United Kingdom (July 23, 2026)—While best-known in the U.S. as the voice behind The Verve’s Nineties classic “Bittersweet Symphony,” Richard Ashcroft has had a long string of U.K. hits, both with that band and on his own, that have made him a cornerstone of the country’s rock roster. Putting that to the test, he recently finished up a sold-out U.K. arena tour with audio support provided by Britannia Row.
Audio reinforcement comes via Britannia Row. “This was my first tour using Brit Row,” says longtime FOH Mixer, Eds John. “I’ve been massively impressed by the care that goes into the prep of the whole system and by the team assembled to support us both on the road and at the warehouse.”
Key to the singer’s live sound is his steadfast use of a Shure Beta 58a microphone: “It works well through FOH and more importantly, Matt (Lewis, Monitor Engineer) can get enormous amounts of clean level on stage as we don’t use any IEMs,” says John.
“Richard’s voice has so much character, and it needs to be crystal clear, so I tend to sit his vocal right on top of the mix,” he adds. “This doesn’t mean the band are mixed quietly, far from it, but that vocal needs to pop out. Richard’s a huge fan of vocal FX, especially delay, so they’re constantly bubbling under until he’s ready…then the delays take your head off!” Elsewhere on stage, drums are captured with a variety of Earthworks mics, while strings are heard via a combination of DPA4099 and Schertler dynamic mics.
For the indoor arena run, Britannia Row supplied a d&b audiotechnik PA rig with DiGiCo control surfaces. John oversaw a DiGiCo Quantum 338 and a Fourier Transform Engine at FOH: “These two items are all I’ve been touring for the last couple of years, along with a Pro Tools recording rig, which I bring with me,” he says. “I like a minimal FOH set up for many reasons, including ease of duplication, as I tour the world. Fourier was a game changer for me; I have everything I need in one box and with the DiGiCo integration I really don’t need anything else.”
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For plug-ins, the engineer is using Waves Renaissance Compressors on all vocals with Waves F6 RTA EQs; there’s two vocal subgroups—one for Ashcroft and one for backing vocals which have a Waves C6 multi band. There’s also a Waves SSL Buss Compressor on the master. Elsewhere, John uses Valhalla reverbs for vocals, strings and drums, and Sonnox reverb for acoustic guitar, while everything else is on the console, including vocal delays and MSE on vocals and live strings.
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Craig Burns, system designer/engineer, developed the tour’s d&b rig, based around an SL Series system. “The idea for this tour was to ensure that the audience got the best possible experience no matter where they were sat, with minimal spill onto stage,” says Burns. “The only difficulties we faced were acoustics and low trim height in arenas. With the P.A. being positioned correctly and the desired trim heights secured, we were able to achieve great results in room which didn’t initially sound great. The SL Series is a huge help with its rearward cancellation and Array Processing ensuring the audio gets to just where it needs to go. Having the right amount of speaker hangs ensured we also didn’t have to compromise on coverage or positioning.”