work with you, Garth!” When asked for his perspective, Garth didn’t hesitate: “Touring with Clair Brothers is touring with the best. The sound, the gear, the people…I wouldn’t go on tour without them – never have, never will.”
- Main PA System: (20) i218-LT (40) i218-M (48) i212-M (30) iS218-M (16) CS218-M (8) FF2-H. L’ensemble est processé et amplifié en CB-Lab.gruppen PLM 20K
- CREW: FOH Engineer – Dan Heins Sound Designer – Dan Heins & Josh Sadd System Engineer – Rob Rankin Crew Chief – Pat O’Neill Monitor Engineer – Martin “Tike” Santos Monitor System Engineer – Kevin “Kap” Kapler
More information on Clair Brothers website
Text Clair Bros - Photos © 2018 Ben Krebs
