The Sex Pistols, legendary pioneers of the punk rock movement, brought their explosive energy to Australia with original members Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock. Frank Carter, known for his dynamic presence with The Rattlesnakes, led the charge on vocals, stepping in for Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), who was not part of this tour.
From the outset, it was clear this show was set to be something special. There would never be any middle ground, only a raw, unapologetic celebration of punk. Despite skipping soundcheck the day I attended, anticipation remained high for what was shaping up to be a powerful performance.
That anticipation was rewarded. With a tight, well-rehearsed band and a frontman who brought both grit and charisma, the gig was electrifying. The brief was to be LOUD, and the result was nothing less than spectacular.
With only a handful of shows under their belts, it made perfect sense for FOH audio engineer Mike Woodhouse and monitor engineer Scott Howarth to join the Sex Pistols tour alongside Frank Carter. Having previously worked together with Frank on Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, they had already built a strong working relationship. That established connection brought valuable synergy to the team, creating a smooth, collaborative atmosphere and delivering consistently powerful sound throughout the tour.
Mike recalls his initial reaction to taking on FOH duties for such a legendary band. “Working with the most iconic, greatest punk band of all time, I knew it would be a loud gig,” he said. “Once working with them, you don’t tell them to turn down, do you? We’ve kept it the same as it would have been back in the 1970s with loud wedges and loud guitar amps, and as sound engineers, you deal with it.”
The audio team relied on virtual soundchecks, recording the previous night’s show and using it to build the day’s setup. This gave Mike a reliable representation of how the night would sound, even without a traditional soundcheck.
“We actually go a step further; we even re-amp the guitars and bass, and we pump them back into the back line,” he continued. “So when we playback the last show’s Reaper recording, the whole stage is exactly how it would be for the show. We know how loud it will be on stage and in the room. So, as long as we record the show the night before, we don’t need them for soundcheck anyway.”
Mike and Scott both run Allen & Heath dLive consoles, enabling smooth collaboration and quick, real-time adjustments throughout the show. Solotech provided all audio control, including a Waves rig for plugin processing and a Lake LM44 handling Mike’s FOH outputs. The setup also includes an Allen & Heath DX system for remote I/O expansion via Cat5e, giving the team maximum flexibility on stage.
“Our entire line system is essentially two digital DX stage boxes, on either side of the drums, and we can patch anything between the two and say, ‘Right, send me this down this channel,’ and it’s super quick and easy,” explained Scott. “There’s no analogue to it anymore; it’s all digital!”
Given the nature of the Australian leg, portability was key in flying from city to city. Mike and Scott opted for Allen & Heath dLive C1500s at FOH and monitors due to their compact form factor and robust feature set. With the band only requiring 30 channels, the C1500’s 128-channel capacity was more than enough.
“We have a small footprint now with the dLive C1500, but when we move towards a truck in Europe, we can scale up to a dLive S5000 or S7000 without file converting; that’s the beauty of how the infrastructure on the dLive works,” commented Mike.
Regarding monitoring, Scott specified d&b M2s for the wedges and a V Sub for the drums. Side fills came from the d&b V Series, sourced locally at each stop. Frank is the only one combining IEMs with side fills. The rest of the band sticks with wedges.
“Throughout Frank’s career, he’s used to noise from the stage and popping an IEM out to either place the crowd with him or just get a feel for what’s on stage,” remarked Scott. “So we’ve got a set of six ears, which is Frank, a spare and then the crew and backups. It’s to give them a representation in their ears and protect their hearing because it does get quite loud.”
Frank and Scott both use UE 18+ PROs, and thanks to their shared work on Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Scott could lift much of the processing straight into the Pistol shows without adjustment.
“We moved to Shure PSM 1000s on the ears, where Frank used to use Sennheiser, which also cleaned up his mix. He is stoked with the combination of that and the UE 18s+ PRO.”
Mike is an enthusiastic supporter of Allen & Heath consoles, praising their intuitive design and sonic performance, adding that they’re easy to use and sound good.
“The preamps are great – you can drive them hard, and even if you hit the red, it still doesn’t sound bad,” he said. “Regarding the quality of on-board processing, the user interface is excellent, and many of the on-board plugins are well modelled. I also use the DYN8 dynamic compressor and EQ a lot. It’s brilliant. Most of the front-of-house mix is within the console, though there are some Waves plugins that I can’t tour without.”
Mike carried over a chain developed during Rattlesnake’s shows for Frank’s vocals, incorporating Waves plugins for additional precision.
“Frank spends most of the time in the pit, so I need that vocal mic to be loud and proud, but not feeding back whilst in front of the PA,” he explained.
His vocal chain includes Waves X Feedback, two Primary Source Enhancers, a de-esser, a BSS compressor, and Magma BB Tubes for saturation.
“The first Primary Source Enhancer is in the chain as expected. The second is side-chained to the snare. However, it’s set to duck mode, so anytime you hit the snare, it will close the microphone unless there’s already a source. It tightens up that vocal.”
The other vocal mics also benefit from X Feedback and Primary Source Enhancers to keep things clean and defined. This helps the vocals cut through the massive stage volume without muddying the mix.
Regarding microphone choices, Frank sticks with a classic: the Shure SM58. Mike adds that it’s the industry standard and can withstand Frank giving it a good battering! With some EQ, it still sounds good once cupped in front of the PA. Frank loves the SM58 so much he has it tattooed on him!
The rest of the mic package follows a typical rock setup with a notable upgrade for Steve’s guitar rig. “We double-mic his Marshall JCM800 with an SE Electronics VR1 ribbon mic and a Shure SM57 to properly capture that chainsaw guitar tone he gets,” Mike added.
Mike is also a dedicated fan of d&b audiotechnik systems, especially the KSL series. “It’s not too bright or dark, it does exactly what I want when I move the faders. Plus, it’s great for stage sound because of how directional the tops are paired with cardioid subs!”
“The array processing within the d&b is incredible; none of the other brands are doing it. Everyone’s got their way of working a box, but the d&b’s version of the array processing is excellent. As Scott says, you can select different flavours to suit various rooms, depending on whether you’re in a giant hall or a club.”
Performing their iconic debut album Never Mind the Bollocks in full, the Sex Pistols tore the roof off Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion. The show was unapologetically loud, with clarity and control showcasing the exceptional teamwork behind the scenes. With a modern tech setup, a powerhouse crew, and a fearless new frontman, the band delivered a night that proved punk’s raw spirit is alive and well, just louder, tighter, and more dialled in than ever.
Show Photos: Ashley Mar
