Walked out of a gig last night..

rlw · September 2023

The Manfreds at York Grand Opera House. Never, in 55 years of going to gigs, have I experienced such awful sound.

In the stalls, ten rows back and right in the middle, with the whole band playing there's a wall of noise with individual instruments pretty much unheard. Except for a very toppy electric piano playing, apparently, out of key fiddly bits and a sax occasionally popping through but, again, seemingly at odds with the rest of the band. Backing vocals way too prominent and lead singers way too loud to the point of break up.

I thought it was my hearing aids so switched them off but mrs rlw confirmed it wasn't them, simply awful sound. There was no mixing desk to be seen, perhaps in the wings?, and the band was playing through proper amps, some of which were miced up but not all.

We left at the end of the first half and my left ear is still ringing today. It might have sounded like this on a bad day in the sixties but there really is no need for it today.

The audience was very muted too, some looking a bit uncomfortable, and the atmosphere in the hall was a bit strained.

GoldenEraGuitars · September 2023

Given what you’re saying about the atmosphere I’d say there were a lot of people there feeling pretty annoyed that they’d wasted ticket money as well as 2 hours of their lives for it.

RocknRollDave · September 2023

Saw Marcus King this year in Manchester. Not the first time I’ve seen him; he’s a fine showman who can whip a crowd up no problem.

So why was he looking out at a muted response to the first half of the Manchester gig when he should have had us in the palm of his hand by that point? He looked puzzled. I’ll solve the puzzle for you, Marcus: it was impossible to make out what was going on in most of the songs. We couldn’t hear your guitar. All we could hear was THE DRUMS AS LOUD AS HELL.

I was stood directly behind the mixing desk, so goodness only knows what the soundman was hearing that I wasn’t.

M1ck · September 2023

Yip been there, Shine On ‘Britain's foremost Pink Floyd tribute band’ - we left at the interval absolutely dire sound and so loud it was painful! Simply distorted sound with nothing recognizable. We’ve seen some great tribute acts - Shine On aren’t one of them.

The only other one as bad was Danny Bryant supporting Eric Gales! Fortunately Eric Gales lived up to the reviews.

LionAquaLooper · September 2023

Everyone walks out of gigs though....eventually.

rlw · September 2023

You'd think a band celebrating 60 years would have enough experience to get it right wouldn't you.

GoldenEraGuitars · September 2023

rlw said:

You'd think a band celebrating 60 years would have enough experience to get it right wouldn't you.

The sound quality of a gig is usually down to the sound engineer though?

theatreanchor · September 2023

LionAquaLooper said:

Everyone walks out of gigs though....eventually.

But usually when the gig is over, non?

prowla · September 2023

I've been to some gigs with awful sound:

Linkin Park at the O2: the upstairs speakers weren't switched on.
Marilyn Manson at Brixton Academy: you couldn't even tell what the recordings were that were playing through the system before the bands came on.
Mars Volta (somewhere in London): there were no vocals.

ICBM · September 2023

I've heard bad sound almost as often as good - there's really no excuse for it now unless the sound engineer is clueless, deaf or stoned - or more than one of those - it's not going to be an equipment problem. I find it remarkable how many seem to not be able to hear what the sound is like and fix it.

Three particularly memorable ones...

I walked out of the Swans after about two songs because they were so loud I thought I might experience internal organ failure. To be fair, it wasn't a surprise - they were notorious for it. Couldn't hear anything other than a wall of noise even with earplugs in - I went to the bar above the venue where it was still perfectly audible and the mix was actually quite good.

Roy Harper had an appalling combination of muddy inaudible vocals topped with hideous scratchy piezo electro-acoustic guitar, I left that one too.

Bic Runga - a singer with a beautiful, delicate voice - had a mix so bad all you could hear was drums and bass, no vocals or guitar at all... until most of the crowd turned round to the sound desk and started loudly berating the engineer about it. It was drastically improved after that, and I stayed. (Actually the same venue as the Swans - perhaps the engineer was still deaf, although it was several years later!)

Paul_C · September 2023

The only one I ever walked out of (that I can recall) was Crass back in the 80s.

"What?" I hear you say, "surely Crass couldn't have been that bad?"

I googled to check the date and found this, so you can decide for yourselves.

https://loonies.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-northampton-roadmender-27-feb-1982

rlw · September 2023

GoldenEraGuitars said:

rlw said:

You'd think a band celebrating 60 years would have enough experience to get it right wouldn't you.

The sound quality of a gig is usually down to the sound engineer though?

Yes but I'm wondering if there was one, or whether the band just set up themselves....

EricTheWeary · September 2023

The only ticketed gig I can remember walking out of was Furniture who were just very, very dull. I seem to remember The Damned as having a particularly terrible live sound but it was okay if you stood at the back of the hall.

I saw Fairport Convention live a few times almost just because I didn’t know live sound could be that good, whole new world of clarity opened up.

ElectricXII · September 2023

I nearly walked out of Rival Sons at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh in 2019. Waaaaay too much bass drum in the mix which nearly ruined everything for me. In the end I only stayed to see what guitars Scott Holiday was going to play next. There's no excuse for having bad sound at the Usher Hall, where the natural acoustics are excellent.

Placidcasual79 · September 2023

Do you think the band knew @rlw? I wonder if it was ok stage or whether something out of the ordinary happened - you know equipment or sound man gets lost? If that was the case and you knew it was likely to affect the show you'd have to tell the audience no?

