For the Mercury & Lightning Tour, McMillan added DPA’s
d:facto™ 4018VL Linear Vocal Microphones and
d:dicate™ 2011 Cardioid Microphone on guitar amps, bass amps, the snare drum and as a spot mic for acoustic segments, along with the
d:vote™ 4099 Instrument Microphone on toms and outside kick drum.
“The band instantly fell in love with the DPA microphones,” adds Chris. “John Mark is blown away by how great his vocals sound with the d:facto. He is not pushing by the end of the night because he is not overexerting himself trying to make up for something he is not hearing. Our drummer loves the 4099’s because we plug in and everything is just clearer, fuller and frequency-rich. In addition to the amazing sound we get using the
d:vote™ 4099’s on the drums, the
d:dicate™ 2011 does an incredible job on the guitars. The mics and amps are so smooth and the drum bleed is negligible. All of the DPA mics deliver such a big sound.”
McMillan has also used the
d:dicate™ 2011 for some acoustic segments during the concert with great results. “House engineers immediately asked what we were doing because they couldn’t believe how natural the acoustic set came off,” he says. “The vocals and the guitar sounded like they were right in front of you, but you were really 50 feet back.”