blindman Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I walked out on their concert tonight in Dallas (Grand Prairie actually). Maybe it was the venue (NOKIA THEATER). Maybe it was the PUBLIC ADDRESS system. Maybe it was the SOUND ENGINEER. Maybe it was the AUDIENCE that they were catering to. Nothing but BASS. Way...too...much...bass..........boom...Boom...BOom...BOOm...BOOM... And if anyone cared to notice, the vocals were accompanied by a severe BUZZING sound. This was especially noticeable in-between the songs whenever anyone on-stage spoke to the audience. If the microphones were buzzing in-between songs...imagine what they sounded like during the songs....buzz...Buzz...BUzz...BUZz...BUZZ... Occasionally I could hear the horns...but they were usually being drowned out by the BASS most of the time. The audience stood up and remained standing from the get go. I am currently suffering from plantar fasciatis. I cannot stand for 3 hours non-stop. I could not see a thing. I could not see the stage. I could not see the monitor screens. I paid $95 for my ticket. I could not see the concert. I could not hear anything but BASS. I stayed for 55 minutes...then I walked out... Maybe it was the smoked salmon... I would really like to talk to the sound engineer and let him/her know that he ruined the concert for me...but I suspect that most of the audience believes that feeling the pounding of the air from the BASS is a testament to "getting their money's worth". Just because one can afford to install an armada of amplifiers and speakers to make enough BASS to knock down a building...that doesn't mean you should do it. Mid-range and higher-pitch notes deserve the chance to be heard, too. Just to let you know...this is coming from an "old-fogey" who is a former "rock-n-roll roadie" and a former "sound board engineer". So I know that it is possible to twirl the knobs/pots or slide the sliders on the mix board to focus on blending of the notes rather than over emphasizing the BASS. I will listen to Chicago on my home system from now on... and I will like it! (By the way, I do not have any tone controls in my system so the bass is never "punched up".) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 That really stinks. I recently watched a Blu-Ray concert of Chicago with E W & F and it was fantastic! Maybe you can pick up a copy and watch it in the comfort of your own home. I saw the Eagles recently and I felt they were playing way too quiet! A couple of the faster, livelier songs had adequate volume but for the most part I was diasppointed, I usually listen at louder volumes at home than they were playing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I recently watched a Blu-Ray concert of Chicago with E W & F and it was fantastic! That one is very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I've had some bad luck with concerts at times. Only about 1 in 4 have sound that is what I would call acceptable. I've walked out on a number of concerts with bad sound. Last year the bass at one concert was so distorted, you could hear the speaker breakup better than the music, when one of the giant bass speakers tumbled off the stage because it was over driven, that was it, we walked out. At another concert the bass was awesome but it was so LOUD that it was hard to breathe, I thought my heart was going to stop and that was with custom ear plugs! We could only stand it for 3 songs and then they turned it UP! Getting the right seats helps but you don't know where that will be until the band starts playing, every artist is different even at the same venue. It's a crap shoot. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I saw Chicago a few years back and the sound was spectacular. Have you written to the Chicago web site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindman Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 To Michael Colter: Yes. that was one of my first thoughts. I did send an e-mail directly to the Chicago band web master. I really, really, really feel that they need to know about the problem(s) with the sound mix. I know that you have stood in my shoes at the sound board and both you and I know that feedback from the audience would be very helpful to make sure that any shortcomings were addressed ASAP. I bought my ticket through Ticketmaster. The very next day I received an e-mail from Ticketmaster asking me to post a review of the concert on their web site. I cut and paste my comments from this forum to their review web site. (So far, it seems that my review has not been posted...gee...I wonder why?!?!?!?) Then, I took the time to wade through all 144 pages of the other reviews from other Chicago/Earth Wind & Fire concerts across the country. I must say that I have not been the only one who had a negative experience. Many, many, many other people described the exact same problems with "too much bass", terrible vocals, and other sound related issues! ! ! ! There have been enough problems e-x-a-c-t-l-y like the ones that I noted, that it makes me feel that the band must N-O-T be reading their reviews. Surely, if the same problems keep re-occurring over-and-over-and-over-and-over they would take some action to fix them?!?!??!!!!?!?!?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_Strummin Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 You could have just been in a bad acoustical zone. It happens. Next time move around a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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