'The Craft' is back with our second episode! Sonnox’s Content Creator Tom Keogh visited Metallica's live sound team in June at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, during the Europe leg of the M72 Tour.

Watch Episode 2 on YouTube: Greg Price, Mike 'Mic' Bollella and Bob Cowan

Meet the team

Tom sat down with three key members of Metallica's live sound department: Greg Price (Front of House Engineer), Bob Cowan (Monitor Engineer for James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich) and Mike 'Mic' Bollella (Monitor Engineer for Robert Trujillo and Kirk Hammett).

Together, they lifted the lid on just how you bring an iconic legacy band's signature sound into a massive stadium and deliver an unforgettable show for tens of thousands of fans, multiple times a week.

Greg Price: from the studio, to the stage, to the stadium

Greg talked about his approach to building the live show for the audience, in his words “from the studio, to the stage, to the stadium.” He described how he prepared for the first day of tour, from the initial phone call telling him he got the gig to recreating the mix in his own home.

Hearing from someone at the cutting edge of live sound shows the time, effort and technical proficiency that go into tours like M72, and the results on show day were equal measures thunderous and crystalline.

Bob Cowan and Mike 'Mic' Bollella: inside the monitor world

Bob and Mike delved into the hidden world of monitors. Where do these engineers set up when there's no space left on the stadium floor? With enough appetite for problem solving, and a hell of a lot of cable, almost anywhere.

For this stop on the tour, they set up in the Principality Stadium's underground car park, around 230 metres from the stage. That brings all manner of problems, not least that you can't see or hear a note of the show. For these guys? No problem.

The tools behind the sound

Behind every great show is a team relying on tools they can trust. Sonnox's Oxford Reverb and Oxford TransMod feature heavily in the Metallica crew's workflows, working as integral, behind-the-scenes instruments that elevate the sound without unwanted aliasing or unintended colouration.

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