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Wisycom ensures full-spectrum RF coverage on Metallica world tour

Before heading out on the road with Metallica for the “M72 World Tour”, which is performed in the round, live sound monitor engineers and technicians Mike “Mic” Bollella and Robert “Bob” Cowan looked to expand the band’s RF coverage with a solution that could be used worldwide. In collaboration with RF tech Stacey Handley they selected Wisycom MTK982 Dual Wideband Transmitters.

According to Bollella, the upgrade to Wisycom has been beneficial for a variety of reasons. “First and foremost, the jump in spectrum that we can use, not only in the U.S., but worldwide, is incredible”, he says. “It is really beneficial to not have to rent additional gear for shows in markets with troublesome RF. Secondly, the technology behind the Wisycom combiners is powerful and advanced. It allows us to space the transmitters closer together when needed without worrying about certain intermod artifacts.”

As for the system’s RF-over-fiber technology, he adds: “We do not mix on stage for these in-the-round shows; most of the time, we are upwards of 500-feet away, so we need solid coverage wherever we end up. Wisycom was the only manufacturer that we spoke with that was up for that challenge, and it succeeded in every way.”

As one of two monitor engineers on tour with the band, Bollella mixes for guitarist Kirk Hammett and bass player Robert Trujillo, in addition to handling the monitor tech’ing portion of the system, while Cowan has mixed for drummer Lars Ulrich and frontman James Hetfield for more than fifteen years. In conjunction with the Wisycom system, Bollella and Cowan mix on two gain-sharing Avid S6L desks with E6L-192 engines, along with 36 Meyer Sound MJF210 and eight MJF212 wedges on stage.

Metallica’s “M72 World Tour” kicked off in Amsterdam on April 27, 2023, in support of the studio album “72 Seasons” and will wrap on September 29, 2024, in Mexico City.

Pictured (left to right): Metallica tech team members Bob Cowan, Stacey Handley and Mike Bollella. (Photo: Wisycom)

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