Since its debut in 2016 with the critically acclaimed album Honey Bones, Dope Lemon, the moniker of acclaimed Australian artist Angus Stone, has cultivated a reputation for pairing dreamy, laid-back grooves with deeply introspective lyricism. His rich, immersive soundscapes have struck a chord with audiences across the globe.
Currently touring the world with the 2025 Golden Wolf Tour, ALIA caught up with the show at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre.
FOH engineer Adam Rhodes has worked with Angus Stone for eighteen years. Firstly, with Angus & Julia Stone, then through the solo projects, into Dope Lemon.
Adam notes that Angus is very particular about how his FOH is presented. In the first year of an album release, he likes it to be as close a representation of the album as possible.
“I will always study the new releases as closely as possible to make it feel native to me,” remarked Adam. “He may start to experiment with how it’s presented in the following years if older songs make the set list. At the beginning of a tour, we’ll spend time together at FOH with both virtual and live sound checks to discuss the way the show is presented.”
The tour utilised in-house PA systems, with Adam adding that an L-Acoustics K2 is his preferred indoor PA, and K1 for outdoor.
“It feels the most organic of all the modern boxes,” he says. “It’s not to say that I don’t like d&b and Adamson. But when I get to choose, that’s the one.”
Adam’s console of choice for Dope Lemon is the Avid S6L 24D/32D, commenting that his whole pro digital audio life has been based around Avid.
“It makes sense to me and suits my workflow, and the console sounds amazing,” he said. “It feels the most musical of the current models of consoles around. Also, having the AVB stream to send to and from Pro Tools native to the console, along with Venue link, makes the setup of each day a lot simpler and reliable.
“I really like that the plugins are native to the console and do not require running an external engine. With the five different vocal chains we have for this show and the variety of FX and distortions that need to be automated, the S6L takes this job on very easily and keeps all the elements close at hand.”
Adam admits that Dope Lemon is very challenging to mix as it blends a lot of traditional elements with modern techniques. He remarks that everything is treated in some way.
“I think the only channels that aren’t processed or distorted are the toms, congas overhead and hats. Other than that. Most of what I do is classified information. What I can say is, it is the epitome of over-processing.”
The microphone package is very traditional, mostly Shure gear. Shure 57s on snares and guitar amps, Shure 52 and 91 for kick in out and Shure Beta 98s on toms and conga. All but one vocal mic on the stage is a Shure KSM8.
“These changed our gig and made our stage so much cleaner,” elaborated Adam. “We do use a Sennheiser 609 for the more filtered vocal chains. It gives me a more lo-fi base to start from and has great rejection. The 609 can be challenging when used to talk between songs, but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.”
Will Davy is the Monitor Engineer and all-round stage master and Dope Lemon tech head. He uses a DiGiCo SD12-96 or DiGiCo 25 Pulse. According to Adam, he does an amazing job at keeping what is a very volatile stage under control and the band very happy.
The whole band is on IEMs of various brands and models. Angus is currently using JH16 with transmission from the Shure Axient Digital PSM for his IEMs; he also has a pair of d&b M4 monitor wedges and whatever side fill is available.
Adam toured a complete control package from JPJ Audio, including consoles, patch, power, stands and leads.
Challenges on the tour are minimal, as Adam says they are very well prepared for most situations, with a very talented crew.
“If I had to say anything, it would be keeping the filtered and overdriven open microphones stable,” he added. “We want a big and full sound without becoming uncomfortable. I feel we take each venue to its limits. Any unstable stage will make all our days a challenge.
“This year’s run of shows has been very successful. I think the show is sitting in a very good place. We still have a few months to go, and it’s only getting better.”
