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Minnie Drives at Musical Success with Midas and the Finn Brothers

Neil and Tim Finn, The Finn Brothers, are currently on tour in the UK promoting their first collaborative studio album in over eight years. Everyone Is Here reflects not only the musical reunion of the former Crowded House and Split Enz front men (Neil and Tim respectively) but also the involvement of both former and current musical cohorts. The duo is accompanied on the UK/Ireland leg of their tour by Academy Award nominee, Minnie Driver. The British actress, nominated for her role in Good Will Hunting, has embarked on a singing career with the launch of her debut album, Everything In My Pocket. The entire show is mixed by Giles Woodhead on his "weapon of choice", a Midas XL4 accompanied by an XL3 stretch, while monitors are handled by Ben Shapiro on a Heritage 3000.

"The XL4 is by far and away my favourite desk," confirmed Giles. "It sounds great, everything is accessible, and it is extremely reliable, which to me is of paramount importance – there's nothing worse than worrying about whether or not the desk is going to make it through the night on top of all the other stresses you have to deal with when mixing a live show. I had a nasty experience recently when I was on tour with a new digital product. I got through three desks in six shows! Eventually I couldn't stand it any more, so I asked for my XL4 back."

Unusually, Giles mixed both the main act and the support act. "It was very interesting, actually," he commented. "I was able to adapt to the changing room dynamics gradually as people filtered in throughout the support act and the temperature started to rise. By the time the room was up to capacity for Neil and Tim, we were completely ready to go. Usually you have to allow for a bit of adjustment between the support act engineer and the main act engineer, as well as an adjustment from the original sound check when the room was cold and empty, but obviously with me doing both acts and adjusting the system as I went along, none of that was necessary. I was also kept on my toes by the fact that although the guys had a set list, they would also take requests from the audience – and it could be anything! Between Crowded House, Split Enz and their respective solo careers, there's a vast amount of material to choose from, so I just had to be ready with whatever they threw at me! That's when you're really grateful to have such a flexible and trusted piece of equipment as an XL4 at your fingertips."

All the audio equipment for the UK tour, including the Midas consoles, is supplied by Capital Sound. Giles will be mixing both the Finn brothers and Minnie Driver in the UK and Ireland after which Ms Driver heads off on her US leg, and Giles will accompany the Finns on the rest of the tour in Australia and New Zealand, after which he returns to the UK to tour again with Travis, for which he has also specified an XL4.

http://www.klarkteknik.com

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Minnie Drives at Musical Success with Midas and the Finn Brothers

10th November 2004

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