Active for six decades, The Rolling Stones remain one of the most popular and enduring bands of the Rock era. This year, the band brought their tour ‘SIXTY’ to a variety of large outdoor stadiums across Europe, taking with them microphones from Austrian Audio.
For ‘SIXTY’, The Stones chose to work once again with legendary front of house engineer Dave Natale, to make sure their sound is as exceptional as their fans expect. Natale is one of the most influential and respected live sound engineers, known for his work with Prince, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Tina Turner, Yes, Stevie Nicks, Motley Crue and many more A-list artists. Natale specifically chose to use the OC18 and CC8 Cardioid True Condenser microphones for both ‘SIXTY’ and band’s previous tour ‘No Filter’. Messaging the Austrian Audio team to praise the mic whilst on the road last year, Natalie revealed: “We love them. I really like the fact that they weigh a lot. They are a really nice piece of functional engineering artwork!”
Austrian Audio’s CEO, Martin Seidl, was on the scene when The Stones rocked Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium in July. “It was an unbelievable experience,” he explains, “Of course, I’m probably The Stones’ biggest fan, so just seeing them live again was really cool. But hearing our mics on stage – that was unreal.” The concert taking place in Austrian Audio’s hometown made it an even more unforgettable evening. “It doesn’t get bigger than this,” Seidl says with a grin.
Austrian Audio’s AR manager Walter Rührig affirms: “I’m more than excited to have seen the Stones live. It’s just really amazing hearing the technology in such a larger-than-life environment. We developed Austrian Audio’s signature Open Acoustics technology right here in Vienna, and now we’re hearing Steve Jordan playing the drums for The Stones through our CC8s. It’s just crazy!”