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She's had more chart-topping singles than any other female artist in history, but it wasn't until recently that Mariah Carey took her show on the American road. For fans of the platinum-selling diva, Mariah's mega Rainbow production did not disappoint. We're talking about a Michael Jackson-grade concert event here, complete with three Jumbotron projection systerns, a multi-layered hydraulic stage, flying go-go cages, and enough sound and lighting to melt a power plant.
The man responsible for the programming and technical operation is Mike McKnight, who we featured in our Sept.'91 and Nov.'95 issues. Mike got his start in the touring biz in the mid-'80s courtesy of friend and ace programmer Bo Tomlyn. "Earth Wind & Fire had offered Bo a gig," Mike says, "but he didn't take it, so I got the call:' Mike's foot was in the door, and his good work on the EW&F tour led to gigs with Madonna, TLC, Whitney Houston, Paula Abdul, and others. Mike made the Mariah Carey connection in 1995, again based upon a friend's recommendation. "Keith Carol, who was a monitor engineer for Madonna at the time, recommended me. It's all word of mouth in this business. Once you work for one or two major artists, then it's, `Hey, use him: I haven't sent out a resume in ten years:' Mike's solid track record didn't hurt, either.
For his first tour with Mariah, Mike had to adapt to a system that was already in place. "Walter Afanasieff was the MD [music director] on that tour, and I basically had to use the existing program - which was a nightmare since it was [Opcode] Studio Vision and it was crashing all the time. So for the second tour I insisted on switching to [Mark of the Unicorn] Digital Performer because it's the program I know best, and it works for me." For the 2000 Rainbow tour, Mike stepped into the role of Road MD, "which entails being the conduit between Mariah, the band, and the singers," he explains. "For this tour I initially had to figure out how much hard disk I/O they wanted and how technologically complex the show was going to be. I had meetings with the band and Randy Jackson, the musical director/management rep. They...