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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
lenny_zwik
259 posts
 
Hi Toasty,

Yes I do remember unfortunately and you're correct, vastly improved. I've also heard awful performances (sound wise) at the Moody Theatre which was entirely due to whoever was engineering. Tedeschi Truks band's first performance there case in point. I take it you're from Austin or live here currently?
tostadosunidos's avatar
tostadosunidos
1,197 posts
 
Lenny,

yes, I've lived most of my life here in "Waterloo."
lenny_zwik
259 posts
 
So this week I'll have an interesting opportunity to hear Lyle Lovett in the same venue from two different seats but within two days so my audio memory should be fresh. This Tuesday I saw Lyle and his "acoustic" group at the Moody Theater from a front row center seat. Most of what I heard was direct from the stage but there was a series of vocal reinforcement speakers 4 of them aligned across the front of the stage. Tonight I'll hear the same concert from an 8th row center seat and let you all know my experience. By the way, the sound was superb, extremely well balanced and not at all perceived as loud.
lenny_zwik
259 posts
 
In short, probably the best live sound I've ever heard. Much more integrated and with the Moody Theater's new PA speaker stack, incredibly transparent and dynamic without any fatiguing sense of being too loud. I've heard many comments stating that "my audio system at home sounds better". Well this was like that except that instead, that audio quality was live with the accompanying scale and dynamics of a live performance. Kudo's to Lyle Lovett's house engineer as well!!!
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Hey everyone

I just wanted to share this with everyone.

I saw one of my most favorite bands, Depeche Mode, on September 6 at the Barclay's Center. In the past I've caught them at MSG or in Philadelphia.

IMHO Depeche Mode's sound at the Barclay's Center was the best I've heard in a very long time. Everything from David Gahan's singing, to Martin L Gore's guitar/keyboard playing and especially Christian Eigner's drumming was loud and clear. I left the venue and my ears weren't ringing at all. At the previous concerts I've been in the past everything was just plain loud. I knew the song lyrics because I had heard them over and over before the concert. This time around with the newer DM songs I wasn't so familiar with I could understand the lyrics with no problem at all during the concert.

I was in upper part of Section 109 at the Barclay's Center. For my first show there I didn't want to be in the nose bleed seats.

I won't be to the Barclay's for another concert for some time but hope to be back again for another concert.

I guess my next test for the Barclay's Center sound will be when Slayer or Metallica come around to the NY area.

Thanks
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