コールドプレイ、センサフォニクスの 2MAXでツアー開始
（Coldplay on tour “Living the Life” with Sensaphonics IEM）

Living the Life – On Tour with Coldplay

 

One of the hottest arena/shed tours on the road this summer is ’s Viva La Vida. We spoke with the band’s longtime monitor engineer, Chris Wood, when the tour rolled through Indianapolis recently.

 

Like many successful engineers, Wood began his career as a musician. “It’s the usual tale of the failed musician,” he wryly recalls. “The band I played with would hire a P.A. and I noticed the guys working on the system were better off than I was.” Having mixed monitors through most of the 90s, Wood hired on with Coldplay in 2000 and has been with them ever since. Coldplay

 

 

All four band members are on Sensaphonics earphones, having upgraded from the classic to now using the for this year’s tour. A few wedges can still be seen on stage, but are used mainly for backup. “Most of the backline crew also have Sensaphonics IEMs,” says Wood. “We have found the drivers to be very reliable. I can’t recall having a problem in the eight years we have used them.”

 

Another change this year is that lead vocalist Chris Martin now keeps both of his earpieces inserted throughout the show. “Previously, Chris wore one earpiece and one ER15 (custom earplug) as he liked to hear the band acoustically,” notes Wood. “But with the increasing size of the venues – and the level of the stage and P.A. – he prefers to make the most of the noise rejection the 2MAX gives him. He keeps both earpieces in place all the time now.”

 

To keep the band connected to the audience, Wood adds some ambience to his monitor mix. “I use a pair of Sennheiser shotguns at the downstage left and right corners, pointing toward the center of the audience about 40 feet back from the stage,” Wood reveals. “With a heavy low frequency rolloff, I can leave them on at low level throughout the show.”

 

Chris Wood relies on his Sensaphonics earphones both during and between shows. “I used them constantly, as the sound quality is excellent and are very comfortable. I always use them to mix shows with, and also when traveling, especially when flying.”

 

Coldplay will wrap up its North American tour in mid-August, when they embark on a two-month run through Europe. The band is offering a live album recorded on the Viva La Vida tour, titledLeftRightLeftRightLeft, as a free download.