Blossoms choose Shure for live gigs

Stockport  band Blossoms, who were rated highly in the BBC's Sound Of 2016 list of  bands to watch this year, are using Shure microphones and in-ear  monitoring systems on their current summer festival 

Shure Artist: Blossoms

Stockport band Blossoms, who were rated highly in the BBC's Sound Of  2016 list of bands to watch this year, are using Shure microphones and  in-ear monitoring systems on their current summer festival tour, which  includes forays to Australia and Japan as well as mainland Europe and  the Glastonbury Festival.

Dan Woolfie, the band's Tour Manager, has been using a Shure PSM1000  in-ear monitoring (IEM) system on all the band's recent dates, as well  as a KSM313 ribbon mic on Josh Dewhurst's guitar and the new KSM8  dual-diaphragm mic for vocals.

Blossoms had been using IEMs for only a matter of months when they  recorded a session at Abbey Road and came across Shure’s PSM1000  systems. In that instant the whole band agreed that this upgrade would  make a huge difference to their live shows.

The PSM1000s provide dedicated monitor mixes for each band member,  but their use on the Blossoms tour doesn't end there — the whole  backstage team also uses the system. "The band loves the PSM1000 IEMs,  and so do the in-house techs wherever we go, because they're so easy to  use," explains Woolfie. "From a crew perspective, PSM1000 allows us to  have a crystal clear live audio and access to all the band members'  mixes via Cue Mode — so if there are any technical problems on stage, we  can hear them straight away and sort them out. We can also do silent  line checks and have great communication with the front of house  engineers, which is a great help when time is an issue — and that's  always the way at festivals. There’s also no drop out in signal when  we’re running around, which is something we found happened with the old  system we were using."

Josh Dewhurst, Blossom's lead guitarist, has always been particular  about his live sound, and used to employ combinations of dynamic and  condenser mics together on his amp to create the thick, warm sound he  wanted live. This has changed since being introduced to the Shure KSM313  ribbon mic. "I'm very particular about how my guitar sounds from a FOH  perspective and also, very importantly, from an IEM perspective too," he  comments. "I went from using various stereo mic rigs to just the KSM313  ribbon mic alone. It perfectly captures the guitar and amp's individual  tones simultaneously without getting lost or altered in any way.  Essentially it makes my setup sound exactly how I want it to with very  little mixing needed, either out front or for the in-ears. It sounds  incredibly powerful in a charming, realistic fashion." Dan Woolfie sums  it up: "The KSM313 does the job of two mics; in fact, it does the job  better." "The 313 is amazing," adds the band's Front Of House Engineer  Chris Pearce. "It does what the old dynamic and condenser mics did  together, and then some!"

Chris Pearce has also found that using the Shure KSM8 on the band's  vocals and the Shure Beta 98AMP on Joe Donovan's drums has meant he  needs to use less corrective EQ live. "With the Beta 98AMPs, the drums  have loads of attack — I no longer need to add EQ at 4-5kHz to create  that. It's the same with the KSM8s on the vocals — they have a really  warm, smooth response, and I need to add very little EQ now." Dan  Woolfie echoes Pearce's comments. "The KSM8s are really impressive  microphones; they sound amazing, look amazing, and what’s under the  grill is a great piece of engineering."

Blossoms release their debut album on August 5th. A full list of live dates on their summer tour can be found at: www.blossomsband.co.uk.