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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
pops
2,272 posts
 
As we all know most large venue shows are extravaganzas...not just music, like a broadway play on PED!...LOL!...and by the time you blow through the first 3 songs or so your ears are shot! If you have been around long enough you have dozens of stories just like the ones in this thread...

One of the last big shows I went to was a Springsteen show...not particularly a fan...boss my ass! Anyway, took a large group of clients to Fed X field in DC - all the way up in the skybox no less, thought that might make the decibel level a little less painful....wrong! The only song I really heard and totally enjoyed was his opening number, a tribute to Johnny Cash who had just passed, "I walk the line." Just Bruce and an acoustic guitar - awesome - after that it was what I call "noise bedlam!" Drink up!

Small clubs however can be special and I have seen many acts, both acoustic and electric, you simply cannot reproduce that timbre and live tone in your home. But you can produce engrossing and engaging sound that provides total enjoyment and I get that its not quite like live instruments, but I'm not trying to pull off an illusion that it is! Just want to be take on a magical mystery tour! LOL!
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,915 posts
 
I saw Paul McCartney at FedEx field in DC a couple years back and scored seats front and center, right in the audio "sweet spot". It was pretty close to perfection. Demonstrated to me that modern NFL football stadiums can be quite good concert venues, at least from certain seats. I know there is a pretty decent investment made in the A/V aspects of the newer fancier stadiums. Of course the artists gear and crew are a big factor. McCartney did not disapoint.
tostadosunidos's avatar
tostadosunidos
1,197 posts
 
But, as you said, you were in the sweet spot--what about the other thousands who were not?
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,915 posts
 
"But, as you said, you were in the sweet spot--what about the other thousands who were not?"

Don't know. Surely not as good. That's why I was so happy to be able to target and get the sweet spot, 1 section back dead center at ground level. :^)

The speaker columns on each side of the stage were a good 60 foot tall or more I would estimate, so there was definitely a lot of firepower there and the sound quality guys did a fantastic job from my perspective.
jorgeparrapuppy
257 posts
 
all audiophile garbage aside, the police at dodger stadium, when they re-united, sounded horrible. but the opening band, the foo fighters, sounded amazing.
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