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Melanie Martinez tours with Cohesion audio system

Melanie Martinez’ “Trilogy” tour across the US, and more recently through the UK, continental Europe, and Mexico, featured songs from the American alternative pop singer-songwriter’s first three full-length albums and a Cohesion audio system.

“Melanie is so hands-on and creative”, says Tour Manager Janine Edwards, a thirty-year veteran who has also worked with Machine Gun Kelly, Yoshiki, and Rob Zombie. “Every piece of video content, every costume, the dance rehearsals, the auditions, the hours and hours of meetings with content creators: everything is from her brain.” Paul “Arlo” Guthrie, Production and Lighting Designer, agrees: “Of all the artists I’ve worked with, not many have that much input. There wasn’t one part of the show we weren’t pushing: audio, band, choreography, lighting. It was her vision.”

FOH Engineer James “Mo” Butts was entrusted to select a PA for the “Trilogy” tour. The audio system deployed by Clair Global highlighted the Cohesion CO12: Sixteen left-right on the mains, fourteen on either side hang, and another twelve on each of the rear hangs. Twelve Cohesion CP218 II+ in two hangs of six in cardioid configuration were deployed directly behind the main hangs. System Engineer Anne Butt says that the low-end response of the CO12 resulted in only six flown subs needed per side.

“We were able to deploy the PA with such precision. Annie put the downstage edge of the PA right at the edge of the thrust, so Melanie wasn’t ever in the PA”, says Butts, with Butt adding: “Mo likes the way the CO12 sounds out of the box, so I spent less time targeting a specific response and focused on consistency, which was a high priority on this tour.”

Depending on the venue, five to seven Cohesion CO8 around the stage’s edge provided fill. A typical arrangement called for four CO8 on stands and one near the thrust hidden behind fake foliage, consistent with Martinez’s desire to enrapture audiences in a seamless, two-hour narrative.

As Guthrie details, that centrally placed CO8 is illustrative of the collaborative nature among the audio and production teams: “We created this great, organic world, filled with greenery, little animals and butterflies - how could we work out not having a black trapezoidal box on it? We didn’t want to break the illusion. Mo and Annie were creative and flexible with solutions to respect the aesthetics. That meant a lot to me.” Two Cohesion CF24 were used for reference speakers.

According to Edwards, Cohesion was selected to “cover so much ground but be unobtrusive to the show. Everyone needed great audio, but we wanted everyone to have a good view.” Guthrie adds: “From a design perspective, you never think of the PA, and that’s dumb. I tried to incorporate the PA early into sketches. I asked, ‘Is there a way you can help us out visually?’ I had a good relationship with Mo, and it felt very collaborative. I was honored by that.”

“We flew the PA as high as we could possibly get it”, furthers Butts. “It worked well tucked in and disappearing in the black above the production. The shape of everything allowed it to disappear. We knew we were going to deploy with nothing on the ground too. That got Arlo excited.”

Capping a musical narrative that spanned nearly a decade of recording and touring, Martinez took sold-out “Trilogy” crowds on a musical voyage from the creation of her alter-ego character “Cry Baby” through a pseudo-autobiographical setlist that culminated in the rebirth of “Cry Baby” into a four-eyed, fuzzy, altogether alien creation.

“If Tim Burton were a pop star, this was what it would look like”, says Butts. “She used a lot of visual references, so the audio needed to serve the visual. It all came together.” Martinez announced in 2023 that, following the conclusion of “Trilogy”, she would be taking time off from touring to create new projects.

Edwards notes Martinez’s confidence continued to grow with each album release and tour. “She’s a great singer, period. And she wants her shows to sound as much as possible like her albums”, she says. “We provided the audio that sounded good through all three phases of the trilogy. Simultaneously, Cohesion didn’t take up as much truck space as other systems. We were a very streamlined tour, all within twelve trucks.”

Pictured: Melanie Martinez performing at Co-op Live in Manchester, UK. (Photos: Tom Martin)

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