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Concert Goers

Raz0rEdge

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While I'm a aficionado of music to a point of requiring it wherever I am doing anything and everything (working, working out, mowing the lawn and most definitely driving), I've always had a mixed experience with concerts of artists that I genuinely enjoy listening to.

I've found that some artists do a great job live and in concert while others just rely on being as loud as possible and try to get away with it..

Yesterday, I went to a concert for Shinedown in Boston. Right before they showed up, the opening band was Nothing More. While this opening band was performing, all the instruments were just so crazy overpowering, each trying to out do the other that the vocals were completely drowned out. It was an absolute mess to say the least.

When Shinedown took the stage, the first and foremost thing that was immediately noticeable was that the vocal part was just as loud as the other instruments and it was just a rocking show..

What kind of experiences have you all had with your favorite genre of music?
 
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chas_m

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I've been to more than my fair share of really loud rock concerts (and probably have some modest hearing damage from that or age or likely both), but I've often been dismayed by bad soundmen working concerts, which seems to happen a lot these days. So much so that when the sound mix is good, you notice it IMMEDIATELY.

There is also a tendency these days (in recorded music as well as performances trying to emulate said recorded music) to "brickwall" everything. This does nothing for the music and just causes lots of hearing damage. I'm not done listening to rock bands by a long shot, but as I get older I am, I admit, starting to see why people become jazz, folk, and classical fans later in life.
 
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Bad sound at a live concert can be a deflating experience, eh? Of late, the only concerts I attend are classical. These are always held in a venue that actually had acoustical engineers thinking about how music would sound when the facility was designed or remodeled. For some rock concerts, that is not the case. Somehow I doubt that the roadies setting up the blasters have any clue about how to try to compensate for that.
 
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chas_m

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I recently attended a Kraftwerk concert that had EXQUISITE sound control to the point that they could rattle the building and you could only be stunned -- not by the volume, but by the clarity of sound. It helps that this band has no mid-range instruments like guitars to muddy things up -- just pure electronic sounds. Heavenly.
 
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Raz0rEdge

Raz0rEdge

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Bad sound at a live concert can be a deflating experience, eh? Of late, the only concerts I attend are classical. These are always held in a venue that actually had acoustical engineers thinking about how music would sound when the facility was designed or remodeled. For some rock concerts, that is not the case. Somehow I doubt that the roadies setting up the blasters have any clue about how to try to compensate for that.

I suppose some genres of music and the venues they are in playing in do lend themselves to being heard well.

I do hope other bands take sound clarity more seriously and try to provide an enjoyable experience. It's great that they can shake all my innards with a drumbeat, but if I can't hear a word the singer is screaming at the top of his lungs that just ruins the experience..

And frankly, on the records, the voice takes center stage with the instruments in accompaniment, I can only think of a coupe of bands where the instruments were equal to the voice (and those aren't my favored bands..:) )
 
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In short Ashwin ~ you is hooked my boy!!!!
 
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Allman Brothers, Metallica, Iron Maiden & Pink Floyd - great, clear, awesome, sounded as close to studio as was possible
Van Halen, Bob Dylan, Live, Rush - terrible, unintelligible, could have been anyone on stage singing anything
Jimmy Buffet has terrible audio quite often. However I'm enough of a Parrothead that the experience as a whole has less to do with the audio and more with the ad-libs and stories. Personality and showmanship go a long way.

Seems hit and miss as far as I'm concerned. I have tinitus due to various pursuits in life, and I'm no audiophile, and as such I'm not much of a measure of anything sonic.
 
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I have found that the biggest asset any live concert has - regardless of the band - is the guy at the sound board. You can have the most awesome sound setup but if the guy at the controls is not an artist on the sound board, you have a mess.

You can have loud and thumping that is totally wonderful if you have clarity and blend. There is loud and then their is crushing.

Lisa
 
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chas_m

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Just to make things clear, I have nothing at all against guitar bands -- one of my favourites was the Ramones, not known for being quiet, synth-based, or clear for that matter! But it does, at least it seems to me, take some finesse to make the sound really clear when you have a very guitar-based band. The soundboard person is the key to the whole thing, and should tune the show differently for each venue -- but they usually don't anymore.
 
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I guess if I started talking about Crash Craddock etc it would show my age!! Perhaps I am the only member here who has been to live Crash Craddock, Paul Anka etc concerts? Saw a photo of Paul recently and boy he is old!!!
 
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I actually prefer to go to live Pub band events. Saying that, Tori Amos was the last concert i saw live, and she was amazing. Could feel the soundwaves moving through me in such a pleasant way.

KISS was another that i thouroughly enjoyed as well as Niel Diamond. But, Bands that play the Local, is the best enjoyment get, especially if they are playing unplugged. They seem to be so intimate.
 

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