If you’re going to leave someone behind, leave the FOH engineer. Take your monitor operator.
Please Remember:
The opinions expressed are mine only. These opinions do not necessarily reflect anybody else’s opinions. I do not own, operate, manage, or represent any band, venue, or company that I talk about, unless explicitly noted.
Want to use this image for something else? Great! Click it for the link to a high-res or resolution-independent version.I can’t remember where I read it, but someone once suggested that, when touring, take the FOH engineer if:
- Your FOH and monitor engineer are separate people, and
- You can only take one on the road.
I can NOT disagree with this more. Do the opposite. If you must choose, leave FOH at home and take a monitor engineer with you.
Why?
Because consistently good monitors are much more key to a great gig than consistently good FOH audio.
Think about your most favorite live band. Imagine them on tour with a truly enormous, beautifully tuned, FOH PA system. Imagine that this PA system is made of unicorns. These unicorns use the magical power of love and non-hydrogenated vegetable oil to create a bubble universe that causes all acoustical problems to vanish in the vicinity of the band.
Now imagine that the unicorns carry a curse. The FOH PA will be perfect, but the sound on stage will be bad. The band won’t be able to hear each other or themselves very well. The sound on deck will always be a muddy roar. Requests for “more or less this or that” will always be ignored.
Do you want to go to that show? Would you spend top dollar on a ticket for that show? Do you think that show will feature an amazing performance by that band that you love?
My feeling is that the answer is “not really.”
A band that can fully engage and enjoy the show on deck has a much, much better chance of delivering the kind of blistering performance that satisfies old friends and makes new ones. If they can’t do that, then who cares if the FOH mix is absolutely spot on? It’s irrelevant.
…and I can tell you why I feel very confident about my position: People go to, and often manage to greatly enjoy, performances in acoustically hostile spaces. Rooms where even very seasoned FOH engineers end up with results that aren’t particularly satisfying. Places where the sound for the audience isn’t so great, but where monitor world managed to give the band a good solution.
The performance. The spectacle. The emotion. That comes from the band, and is translated through the PA. That’s what has to be achieved, and the sound on deck is the root. If the root is lost, the tree dies.
It’s not that FOH isn’t important, or that we shouldn’t worry about it. We should. It’s a big component in crafting a memorable show. But start at the beginning. The stage is where a great FOH mix starts. It’s best not to have to choose, but if you do have to choose, prioritize the sound on stage.
Take the monitor engineer. Don’t leave a foundational element of a killer gig to somebody you’ve never met before. To do so is nonsensical.