Slightly Stoopid's Seedless Summer Gets Loud with Meyer Sound MILO and Rainbow Production Services

The Seedless Summer Tour of the San Diego rock/blues/reggae band Slightly Stoopid is rolling across the US with a Meyer Sound system provided by Rainbow Production Services of Hampstead, New Hampshire.

The band is carrying a Meyer Sound system comprised of 24 MILO line array loudspeakers and 18 700-HP subwoofers for front of house; two MICA line array loudspeakers over one 700-HP per side for side fills; six UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers for front fill; six MJF-212A stage monitors; and one more 700-HP subwoofer for drums.

According to James Wisner, front-of-house engineer on the tour, Meyer Sound gear provides a great canvas to convey Slightly Stoopid's inimitable sound at a level befitting the tour's over-the-top party atmosphere. "As loud as it sounds good," he explains. "With the reggae side of it, there's never too much bass, never enough effects or spacey, trippy sounds."

Coupled with an Avid VENUE D-Show console, the Meyer Sound system "is very lean and to the point," Wisner notes. "Self-powered speakers, self-powered subs; everything stays nice and clean, and comes out loud and exactly how we want it. We love the low end from this system."

Slightly Stoopid frontmen Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald operate solely off the onstage MICA side fills. "They want a loud, punchy and clear, full mix downstage," explains production manager and monitor engineer Joshua Driscoll, "like setting up in the backyard and turning the PA at themselves."

The MJF-212A monitors, he adds, serve as upstage fill for mostly bass guitar plus one each for keys, percussion, and cue. "It's an incredibly loud stage," Driscoll notes. "There have been some smaller tours where we've used the MJF-212A as side fills and I'm always shocked at what they'll take and still sound like a studio monitor."

The tour is also carrying a large complement of Heil Sound, Sennheiser, and Shure microphones. All shows on the tour are multitracked from the D-Show at monitors, via MADI interface, to a Steinberg Nuendo digital audio workstation by Driscoll.

For larger venues, the system is supplemented with additional Meyer Sound equipment. "The ease with which we can add boxes locally from companies like Solotech and Pro Media / UltraSound has made it incredibly smooth to go from a 3,000-seat theatre one night to a 16,000-seat shed two nights later," says Driscoll. "When we order a truck of Meyer we know exactly what is going to show up at the loading dock and that it will slide right into our rig."

Wisner, a recording engineer who recently won his third Grammy for Usher's "There Goes My Baby" and works with Slightly Stoopid in the studio as well, appreciates the excitement of the Seedless Summer Tour. "Every night is a memorable moment," he says. "Yeah, it's being recorded, but it's a moment in time. You can't ever recreate or relive that."