The Moody Blues have been a favorite of the crew at Omega Productions. For years they have admired the history and creativity of the British band, not to mention being genuine fans. This was not the only time the Omega crew worked with the Moody Blues. In previous years, the company had been called to record a special video shoot of the band along with a second favorite, Chicago, at an outdoor venue in Dallas, which at the time was called Starplex.
So it was with much excitement that the news arrived, and Omega Productions had been chosen to record the iconic group in a special PBS outing at the classic Red Rocks Amphitheater just outside Denver in Morrison, CO. The performance, titled, “The Moody Blues a Night at Red Rocks,” would climax the “Moody Blues Tour of the World” and involve the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, backing the band in a rendition of the group’s classic hits. The video at the bottom of this post contains the show open and the first numbers performed.
The project was brought to the public by PBS, The Mudia Corporation, and Polygram Records. Lionel Schaen and John Scher served as Executive Producers. Lionel Schaen and Tom Hulett served as Producers, as well as Tim Snow. Executive in charge of production was Niki Scher. Michele Tafoya served as Production Manager. F. Douglas Travis was the Director.
Omega Productions recorded the project with the company’s 48-track mobile unit and worked with Denver-based Professional Sound and Recording (PSR) and Audio Producer Chris Mickle to capture the music portions of the show on a total of 72 digital tracks. PSR handled the recording of the Colorado Symphony on a Sony 3324 24 track machine, while Omega tracked the Moody’s band on a Sony 3348 48 track recorder. Omega supplied the set up and operation of the digital equipment through Dreamhire’s Nashville office.
Omega’s Remote Recording Director, Steve Lowney, served as Unit Manager and Technical Engineer. Omega’s Julie Haldeman served as Stage Engineer, ensuring the efficient routing of some 132 inputs to various locations around the arena and outside to Omega’s mobile as well as the video truck. Lowney was also instrumental in seeing that the various feeds such as orchestra and band were merged into a successful digital recording on Sony 3348 recorders. He also assisted Tom Garneau, who engineered and mixed the CD and Video soundtrack release.
One of the highlights of the project was the fax Lowney received from Tom Garneau, complimenting him on the quality of the recorded tracks. Engineering the orchestral portions were David Wilson, assisted by PSR’s Phil Crumrine. Video facilities were provided by Denver-based KWGN and Flash Video.
The project has become one of the most recognized and endearing live concert television specials in televised history. Because of the project’s acceptance by the public, PBS has used the footage from the concert on pledge drives all during the 90s and 2K decades.
Working on this project was indeed one of the highlights of all our careers and serves as one of the most-watched and listened to projects recorded by the company.
