Usher on OMG Tour with Meyer Sound and Major Tom

Usher's globe-trotting OMG Tour is underway as the entertainer delivers more than 50 large arena shows across North America, Europe, and Australia through March. UK audio hire company Major Tom Ltd is providing an all-Meyer Sound package built around 72 MILO line array loudspeakers and 40 700-HP subwoofers, with veteran engineer Tim Colvard leading the charge at the front-of-house position.

"My approach with all mixing projects is to have the vocals on top, clean, and clear. Once that's established, proper placement of the instrumentation is mynext goal," says Colvard. "I try to take the whole set list into consideration to set up the dynamic structure. When the Milo system is properly set up, it is a very transparent and responsive system."

The system for each arena is configured from a touring inventory that also includes UPJ-1P VariO and M'elodie line array loudspeakers, all tied together by a Galileo loudspeaker management system with two Galileo 616 processors. Bjoern Seelander takes the charge for the European shows.

"I've used many different systems and Meyer is the one, for me, with the best vocal clarity," remarks Major Tom's David "Digga" Vinnicombe, who was the system tech for the US leg.

At monitor world, Major Tom's Simon Kemp hovers over an Avid (Digidesign) Profile console which feeds 20 Meyer Sound MJF-212A stage monitors. "I have hardly any EQ on the MJFs," comments Kemp. "They sound fantastic straight out of the box." The foldback system also includes JM-1P arrayable loudspeakers.

The Usher OMG Tour gear roster features a DiGiCo SD7 frontt-of-house console, API compressors, and Avalon 737 channel strips. Usher's vocals come through a custom Crown C113a headset via Shure UHF-R wireless and a custom Shure KSM-9 handheld. For the 27 shows in North America, Major Tom received equipment support from Thunder Audio of Livonia, Michigan. Brian Thorene is monitor tech. Jack Dunnett and David Litchfield Klann are audio system techs.

Major Tom was invited by Usher's management to bid on audio production based on the success of other tours with Meyer Sound MILO systems. "It's much like systems we've taken out on other arena tours," notes Major Tom's Chris Marsh, "except for quite a few more subs." Other productions that have been supported by Major Tom include Rod Stewart, Donny Osmond, Prince, the Led Zeppelin reunion concert at the O2 arena, as well as Lionel Richie, Jeff Beck, Andrea Bocelli, and more.