Ask for the Gig You Want: Kevin Glendinning on SNL, Super Bowls, and 25 Years on the Road

Monitor engineer Kevin “KG” Glendinning joins you live from a Roman amphitheater in Pula, Croatia: eight countries in seven days into the Lorde world tour…and he’s got the receipts. You’ll hear how fifteen trips through the SNL stage started with a Carson Daly taping, why the rooms that treat you well are the rooms you remember, and what happens when a 32-year veteran finally plugs in a source expander and realizes the “new guys” were right. That’s the through-line: always be learning, always be open-minded, and never let a get-off-my-lawn attitude about new tech be the reason your phone stops ringing. Then it gets into the real in-ear monitor conversations: recreating a Celestion cab with a 2.6mm armature, the one-ear trick that quietly costs Adam Levine and John Mayer another 25% of volume, and why ear fatigue deserves the same respect a pitcher gives his arm.

The road stories land hard from there. Super Bowl XLV in Dallas with snow, the Black Eyed Peas, and a lesson in letting the pros run their own show. Red Rocks (aka “Wet Rocks”) and why a mountain full of shuttle trucks is worth every minute. A locked-up console mid-residency and telling Christina Aguilera the audio will come back, all while genuinely hoping it would. A charter plane struck by lightning over the Amazon, an emergency landing at a decommissioned airfield, and waking up to the news about Taylor Hawkins. Plus the covert phone call that became seven years with Justin Timberlake, and the soft ask years earlier that made it happen. Rehearse enough that nerves turn into muscle memory, thank the people who opened doors for you, ask for the gig you want…and Always Be Performing.

00:00:00 Gig Gab 549 – Monday, August 31st, 2026


August 31st: Eat Outside Day
Guest co-host: Kevin Glendinning



00:02:38 Pula, Croatia. 8 countries in 7 days
00:04:36 SNL stage for The Deftones with the Carson Daly show
00:06:20 Making an impression on touring musicians with
00:08:35 Always be learning about the new tech


Learning from the “new” guys
Neve 5045 Primary Source Expander
Waves PSE Plugin
Digico Mustard Source Enhancer



00:13:55 Always be open-minded
00:18:57 Mixing ears and the respect of it all
00:21:02 Chris Rabold mixing monitors for REM
00:22:06 Now some REM stories
00:24:23 Helping get Adam Levine & John Mayer through ear fatigue with one ear monitor
00:26:46 OzFest System Engineers and hearing fatigue
00:27:45 Sometimes it just doesn’t sound right
00:30:44 Super Bowl in 2011 in Dallas…with snow!


And The Black Eyed Peas



00:35:45 Being rehearsed enough to just do the gig (and fix what goes wrong when it goes wrong)
00:36:25 Lorde’s large-and-resilient fanbase
00:39:21 Working Red Rocks..”Wet Rocks”
00:44:33 Christina and the reboot


“Don’t worry…the audio will come back.”
Dave’s issue with the Mackie DL32S losing input signals



00:49:58 Batteries Matter
00:52:31 Miley Cyrus, Taylor Hawkins, Lightning-stuck aircraft, oh my!
00:56:28 Getting paid to see the world


The pros and the cons



00:59:11 The “covert” phone call… and Justin Timberlake


Get to know ML who works for ShowCo
Ask for the gig you want (and, specifically, ask Anthony Giordano)
The Victoria’s Secret Awards!
Watching Muse with Justin



01:06:11 Have gratitude for everyone who you’ve worked with
01:08:14 Kevin wants to answer your questions!
01:09:52 Gig Gab 549 Outtro


Follow Kevin Glendinning


IG: @kev_chitown
LinkedIn: Kevin ‘KG’ Glendinning



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The post Ask for the Gig You Want: Kevin Glendinning on SNL, Super Bowls, and 25 Years on the Road – Gig Gab 549 appeared first on Gig Gab.