Meyer Sound MINA Makes Touring Debut with Big Daddy Weave

Looking to trim ticket prices despite soaring fuel costs on its Love Come to Life Tour, Nashville-based Christian rock band Big Daddy Weave slimmed down production by trading conventional loudspeakers and amp racks for Meyer Sound's MINA compact line array loudspeakers. This tour was the first for Mina, the newest addition to Meyer Sound's MILO family of self-powered line array loudspeakers.

"Taking an equipment truck simply wasn't an option," states the band's production manager and front-of-house mixer, Matthew Grunden. "To cut costs, we had to fit everything into a trailer behind the bus. The Mina arrays were key to making that happen."

With tickets for some shows as low as $10, Big Daddy Weave's tour hit the road in March, zig-zagging between Wyoming and Florida through spring and summer, playing 800 - 1,000 seat venues that include churches, meeting halls, and high school auditoriums. At every site, Grunden flew six Mina cabinets per side on a Genie tower and bolstered the bass with a quartet of 700-HP subwoofers. An MJF-212A stage monitor covered lead singer Mike Weaver, and a Galileo loudspeaker management system with one Galileo 616 processor tied everything together.

The tour's audio production package was supplied by Nashville-based Digital Console Rentals (DCR). As DCR's Howard Jones explains, Mina was the ideal keystone component. "Big Daddy Weave is the perfect example of the clients we can reach with MINA. With its small size, low power consumption, high output, and easy rigging, MINA fits their needs to a tee."

DCR is co-located with Meyer Sound's touring office at Nashville's Soundcheck facility, where Jones first heard a Mina system after the rehearsal spaces were renovated following the disastrous 2010 flood. "I went in for a listen, and I was immediately blown away by the power of the box for its size and weight," he recalls. "It just sounds huge."

Grunden admits that he was dubious when he first saw the Mina arrays at Soundcheck. "I said to myself, 'I'm not so sure about this.' But after they fired them up, I knew they would get the job done.

"The stereo imaging is outstanding," Grunden continues. "Where some systems will get muddy, with Mina you can separate instruments and put them precisely where you want them in the listening field. Also, as a Christian band, the vocal intelligibility is critical for making sure everybody hears the lyrics."

Before acquiring the Mina system, DCR had invested in a system of another member of the MILO family-the MICA line array loudspeakers. With the addition of Mina, Jones says the company can supply packages to a broad range of clients. "We do everything from corporate events to theatres, arenas, and major outdoor events," he says, "and we knew Mina would find a place with all of them. We will use it with the yoke mounts for a 'speaker on a stick' for corporate events, as a main PA for touring acts like Big Daddy Weave, as well as an outfill or delay in a Mica-based system for larger events."

Opening for Big Daddy Weave (a Word recording artist) were American Idol finalist Chris Sligh (Word Records) and breakout band Luminate (Sparrow Records). Other equipment on the tour included an Allen & Heath iLive-T80/iDR-32 MixRack for the front of house, a Yamaha LS9 monitor console, an array of Sennheiser microphones, and a Sennheiser IEM rig with Westone custom molds.