Do you think others in the audience noticed? Did you speak to anyone?

Philly_Q · September 2023

I don't think I've ever walked out of a gig early, but I did fall asleep watching Meat Loaf.

rlw · September 2023

Placidcasual79 said:

Do you think the band knew @rlw? I wonder if it was ok stage or whether something out of the ordinary happened - you know equipment or sound man gets lost? If that was the case and you knew it was likely to affect the show you'd have to tell the audience no?

Do you think others in the audience noticed? Did you speak to anyone?

The people sitting around us were very still. No foot tapping, no clapping out of time, just a surprised look on their faces. It was very odd.

And I don’t think the band knew at all as I think they would have wound it back a bit if they did.

And there was no obvious sound man …

hollywoodrox · September 2023

Philly_Q said:

I don't think I've ever walked out of a gig early, but I did fall asleep watching Meat Loaf.

Seems appropriate to be honest

horse · October 2023

I left a Bob Mould gig at nottingham rescue rooms after 5 songs or so a few years back. Just a very loud barrage of drums, and it was so packed that there was no room on the floor to move your feet. (I mean avoiding getting cramp rather than dancing!)

scrumhalf · October 2023

I walked out of a gig bt a Belgian Jethro Tull tribute band.

Nothing wrong with the sound, though. It was a perfect reproduction of an appalling load of bollocks being played in stage.

mrkb · October 2023

I walked out of a Dodgy gig at rock city, as they were crap.

Offset · October 2023

I've only ever walked out of two gigs, and for very different reasons.

First was The Manics, about 25 or so years ago. The were playing at The Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth and they were SO loud I thought my ears would start bleeding. Me and my mate lasted one song and then listened to the rest from a bar in an adjacent room.

The second, I'm afraid to say, was Wilko Johnson and sadly it was only 4 months before he died. He was playing in Cheltenham Town Hall; the acoustics/mix/sound were appalling but with the exception of Norman Watt-Roy's bass, so was the music. Wilko could never sing and the tracks just blurred into the same soundtrack. We left around half time with heavy hearts. I prefer to remember him at the peak of his powers with Dr Feelgood.

Grumpyrocker · October 2023

Ghost in Cardiff in 2019.

Support band sounded like static. You could hardly anything in it as music. And it was deafening. Even with ear defenders my shell-shocked 11yo son was in tears and I thought we were going to have to leave his first ever gig.

I gave my son my in ears to wear under his ear defenders and we persevered, his choice. Second support band still sounded crap but was musical enough that my son coped better.

Thankfully Ghost sounded amazing. One of the best live mixes I've heard. Loud, but very clear and you could hear every instrument and vocals clearly. In the end my sons said it was their best night ever.

But why did the support bands sound so shite? The first one actually painful? Given Ghost sounded amazing on the same sound system.

ICBM · October 2023

Grumpyrocker said:

But why did the support bands sound so shite? The first one actually painful? Given Ghost sounded amazing on the same sound system.

Intentional sabotage by the sound engineers.

Philly_Q · October 2023

I've never seen Ghost, but I would expect them t have a good live sound, they're just that kind of band. Very professional. I don't know why the support band sounded shite, but ICBM's probably right.

lustycourtier · October 2023

ICBM said:

Grumpyrocker said:

But why did the support bands sound so shite? The first one actually painful? Given Ghost sounded amazing on the same sound system.

Intentional sabotage by the sound engineers.

The Sharon Osbourne effect

digitalscream · October 2023

Yeah...had exactly this when I went to see Soundgarden at Brixton Academy a number of years back with a bunch of mates. There was no top end at all, so all that we could hear was mushy muffled crap to the point where none of the songs were actually recognisable at all. A few of us left after 20 minutes and went to the chicken place round the corner (fabulous food, by the way), and there was a guy busking under the bridge.

He played Black Hole Sun, and it was the first Soundgarden song we'd heard all night.

fretmeister · October 2023

Paul_C said:

The only one I ever walked out of (that I can recall) was Crass back in the 80s.

"What?" I hear you say, "surely Crass couldn't have been that bad?"

I googled to check the date and found this, so you can decide for yourselves.

https://loonies.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-northampton-roadmender-27-feb-1982

We both walked out of Walter Trout!

Painfully loud - There was definitely people with permanently damaged hearing loss that night.

Habanero · October 2023

I walked out of Motley Crue at Wembley Arena. I wasn't really a fan, but I did like the support acts White Lion and Skid Row. As it happened MC took the stage so late I would have likely missed the last train home if I stayed, so left after 3 songs.

Grumpyrocker · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

I've never seen Ghost, but I would expect them t have a good live sound, they're just that kind of band.

I've never heard an arena band sound that good. It was delightful. Loud but not too loud either. Loads of footage on YT of the gig and you can hear how clear it was even from people's phones.

Paul_C · October 2023

fretmeister said:

Paul_C said:

The only one I ever walked out of (that I can recall) was Crass back in the 80s.

"What?" I hear you say, "surely Crass couldn't have been that bad?"

I googled to check the date and found this, so you can decide for yourselves.

https://loonies.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-northampton-roadmender-27-feb-1982

We both walked out of Walter Trout!

Painfully loud - There was definitely people with permanently damaged hearing loss that night.

Heh - I'd forgotten that one

It was dreadfully loud.

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Walked out of a gig last night..

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