Big sound for ZZ Top tour stop in Bemidji, Minnesota – with Electro‑Voice X‑Line Advance

• The Electro-Voice X2 line-array loudspeaker system stood out against other systems used on the tour for its even coverage, full-range fidelity, and compact size.
• Front-of-house (FOH) engineer Joe Keiser found the X2 to be extremely efficient in the vocal range, making it easy to keep Billy Gibbons’ vocals on top of the mix without feedback.
• NLFX Professional of Bemidji, Minnesota provided the system for the sold-out show.

Describing his five years as FOH engineer for ZZ Top, Joe Keiser calls it “The never-ending tour – they work harder than any other band I know.” The group’s 2016 season began in March, playing arenas and large theaters across North America. Dubbed the Hell Raisers tour, the group decided to travel light, renting a sound system at each venue, exposing Keiser to a wide variety of products. One that stood out for both its sound quality and ease of use was the Electro-Voice X2 line-array loudspeaker system supplied by NLFX Professional for the tour’s date at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota. The X2 is the high-performance member of the new Electro-Voice X-Line Advance family.

“That is one show that stands out for me as trouble-free,” recalls Keiser. “I remember walking in and thinking the system looked small for a sold-out arena show, but once I powered up and did our line check, I knew it was going to be a good day.”

The Electro-Voice X2 system provided by NLFX Pro consisted of twin 12-box line arrays of Electro-Voice X2/212-90 mains, augmented by a dozen Electro-Voice concert sound subwoofers. Six Electro-Voice EVU-2082 ultra-compact loudspeakers were spread across the stage lip as front fills.

“NLFX did a great job setting up the system,” notes Keiser. “I walked the room, and everything sounded smooth, both on the floor and up in the stands. The X2 system from Electro-Voice is really efficient and balanced, which makes it easy to get that thick, dirty sound that ZZ Top fans expect to hear.”

For a veteran group like ZZ Top, there is no sound check. “When people ask how the sound check went, I tell them they’ll get to hear it during the first song,” Keiser says with a chuckle. “We do a line check, listen to the room, and tune the system. Then Jake Mann, the monitor engineer, stands at Billy Gibbons’ mic and talks softly into it. Billy is a very soft singer, and I can tell right away whether I’m going to have a comfortable night. With the X2 system, I didn’t struggle to get Billy’s voice out front. It laid in the mix quite well, which made it very easy to keep it on top without a ton of processing and equalization.”

One notable feature of the ZZ Top stage is that Gibbons does not wear in-ear monitors and prefers hearing the main house mix. “I send my house mix back down the snake to Jake, who feeds it to the stage monitor wedges if Billy needs it. But he prefers to actually hear the room, so it’s important to have a natural sound. In Bemidji, I remember going on stage to listen, speaking into Billy’s mic and saying, ‘Hey, this sounds pretty sweet! It’s going to be a good night.’ So even though I’m the front of house engineer, I’m actually mixing for Billy as well.”

This was not the first time Keiser and ZZ Top have encountered the X-Line Advance from Electro-Voice in their travels. “Last summer, we played the Bluetone Festival in Straubing, Germany,” recalls Keiser. “It was at the bottom of a hill near the Danube River, and the result was the same: a big, thick mix with very little equalization or processing. That gig was just like the one we did in Bemidji – an easy day for me, and a good day for the band and their fans. As it should be.”