USA - James Butera has chosen Clair Global and multiple Clair brands for audio rental and support many times during his career as both a FOH engineer and production manager, and in his most recent outing with pop star Halsey, he's working with the group once again.
"One of the vendors I grew up working with in Dallas was Onstage Systems which was purchased by LD Systems, and then LD Systems was purchased by Clair Global, so it's kind of come full circle now," he states.
"Large-scale audio and touring are something I've always wanted to do, but I had to pick up other skill sets along the way to get where I am now. The audio vendor I got in with worked with Mary J. Blige, so I bypassed the sprinter van and went straight to bigger shows on my first tour, but my next tour was in a sprinter van. I was tour manager, production manager, mixing monitors and FOH all in one console, plus I was booking the flights and hotels," he adds.
James relishes creating live mixes for multi-award-winning singer Halsey, who has just toured the US before her Euro festival appearances next month. Over the last few years of his career development, he's also seen first-hand the evolution of Clair Global's worldwide network.
He continues: "I'm constantly prepping out of the UK Hub (home to Britannia Row Productions, Skan PA Hire, Eighth Day Sound, and Plus 4 Audio), and I've done many rehearsals at BBM Clair in Germany. Stuart Wright, who helped to establish the Clair KSA location, has saved me when I've had a last-minute show booked in Riyadh, and I've even used the JPJ Audio team in Australia. I've been fortunate to work with most of the Clair offices in both the States and abroad - their support around the world has been huge for me.
"The input, experience and culture from different offices has really formed this new and amazing thing. It's a great feeling to work with the company, whether I'm a production manager or an engineer on a tour; I know that the gig's going to happen, the gear is going to be correct, and the crew is going to be amazing. There's also this sense of community within Clair, which is hard to describe, especially when you go to Lititz, there's an energy, an ingenuity there.”
James' pre-tour visits to Lititz involved strategizing for his rig, which included new Cohesion products on their first tour outing: "Watching the Cohesion engineering and the Clair operations teams make sure we felt taken care of was amazing. It's not like we're a giant stadium tour, but they treated us like we were. Even when I was doing small theatres, we received the same level of attention from Clair; to have a company dedicate time and effort to every size of act will always make the audio team feel good."
Halsey's next live shows will be at Festival Park Yenikapı in Istanbul, Turkey and Zurich Openair, Switzerland.