World - Prog rock musician Steven Wilson is currently on his The Overview Tour, for which tour manager, Dave Salt has chosen Britannia Row Productions to provide sound reinforcement. The crew toured the UK, Ireland, and Europe and are currently in North America before they close out the year in Australia.
“Touring only happens when Steven feels its right to do it,” says Dave. “It’s never rushed. Steven had not toured as a solo artist for over six years, and we had to up the game for this tour and make sure we had the best available people and PA system to deliver the results to his audience.”
FOH engineer Alessandro Melchior describes the project as something “designed to be truly immersive, engaging multiple senses to create a deeper connection with the audience.”
Alongside a well-executed visual design, fans were immersed via surround sound, which played a key role in surprising fans. Alessandro continues: “Enveloping the audience in a 360-degree sonic environment not only enhanced the sense of space and depth of the performance but contributed to making the audience feel as if they were ‘inside’ the music.”
The visual storytelling coupled with intentional sound immersion was crafted to elevate the tour beyond the traditional concert experience, notes Alessandro, with the product offering fans a journey that would “deepen their emotional engagement with Steven's music.”
His FOH setup was somewhat straightforward: “I mixed on a DiGiCo Quantum338, which suits my workflow perfectly. With a sizable channel count and varied setlist, having many faders was essential for control, including the surround sound. The stage quality was exceptional, with high-level musicianship, so most issues were addressed during pre-production. External FX were processed through UAD Apollo x16D interfaces, replicating specific effects from Steven's albums such as pitch-shifting, distortion, saturation and bus processing.”
Outboard gear included Rupert Neve 5045 units on vocals for increased gain before feedback, maintaining clarity even in hectic sections, and an analogue Empirical Labs FATSO 2-channel compressor for added warmth and character.
For vocals, the Shure Nexadyne 8/C emerged as the favourite microphone choice. Alessandro furthers: “It delivered the most natural tone without heavy processing, and its polar pattern kept on‑stage bleed well controlled. Capturing the cleanest possible sources from the stage was essential to me - it's the foundation of any great-sounding show.”
To manage audio equipment inventory on the road, Alessandro explains why Britannia Row has been a reliable rental partner: “Britannia Row has well-maintained kit, tidy packaging and road-cases, and send touring crews that are professional and responsive. Their tech support and on-site engineers make our whole production run so smoothly.”
In the UK and Europe, the crew carried an L-Acoustics PA system. “From the outset, I specified the L2 system because my priority was a clean, controlled stage, and I needed an engineer who could deploy and tune it to meet that goal. When I spoke with Dan [Fathers, systems engineer], we agreed that uniformity of sound would be the deciding factor.
Dan adds: “The system was designed to be modular and scalable, as the tour visited a mix of small arenas and theatres. So, flexibility in the design was essential to maintain consistent quality and coverage regardless of the room. In the design phase, my focus is always on getting consistent, even coverage across the venue, low-frequency control, especially on stage, and the speed and repeatability of deployment, making the system adaptable to a wide range of venue sizes and rigging solutions.”
The primary design comprised L2 and L2D loudspeakers for the main hangs, KS28s for sub bass – typically in cardioid or spaced configurations – A10s and A15s for fills and out-fills.
Dan continues: “We have Syva deployed for the surround/immersive reinforcement, run by RF or over AVBOne. A standout benefit was the L2’s cardioid capability, which helped us massively reduce stage wash and maintain a very clean onstage environment, just as Alessandro wanted. Some rooms had limited rigging options or tight trim heights, so we adapted the system design on the fly using Soundvision.”
The L2 and L2D arrays are driven by L-Acoustics LA7.16 amplifiers. The KS28 subs, Syva surrounds, and A Series fills are driven by a combination of LA12X and LA4X amplifiers, depending on deployment and channel count.
He adds: “At the heart of the signal chain is two L-Acoustics P1 processors, handling time alignment, EQ, and routing, as well as providing a stable interface for system measurement and control. I use Soundvision for system design, modelling, and venue adaptation, LA Network Manager for amp control, monitoring, and tuning, and Smaart for real-time analysis, alignment, and fine-tuning across the system.”
For Dan, collaborating with Britannia Row has been an exceptional experience from start to finish. “The new HQ gave us the space and time for proper system prep, from testing racks and patching through to running full checks on control and network infrastructure before we hit the road. On tour, their technical support is outstanding.”
Monitor engineer Luca Romani’s setup has been mirrored from FOH: a DiGiCo Quantum338 Pulse, with UAD x16D for additional FX (mostly reverbs), and an analogue 5045 on selected sources.
“We have one shared SD Rack with 32Bit cards on an optical loop, PSM1000 with P10R+ packs, one Apollo 16XD and a mif4, mostly so that we keep the system simple and easy to spec around the world. In Europe we had two Quantum338 sharing an SD Rack and a SD Nano Rack for some additional inputs. Using the Apollo units was a first for me as I don’t usually use plug-ins live, but in this case, it was a great addition.”
The Overview Tour will conclude on 17 November in Brisbane, Australia, with local support from Clair Global group partner, JPJ Audio.
