LOUSY SOUND AT LIVE CONCERTS


I went to a concert at Bank America Pavillion in Boston last night. I saw Tedeschi and Trucks, and The Black Crows. A terrific concert; The Tedeschi and Trucks Band was especially terrific.

Unfortunately, these bands sound better in my living room than at this beautiful, outdoor venue.

Many venues have extremely poor acoustics and/or poor sound systems. The music is often terribly distorted, details and nuances of the instrumentals and voices are lost. The sound presents as a congealed distorted mess. The art of these incredibly talented musicians cannot be fully appreciated without clear sound. Listening to music in these crappy venues is like looking at masterpiece paintings in dimly lit museums with dirty glasses. The colors, details and brush strokes are indistinct. The artistic genius cannot be fully appreciated. The Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA., Fenway Park and The Boston Garden are just as bad as The Bank Of America Pavillion, if not worse.

I am frustrated with these venues that cannot provide great sound to accompany the great music. What is the sense of attending live concerts if the sound quality sucks. Does anyone else share my frustration?
matjet
Interplay of several factors. Stadium and other large venues almost never built w acoustics in mind. Sometimes they are acoustically "impossible". Each venue is different w different problems. Some venues have their own sound re-inforcement so the performer is not in control. Some acts don't really care.
It's sad state of affairs for larger venues. I always get a nervous feeling when the sound engineers don't even touch the board controls....usually bad sound. I search out smaller venues such as older theaters or concert halls or some outdoor concerts and often the sound is good to very good. One of my biggest complaints about the larger venues is distortion, too loud, bad mix (the kick drum is not supposed to sound like a bomb going off or the bass like a mush of low frequency).
Not just larger venues. In a small jazz room, every instrument was miked. Screamingly loud. Trying to keep up with the rockers, I guess.
Oh boy. So now when you hear people say I want a system that sounds like live music you can respond and say: " just get a crappy system" .

I agree most live venues are played from the bands amp using a mike placed in front of one of their speakers and then out through a pair of 18" (wow) speakers.

What could go wrong?????
77- I had almost the same experience at a TE show earlier this year. They were actually taping the show for PBS.