Melanie Martinez entranced fans with her first three full-length albums, Cry-Baby, K–12, and Portals, with a trio of surreal narratives known for vivid, quirky imagery. “The Trilogy Tour” brought these compositions into one memorable performance. Across the US, and more recently through the UK, continental Europe, and Mexico, the alternative pop star brought to life the culmination of a ten-year vision with a Cohesion audio system in support, before embarking on a previously announced hiatus.
“Melanie is so hands-on and creative,” explained 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.”
“Of all the artists I’ve worked with, not many have that much input,” agreed Paul “Arlo” Guthrie, Production and Lighting Designer. “There wasn’t one part of the show we weren’t pushing: audio, band, choreography, lighting. It was her vision.”
The technology on “Trilogy” needed to match Martinez’s expectations of a highly elevated production. FOH Engineer James “Mo” Butts was thereby entrusted to select a PA to uphold that standard. “Cohesion is the only PA that should be on her tours,” Butts emphasized. “It is so efficient, so precise, and so clearly what I want a PA to do. It was never a question.”
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 explained 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 [Martinez] wasn’t ever in the PA,” said Butts.
“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,” said Butt.
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 detailed, 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. Referring to the FOH position, Butt said that they were “a small, nice, and neat solution for Mo—they both fit into a drawer in the workbox.”
Martinez’s drummer Al Cleveland said, “I use some of the PA as a reference monitoring system, and the range from low end to high end is very, very clear. It’s impressive. Everyone I’ve invited to come check out the show rave about the low end and how clear it is. It’s a pleasure to put on a unique show with Cohesion. I love the product.”
Edwards confirmed that 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.”
“From a design perspective, you never think of the PA, and that’s dumb. I tried to incorporate the PA early into sketches,” said Guthrie. “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. It worked well tucked in and disappearing in the black above the production,” said Butts. “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. This PA is so efficient it allowed us to do that.”
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,” said 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 noted 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. 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, and these pieces made it easier.”
“Cohesion is infinitely dynamic,” said Butts. “Ultimately, it’s all about the product. Parts of the show were 90 dB, and some were 107. I needed cohesive audio at both extremes, and it didn’t limit in creating detail either. When I mixed a 103 dB pop show with screaming fans at 110 dB, I could still hear a track of tree frogs and wind noise. That’s not normal. This PA did that.”
“Our largest demographic are ages ten to twenty. Every night, I walked the upper bowl, and those kids were singing, taking videos, and understanding every word Melanie says. That clarity and consistency was so important,” summarized Butt. “It was exciting to go to the back row of the 300s and see kids who scraped their money together have an experience they’ll always remember.”
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